• Black Powder Loads Manuals For Shotgun Shells
• Black Powder Loading Manuals

Jan 28, 2017 - I also have an old Alcan manual,but that file exceeds forum limits. The magazines list a number of 12 gauge black powder loads and two 12.

First, this is for folks that already know how to reload modern smokeless shells. Learn how to reload first and then try black powder. You'll need some throwaway once fired straight wall plastic hulls. Herter's, Federal, Estate, Rio, brand doesn't matter. You will load them once, shoot, and toss them and get more. Check down the barrels each shot for blown base wads, but I've never seen a base wad come loose. A single stage MEC, Lyman Easy Loader, or Lee Load All, or PW 375 Do not smoke around black powder.

Go see the angels later. Be double careful about fire and don't have any more powder in the reservoir than you'd like to blow up.

Never force primers and feed primers one at a time. Wear safety goggles and say your prayers before messing with black powder. You'll need a pound or two of FFG black powder Use any 209 standard primer. Here's where Cheddites shine.

Get a bag of 500 1/2' fiber cushion wads, I like the ones with hard sides, and 500.125' nitro cards Use a 1 1/8 oz shot bushing and probably the same bushing for the powder. You want from 75-85 grains, 82 grains being a three dram load, 75 grains a 2 3/4 dram load. Check your powder throws on a good scale. The important thing is to have enough powder so you'll get good crimps. Now, load 25 shells at a time using 7 1/2 or 8 shot. Resize, prime, charge with black powder, nitro card first, ram home the cushion was with about 50 pounds or so of was pressure, drop the shot, and adjust crimp.

I may be overly cautious about black powder loading, but it is easy to touch off black powder. Now select a suitable old smoke pole like this 1902 O Grade Damascus a client actually gave me a few years ago in two pieces, but thanks to David Lauer and some artificial rawhide the broken stock is mended.

At forty yards the left full barrel shoots a good pattern with 3 drams FFG, 1 1/8 oz chilled 7 1/2 shot, Herter's hulls, 1/2 cushion and.125 nitro card. Didn't even have to change crimps from loading AA's on a MEC 600 Mk V with adjustable charge bar.

The right modified choke does open up just a bit. It's for a crack shot at skeet though. Right and left barrels pattern tight at 21 yards. Loading a box of these black powder shells costs about double the price of light target loads. You'll not get many shells from a pound of black powder. But shooting shotguns is supposed to be fun, and shooting black powder shells is just a hoot and barrels of laughs and smiles. Clean your gun, completely, preferably with hot soapy water.

And never shoot black powder from a pristine, nice old gun that you'd cry to see get some rust spots or discoloration. The LC Smiths in 12 gauge all had 2 3/4' chambers and the majority of the rest of them (Parker, Fox, Ithaca, Lefever) came with chambers intentionally left 1/8' short, but intended to shoot 2 3/4' shells. All the reloading press manufacturers think about static electricity, which in theory could ignite smokeless powder, although black would be more prone to detonate. Don't reload black over carpet, or in extremely dry climates, where static electricity is more likely to form. Better yet, I say load only a quarter of a pound at a time.

For single loading with a muzzleloader by all means use a brass measure and never load directly from the flask. Also, don't leave black in the hopper, and keep shells and powder stored in a temperate and humidity controlled room. Black powder draws water, which is why the stuff rusts your gun so quickly.

Using 777 or Pyrodex helps with clean up, and those powders are safer, in theory. But they don't work as well as black powder. A properly loaded 3 dram black powder load is a joy to shoot, performs on a par with modern shells, and sends lots of belching smoke and fire out the barrels.

Watch out not to ignite dry grass. Another trick is to carry a spray bottle of 1/3 90% rubbing alcohol, 1/3 hydrogen peroxide, and 1/3 Murphy's Oil Soap and spray the inside of the barrels during rounds. This greatly softens fouling and cools the barrels.

I have never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as a reason for withdrawing from a friend. Thomas Jefferson. I've been shooting BP for over 45 years. You forgot to mention it usually takes more then one cushion wad - a second 1/2' wad will be cut and added to adjust the total height for a good crimp.

I use a Mec 600 with a 1oz charge bar, and a 46 bushing for about 70grs of 3F. A 46 bushing cut in half will throw about 82grs. Second, BP doesn't create rust so fast it can't be shot in a good SxS. I have over ten SxS's, some of them quite valuable, and BP at times gets shot in all of them. I just make sure to clean them at the end of the day.

Paul Venue shotgun chairman of the LCSC and the LPSXSA. It's true that usually I've had to use two half inch fiber wads, but those were the soft kind that I use for soaking in a solution of 1/3 alcohol, 1/3 peroxide, and 1/3 Murphy's Oil Soap when I load muzzle loading black powder. You'd not soak them for loading shells, of course. But these hard card fiber wads with slick black ends are available from Ballistic Products, Inc, and using the Herter's straight walled case it takes 82 grains FFG, a Ballsitics Products.125 Maxi Nitro card wad (500 to the bag), their half inch hard card fiber wads (200 to a bag) and close to 1 1/8 #7 1/2 shot with 50 pounds wad pressure on the wads for a perfect six point crimp.

