OT For those whome like doubles.

[Nath]

Yours truely,



on a driven shoot in England.

When it is near the end of the pheasant season the rolls are reversed as in the guns that shoot all season beat the woods for us the beaters, commonly called "beaters day".

57 birds were taken by a team of seven guns ranging from pheasant, woodcock and partridge (French).

I was using Pyrodex loads with 1 1/8oz of English 7s and 5s with roll over crimps loaded by my self and used in my new to me Henry Monk ejector. I shot 7-8 pheasants, three partridge and two woodcock from just five drives.

Shamefully I shot bad today and should of had in excess of twenty birds, I shot around forty shells

Plenty of refreshment was available and a hot meal at the end of play too.

A good friendly bunch of folk, it was great

Nath.

[76/444]

Looks like nice hunt'n country Nath,... and a nice cock and hen. Reminds me of my youth hunting woods back on the US east coats.

When I lived in Maine, we called them partridge also. I used to just pop the breast out,... nothing else seemed worth cooking. Wonderful breast meat,... I used to fill them with blue cheese and wrap'm in smoke cured bacon,.... ahhhh those were the days!!

Only a Brit would smoke a pipe on a rainy hunt!!!

[Bogie35]

What a well-mannered looking chap!

I LOVE doubles! Unfortunately, I've never hunted pheasant.

Bobwhite quail is mostly what we have in South Carolina, and I do love to hunt them!

I appreciate your honesty about the 40 shots! You are not alone my friend!

bogie

[nemhed]

Now you got me wanting a double again, I hadn't thought about that all day! What do your peers think of the Pyrodex loads?

[Nath]

Now you got me wanting a double again, I hadn't thought about that all day! What do your peers think of the Pyrodex loads?

After today they think they are garbage and thats putting it mildly

To be fair when I was developing the load I had rushed in like normal and loaded some shells that turned out not so good so I changed the load by changing the wad combo. Today I used the bad ones after running out of the better load recently and that is my excuse and i am sticking like glue to it

N.

[Barcelona Rick]

Nath..great picture and story...love the old doubles just can't afford them...

jumbeaux

[gamekeeper]

Nath, the lie of the land behind you looks like there might be some high drives on your shoot.
Glad you had a good time and well done on the Woodcock.

[Buck Elliott]

Only a Brit would smoke a pipe on a rainy hunt!!!

Dedicated pipe-smokers are just that -- dedicated. I've seen 'em try to light up when the wind would threaten to blow the Zippo out of their hand, or in a driving snow storm where they had a better chance of firing up a coal lump than their old Meerschaum...

Just think "sailors..."

[TedH]

Sounds like fun Nath.

[RIHMFIRE]

Now thats a great way to spend a day.....

[O.S.O.K.]

Nice brace! And all the better that you got them with pyrodex loads

[cshold]

Now you got me wanting a double again, I hadn't thought about that all day! What do your peers think of the Pyrodex loads?

Two of them right here.
http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... 84&start=0

[fordwannabe]

I think I heard my Wesley Richards yelling "send me back... send me back!" when it saw that picture Nath. Tom

[rjohns94]

LOVE doubles!!! Love your posts too. Well done with the BP loads.

Thanks Casastahle for the push on the thread.

[Hobie]

There is a fellow at the assisted living facility (smoke free inside) who is 90+ and was out in 11 degree weather (with a breeze) to smoke his pipe. He has to sit when he smokes because he uses a walker and there he was by the door with his pipe fired up and him looking like Nanook of the north! That is what I call dedication (or addiction).

On the other hand, I don't hunt with a shotgun that isn't a double or a single-shot anymore. Looking down that big old wide side-by-side is the way shotgunning is supposed to be done.

[Iron_Marshal]

When I hunt with a shotgun I use a 12 gauge New England Firearms Pardner-Model SBI singleshot with 3 1/2" full choke. Case color hardened receiver. It was an inexpensive firearm, but the buttstock has wonderful "tiger" striping throughout that has depth and changes color as you turn it in the light. Squirrels and rabbits for the pot, and a few birds... Annoying/nuisance Starlings that a friend uses the feathers to tie flies with. I hope to take it turkey hunting sometime, but I dread the kick. An afternoon of squirell hunting tends to soften up my arm with light loads.

