Shooting Patch & Ball From A 12 ga. Smoothbore

[Paulk]

My smoothbore is a .62.  With a lubed patch it gives consistent 3 shot groups of 3" or a little less at 50 yards.  With a .606" WW ball loaded without a patch, the groups are larger but still pie plate size with 5 shots.  The patched load has killed deer previously so is a proven load - 70 grains of 3F.

Hanshi, I'm working up a load for a smooth bore and have to ask what a WW ball is.  What does the "WW" stand for?

[Winter Hawk]

Wheel weights?  Although the new ones have precious little lead in them.

~WH~

[2grouse]

Winter Hawk, i once built a 12ga New Englander, and checkered it. Sold it to Jack Schrader in Bremen Ohio. Wonder if it’s the same one. Ric

[Flint62Smoothie]

If a longer barreled smoothbore, say ~44” & over, I have seen a marked improvement in consistency by switching to 1Fg powdah. Using my big 75-cal Dutch ‘Hudson Valley’ fowler of 60” barrel, I took 2nd place in a woodwalk (18-targets) where I only missed the 15 & 20-yard animal gongs (shot over them) and didn’t split the 3/8” wood dowel in half .

But, I hit all the other chains or gongs out to 80-yards and whilst using a 90-grn 1Fg load, I shot well over 30-shots that day without wiping the bore between shots.

FWIW I find that a vege fiber wad cut in 1/2, lubed & seated below the patched/lubed ball, gives my smoothies the best accuracy at 50-yds, as in 3” groups or better (benched). But I also do load development for each load, starting at # of grains = bore caliber & working my way UP in 5-grain increments.

My experience ... smoothies shoot better w/ higher powdah charges! Oh and whilst using that 1Fg load ... the recoil is negligible, whereas 90-grns+ 2Fg charges wasn’t fun for more than a few shots.

My current goal is to create a traditional ‘paper cartridge’ load that gives me 3-4” groups or
better at 50-yards.

[doggoner]

Thanks for the heads up on the 1f powder. I'll need to try it in my 62 cal. I get fair results (3-4 inch groups @ 40 yds) with 3f now so maybe I can improve on the targets with the 1f. The fun is in the trying!

doggoner

[Winter Hawk]

Winter Hawk, i once built a 12ga New Englander, and checkered it. Sold it to Jack Schrader in Bremen Ohio. Wonder if it’s the same one. Ric

Maybe, maybe not...  I picked it up on one of the websites, sold it there a couple of years later.  It was sure pretty!  I did have photos but must have deleted them.  Sorry....

~Kees~