We shot a bunch of these today and had a ball. I'll take some pictures next time. Some friends gave me 125 Herter's hulls with boxes, but most of the ones I shot black powder from look like they could be used again. A few burned a hole in the side of the hull. No need to get greedy. Load them once and pitch them all. As for shooting them in really nice guns, everybody that had a really nice gun used to do that until smokeless came out and got really established about the time of World War One.

Which may account for the usually sorry state of condition one generally finds a Damascus barreled shotgun from the black powder heyday. If and only if you clean them once very well and then several times later on-they rust. Be careful or cry later. What I can't understand is why didn't all the Model 97 Winchesters and especially early Auto Fives didn't just rust away to nothing when shot with black powder.

There is no way those old timers took every part down on one of those and cleaned them with boiling hot soapy water. The barrel maybe, but not the rest of the gun.

Maybe that's why you don't see many from the black powder era that survived. Black powder is dirty, nasty stuff,then and now. I have never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as a reason for withdrawing from a friend. Thomas Jefferson. For a quick clean-up when using old hammer SXSs, I give my gun a quick bore cleaning with a patch and rubbing alcohol. Upon returning home, I remove the barrels, then the ejectors (1 screw holds them in place), and stick a garden hose with appropriate nozzle in the chambers and give the bores a good flushing. I then dry the bore with paper towels, and make sure it is well dried, inside and out.I then replace the ejectors, give the exteriors a good wipe-down with a damp cloth and dry with paper towels, then light coat of oil on everything.

Quick and easy, and it works. Incidentally, range pickups of any brand of shells works. Plastic hulls only last one or two firings before developing pin holes. Additionally, I use Circle-Fly wads. Cheap, efficient, and they make them in more gauges and sizes than you think existed!

BobK. I like to load my BP in Federal Paper shells with 1/2 inch fiber on top of over powder wad.

I find with paper they seal the chamber in my 97'pump and no residue in action. Also I know I won't mix them with my smokeless which are all plastic.

I have developed,some good loads at 1150 to 1200 fpsand shoot skeet and CAS knock downs with good success. I got some pics of shooting skeet at night I'll post later. Below video of a local SASS match with BP loads. Enjoy Last edited by on Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

As I said before, I've never had a problem with rust and I shoot some SxS's worth more than 5K. Also, BP is measured by volume so a scale isn't necessary.

Most guys use a measure meant for loading BP and use a equal amount of powder to shot. Originals can be found at gun shows or plastic ones from BPI. I normally use 1oz of shot in the 12ga so more wads are necessary.

There's three SxS shoots in Michigan every year, and a group of us from my club shoot just BP at them. It's a challenge on the second bird in SC's to even see it - same with skeet on doubles, but it's about the most fun you can have with your pants on.

Venue shotgun chairman of the LCSC and the LPSXSA. I mixed up a bunch of the black powder solvent a couple of years ago and forgot exactly which type of Murphy's oil soap I used.

I demeans the Murphy's bottle had a spray top lid, though. There are two strengths of rubbing alcohol. I used the strongest nintysome percent strength, and the highest concentration of hydrogen peroxide that Walgreens sold, as well.

I don't know it'll it matters. But the 1/3 each of Murphy's oil soap, rubbing alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide does work well for softening black powder fouling. Put it up in a quart sized plastic spray bottle.

Spray directly down the barrels several times during a round. It's good for soaking Circle Fly soft fiber wads before loading muzzle loading black powder shotguns. As said earlier, start out using equal measure of black powder and shot in a brass measure. Muzzle loader shotguns were and are pretty finicky about the loads they like. Anywhere from 7/8 ounces of shot to 1 1/4 ounces of shot and 2 3/4 drams to 3 3/4 drams of FFG were used by the old timers in 12 gauge guns.

1 1/4 oz of shot over 3 1/4 drams of black powder was the standard live pigeon load for twelve gauge. The standard target load was three drams of FFG under 1 1 1/8 ounces shot, which is an equal measure load. It's also what I shoot in black powder shell reloading. For muzzleloader you will need over shot wads, and also for shells if you roll crimp.

A leather glove for your off hand is a good idea too, as was mentioned. Black powder burns a lot hotter than smokeless.

Contrary to popular belief, a three dram 1 1/8 ounce black powder load runs exactly the same 1200 feet per second as the modern 3 dram equivalent 1 1/8 ounce smokeless loads. That's why the box says 3 dram equivalent. It's suprising how many people think you should increase lead for black powder. Actually Fred Kimble and his buddies were using guns in every way as effective as ours, only they belched smoke. Kimble shot only 1 1/4 ounce of #3 shot from a six gauge single barrel.

It would shoot through pine boards at forty yards. And he'd kill as many as two hundred geese and ducks a day for market.

I have never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as a reason for withdrawing from a friend. Thomas Jefferson. I basically use hot water and soap as clean up as I use fiber wads. My shooting buddy loads plastic casings with plastic wads. If you want any more information you can PM me. To clean he first plugs the front end of the barrels on his double with paper towels.

