OT: Black powder waterfowling?

bigbore442001 · Post by **bigbore442001** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:16 am

The other night after I set a couple of lines for snapping turtles, I stopped off at the rod and gun club bar. After a little bit of libation, I was chatting with a friend about my BP shotgun. He has a TC New Englander while I have the Black Mountain Magnum. I told him of an interest in taking it out for ducks and geese this coming fall. He commented that you won't have the range.He said that the max load you can use is 1 5/8 oz of shot.

I didn't say anything but after seeing the patterns at 30 yards I don't see why that gun wont cleanly take down ducks and Canada geese at 30 yards.

So. I would appreciate any comments or advice from those who have far greater experience in these matters. Thank you.

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:21 am

Hey bigbore I just read this elsewhere

Yep I do waterfowl with my M/L and the pattern I throw the other night was tight enough for sure and with No3's, Can't wait

Nath.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:23 am

I've taken lots of water fowl with my percussion BP shotgun. This year, I am loading brass shells for my hammer 12ga. I got off 86er, with BP for all my hunting. Nothing more satisfying.

Don McDowell · Post by **Don McDowell** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:31 am

The beauty of the muzzle loading shotgun is you can change your load to suit the conditions on the spot at the time. With enough fiddlin you can put patterns at 50 and 60 yds a mosquito will have a hard time going thru, using lead shot.
Unfortunately I believe the USFWS has done away with the nontoxic shot exemption for muzzleloaders on waterfowl now , so those fine old guns are hamstrung by the same wounding characteristics of steel shot as the cartridge guns.
I would imagine that bismuth shot would work well , but may take some fooling around to get it to pattern .
If a person could make some hevishot work that stuff works nearly as good as the old magnum lead loads we used before the lead shot ban.

Post by **Hobie** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:39 am

There was/is a fellow, widely published, who uses a Pedersoli Indian Trade Gun (the .75 cal i.e. 12 ga. shortened Brown Bess) loaded with steel or bismuth shot to take waterfowl. That's a flintlock. I killed a groundhog with a load of #6 shot with mine, range was about 12 yards. Seems to me it will get the job done. Heck your gun has a choke, right?

Slick13 · Post by **Slick13** » Fri May 30, 2008 10:10 am

bigbore442001 wrote:He commented that you won't have the range.He said that the max load you can use is 1 5/8 oz of shot.

??? And that's not enough shot?! Does he realize 3" steel loads are only in the 1 1/8oz to 1 1/4 oz range? The heaviest 3" load I've seen is Remington's HD loaded with 1 1/2 oz of shot. So your muzzle loader is going to be able to put as much shot in the air as a 3 1/2" 12 for a 10 guage. I don't know how much powder you can fit in there, but I imagine you can get at least 1200 fps loads.

~Michael

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Fri May 30, 2008 1:29 pm

My G,G, Grandfather was a market hunter on the Chesapeake Bay around 1900. I still have his 14 ga. ML shotgun that he used. It's English made and has no chokes. With modern wads or shot cups you'd have to be able to be at least as effective as Gramps was.

Cliff · Post by **Cliff** » Fri May 30, 2008 6:28 pm

It sounds like it may be fun. I would only suggest that if you can get some range time at a trap or skeet type shooting range. Black powder velocities and such are different from a regular shell using smokeless. I find it seems slower and have to get on the birds a little quicker. It is fun. May need a spotter depending on weather conditions to see if you made a hit. High humidity, no air movement can cause the smoke to linger in front of your shooting position. Have fun.

bigbore442001 · Post by **bigbore442001** » Fri May 30, 2008 6:34 pm

My current wild turkey load for the BP shotgun is 90 grains of H777 with a plastic shot cup and 2 ounces of no 5 hard lead shot. I get pretty good patterns at 30 yards.

I plan to get some bismuth or some other non toxic shot for that specific purpose. Hopefully on September 15th, I will find out how well it works on Canada geese.

Post by **Hobie** » Fri May 30, 2008 6:41 pm

Sounds like you're ready!

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Sat May 31, 2008 8:22 am

Keep us updated bigbore, I love abit of smoke

Nath.

bigbore442001 · Post by **bigbore442001** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:19 pm

I checked my turtle lines this morning and found at least twenty five Canada geese on the pond with a pair of big white swans. Here in Massachusetts the swans are protected, why I do not know, so they are safe from me. What a waste of meat in my not so humble opinion.

I have my area set for a blind for waterfowl.

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 10:46 am

I'd let that other fellow continue his barstool safari, and just go do it. One thing I've learned in life is that folks will say something CAN'T be done so they don't look so bad for not trying.

And if it doesn't work? So what? You spent a day hunting, and you learned something. Molon Labe.

OT: Black powder waterfowling?

OT: Black powder waterfowling?

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Re: OT: Black powder waterfowling?