[Ysabel Kid]

Cool!!!

[pokey]

looks like fun.

[Doc Hudson]

IMO, pump=guns are for Social Use, and i don't think much about semi-autos at all. But classic doubles are the perfect bird guns. Like Hobie, i only hunt with doubles. i have a Fox model b and a LeFever Nitro Special i use for quail and clays.

Great photo and great story.

Tell us more about that about that Henry Monk double gun.

is it a trick of the lighting or are those barrels really different colors?

[GonnePhishin]

Nath,

Sounds like you had great fun on the hunt! Thanks for sharing.

[Pop Watts]

Great post Nath.

Tell me - is that double an "under lever"???

Pop

[perry owens]

Nath, what's with the Pyrodex? Always thought you were a real black powder man.
Maybe I should send you up a box of these to try

I've never tried them on birds but they've sure killed a lot of steel plates.
Perry Owens

[KirkD]

That would be a dream come true for me, Nath. In one of the recent issues of The Double Gun and Single Shot Journal, there was an article about driven shoots. It was fascinating. The article also mentioned how the roles are reversed at the end of the season, so the beaters get to do the shooting. The fees the normal shooters paid were quite hefty. Do the beaters have to pay the same size fees when they get to shoot?

By the way, I've loaded up my first round for my C.P. Clabrough and Sons, SxS hammergun with damascus barrels. The load for the 2 & 1/2" 12-bore is 82 grains of FFFg under 1 & 1/8 ounce of #2 shot (for Woodchucks). I haven't shot it off yet though.

[Nath]

That would be a dream come true for me, Nath. In one of the recent issues of The Double Gun and Single Shot Journal, there was an article about driven shoots. It was fascinating. The article also mentioned how the roles are reversed at the end of the season, so the beaters get to do the shooting. The fees the normal shooters paid were quite hefty. Do the beaters have to pay the same size fees when they get to shoot?

By the way, I've loaded up my first round for my C.P. Clabrough and Sons, SxS hammergun with damascus barrels. The load for the 2 & 1/2" 12-bore is 82 grains of FFFg under 1 & 1/8 ounce of #2 shot (for Woodchucks). I haven't shot it off yet though.

Kirk, glad you loaded some up for your double, did you weigh the shot or use a common volume measure? If so it may give lighter weights for your #2 shot, Just a thought.
Wad wadding did you use?

Beaters Kirk get to shoot free on their day, being a man of modest means thats why I do it!
Beaters don't get paid much for a days beating through the season so this does make it up some.
I beat regular through the season on two shoots working Tia, both shoots give the beaters two days shooting most seasons so I gets a total of four days Next one is Saturday and then the last day of the season is Monday and the Mrs has let me take the day of work woo hoo

Thanks for the offer Perry, I would gladly test them shells for you but they don't have a roll crimp tut tut
I have no BP but plenty of Pyro to use up. Makes a similar sound, loads of smoke and smells foul, perfect

The Henry Monk Doc is not perfect, it has been refurbed some time and has been sleeved but very well done. The barrels finish is very good and even. The fore wood is fragile and cracked. Years of steady soaking in gun oil no doubt.
The origanal proof marks puts it around 1910-1925 ish. It is very light at just over 6lb allthough the barrels walls are quite thick. The chambers are 2 1/2". There is just a little pitting, certainly not to bad so as to worry me.

Nath.
The ejectors work well and are timed nicely.

[C. Cash]

Looking good Nath! Can't beat a good double.

[Buck Elliott]

D'ya think the Brit "gentry" would have an apoplectic fit if I showed up with my TTN Coach Gun? 20" barrels -- no choke -- but it is a sideXside, and it even has hammers...

[Nath]

D'ya think the Brit "gentry" would have an apoplectic fit if I showed up with my TTN Coach Gun? 20" barrels -- no choke -- but it is a sideXside, and it even has hammers...

Buck, I would be right by your side loading for ya.
I have turned up with pump/slide actions, rifle/shotgun combinations, autos and 410s oh and not to mention the muzzle loaders!

Some shoots are snobby, I have fun with those types

N.