He then sprays Windex with Ammonia (clear liquid) in each barrel from the back end and then plugs that end with paper towels. He then cleans the receiver with some Ballistol soaked patches. Then he takes a rod and jag with a patch soaked in Ballistol and then pushes it through the barrels. This method immediately removes all of the plastic and black powder residue. It comes out in one shot looking pretty bad. He calls it 'snot'. Two more videos.

The first some shooting at night with 12 ga model 97 winchester with BP loads in Federal Paper Hulls. These loads perform the same as regular smokeless loads like AA Winchester or Remington Gun Clubs as far as velocity and pattern. The recoil is much lighter. Second is my friend shooting a 14 shot stage with his double and BP plastic loads. You can hear him comment near the end on how hot the shotgun is getting. Cheap windshield washer fluid works great to clean up black powder.

I plug the barrels with a rubber cork from the hardware store and fill them and set aside while I clean the action. No fuss little muss. Good gun oil after and no rust. The muzzle loaders just put a cap on the nipples and fill. Age just makes one old. Only the wise benefit from experience. The definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein There is nothing common about good sense.

Hunting and shooting with a black powder gun (muzzleloader) is lots of fun. It is a bit more time consuming than using a modern rifle or shotgun.

It is very important to learn how to load your weapon properly, so as to prevent misfires and accidental overloads. Hunting with these old-style guns helps you understand how it was done by men like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.

I even killed two deer with one shot last year! My dad was a little mad because he had to clean and dress both of them, but he still brags about it to his friends. Even though standard muzzleloaders (usually) just give you the opportunity for one shot, they can still be very effective hunting tools. They can also be very dangerous when not handled properly! Remember: SAFETY FIRST! 1) Keep black powder and Pyrodex away from open flames and sparks!

2) Always measure your black powder/Pyrodex carefully. 3) Follow all instructions found in your owners manual. 4) Carefully follow all rules of safe gun handling.

It is very important to measure your powder correctly. Not enough, and the projectile will not have adequate velocity. Too much and you could damage your weapon and injure yourself. Get a proper powder measure, and learn how to use it. Read your instruction manual to find out the recommended powder charge. Most rifles fire well with 75gr-120gr of black powder. Never EVER substitute (or mix) modern smokeless powder for the appropriate powder (BP or Pyrodex).

Pour a little powder onto a piece of paper. Put the cap back on the black powder container. Then, pour the powder from the paper into your powder measure. I use an old school brass one, but modern clear-plastic ones are good to. You can skip the paper step if you use a small funnel, and pour the powder direcly into a measure. Make sure you have the appropriate projectile (bullet) for your type of weapon. We use pre-lubricated conical bullets.

Black Powder Loads Manuals For Shotgun Shells

A round ball requires a lubricated patch to make a good fit and seal. Saboted slugs are also a good projectile, and require no type of lubrication. 1)Place the projectile (nose pointing outward), on the tip of your muzzle.

2)Use a ball-starter or similar tool to press the bullet a little way (an inch or so) into the barrel. You may have to tap on the starter several times if the projectile is a particularly tight fitting one.

3)Use your ramrod to push the projectile all the way into the barrel, until it fits snugly up against your powder charge. This is no time to use brute-force, and definitely NEVER hammer on the ramrod to make the fit super-tight! This step is best done once you are sitting in your hunting spot.

It could be dangerous to walk with a loaded and primed weapon. My rifle uses modern '209' type primers. They are the same type of primer used for reloading shotgun shells.

The old-style copper primer fits over the nipple. (I'll ad pics soon). 1) Open action/breech of your weapon. 2) Place primer in position.

Black Powder Loading Manuals

3) Push in finger-tight, making sure it seats properly. 4) Close the breech of your weapon.

Your weapon is now fully loaded. It is as dangerous as any modern shotgun or rifle. Treat it with respect and never point it anything you do not wish to kill or destroy.

Young Skunkers is out hunting with Mrs.Skunkbait. I'm waiting for the rain to stop. Anyway, Pawnshops and gunshops are a good place to start. Some Walmarts carry some pretty decent ones. On-line, you can go to gunbroker.com.

Unless you're just really into cowboy/frontier stuff, I'd reccomend going with a modern inline or breakdown muzzle-loader. CVA, Traditions, and Knight make perfectly decent BP guns. But when you want (middle)high-end stuff, Thompson is the way to go. Also, if you can find one, H&R;/New England Arms used to make one based on their single-barrel shotguns. You can't get any more plain/simple/reliable than that!

Actually, walmart has an over 100 page special order catalog with tons of guns, and they are usually cheaper than at gunstores because they are bought in bulk. On a completely unrelated note, if you, like me, prefer the oldstyle guns (for whatever reason) CVA no longer makes those kinds of guns. Only modern inlines from now on. Curse those who shun history and deprive markets of their valueable income.!!

It makes me sad. If i want a nice black powder kentucky rifle or a hawken, i'm forced to go with traditions.