[KirkD]

Four days of shooting pheasants. I can tell you that just the thought of it makes me all happy even if I never get to do it. Nath, for my experimental load, I weighed first the powder, and then cut down a plastic shotgun shell to use as a volume measure that would hold about 82 grains of FFFg. I found that the same volume measure, rounded the right amount, also gave me 1 & 1/8" oz of shot. I don't know what kind of wadding I'm using .... someone here in Canada sent me a box of it. It looks like compressed fine sawdust. I cut it to the proper thickness and then roll crimp the finished shotshell.

[Nath]

Four days of shooting pheasants. I can tell you that just the thought of it makes me all happy even if I never get to do it. Nath, for my experimental load, I weighed first the powder, and then cut down a plastic shotgun shell to use as a volume measure that would hold about 82 grains of FFFg. I found that the same volume measure, rounded the right amount, also gave me 1 & 1/8" oz of shot. I don't know what kind of wadding I'm using .... someone here in Canada sent me a box of it. It looks like compressed fine sawdust. I cut it to the proper thickness and then roll crimp the finished shotshell.

Very good Kirk, my favoured load only has 1/4" of a fiber wad but I do put a couple of over shot cards on both sides of it just to help it some. The ones shot side have a blob of my lube too.

N.

[Buck Elliott]

D'ya think the Brit "gentry" would have an apoplectic fit if I showed up with my TTN Coach Gun? 20" barrels -- no choke -- but it is a sideXside, and it even has hammers...

Buck, I would be right by your side loading for ya.
I have turned up with pump/slide actions, rifle/shotgun combinations, autos and 410s oh and not to mention the muzzle loaders!

Some shoots are snobby, I have fun with those types

N.

No 000 Buck though, I gather -- or Brenneke 600-gr. slugs -- or Heavi-SHot BBB...? I reckon English pheasants aren't quite as nasty to deal with as wolves & grizz...

I think I do have some 4s, 5s, & 6s stashed away some where, in shells something less than 3 1/2" long.

[Nath]

Great post Nath.

Tell me - is that double an "under lever"???

Pop

No, it is a top lever

N.

[KirkD]

Nath, what do you use for lube? For my test shell, I rubbed the wad on a stick of SPG black powder lube, but it is a pretty slow processes.

[Nath]

D'ya think the Brit "gentry" would have an apoplectic fit if I showed up with my TTN Coach Gun? 20" barrels -- no choke -- but it is a sideXside, and it even has hammers...

Buck, I would be right by your side loading for ya.
I have turned up with pump/slide actions, rifle/shotgun combinations, autos and 410s oh and not to mention the muzzle loaders!

Some shoots are snobby, I have fun with those types

N.

No 000 Buck though, I gather -- or Brenneke 600-gr. slugs -- or Heavi-SHot BBB...? I reckon English pheasants aren't quite as nasty to deal with as wolves & grizz...

I think I do have some 4s, 5s, & 6s stashed away some where, in shells something less than 3 1/2" long.

The BB should be ok but the pattern might be a bit blotchy with the buck shot, the slug is a no really just in case you knock the weather vain of the church

N.

[Nath]

Nath, what do you use for lube? For my test shell, I rubbed the wad on a stick of SPG black powder lube, but it is a pretty slow processes.

Kirk, I melted some bees wax from a friends bees in a large flatish candy/sweets tin and then added olive oil. When it cooled I had a soft paste. When cold I have to really press my finger in it to get some out etc. I will try candle wax in place of the bees wax when I run out as I heard that it works well too.
It does seem to keep the fouling soft and even offer some protection on long damp days IMO.

The same lube plastered over the gun is good for protecion too, I used nothing else on the M/L.
It will run if left in hot sun light but then again we ain't supposed to do that with any ammo really.
It is good for the hands too.

If like me you use hot water to clean the barrels after use the heat helps the lube to melt and flow in the tight spots etc.

Hope this helps.

N.

[86er]

Awesome! Is the Monk a BLNE or BLE? Looks nice from what I can see. Where's your loader? Taking the photo I hope....

[Nath]

Awesome! Is the Monk a BLNE or BLE? Looks nice from what I can see. Where's your loader? Taking the photo I hope....

BLE Joe.
I did not need a loader but did have a bird come over when I had the gun open just reloading one shell

Here is a pic taken the day after I collected it in october last.



Nath.