Brown Bess??

[t-man]

I'm new to this forum so I hope this has not been covered before.
I would like to try using my Brown Bess for turkey this spring and have a couple questions. One of the "sticky posts" on top of this forum, "Blackpowder Essetials " by GARY has a description on making your own wads. Has anyone ever tried this? My bore is .746 on the Bess. What size would you use for the wad? Do they fit tight or loose? Does the recipe he includes for making the lube work good for a wad lube? Would regular bore butter be okay to use? I located the web site for the felt, but right know they are out of the felt. Just my luck.
For the overshot card, What thickness do you recommend? Obviously. they would or should fit snug, so as the shot doesn't push the card out. But how snug? I would hate to have it too tight and end up with a barrel obstuction. Finding components for this size bore is nearly impossible. Very few pre-made components on the market.
Would a paper shot cup be recommended for this use?
Thanks in advance for any and all help. t-man.

 

[ferg48]

Caliber to Guage mebbe

I have a 10 guage BP shotgun. If we could figure out where to find a caliber to guage table, then you could get wads, cards, etc from Dixie Gun Works, where I got mine...

hope this helps.

 

[kjeff50cal]

The Brown Bess was the original 12 gauge...... many "liberated" 'Besses were used as shotguns on American farmsteads. .746 ~ 12 gauge/bore.

 

[Duncaninfrance]

I use 40% Beeswax/40% Parafine Wax/20% Mutton Tallow Mix to soak my felt in to make wads for my 1858. Works fine. NEVER use Bore butter - hate the stuff! you could also try a 50/50 mix of Beeswax and Olive Oil, smells nice too

 

[Richard Hanneman]

A .729in is 12ga, .750 is 11ga. I use Alcan wads "for brass shot shells" in 12ga. They measure at 11ga. and work well. I soak them in 10W-30 motor oil and keep them in a plastic bag until I use them. I'm sure any lube that stays very soft in cold weather will work. Use a .135 or .200 card over powder wad, .200 is probably better. After putting down powder, I use the same measure for both shot and powder (3 1/4 Dr. ffg), start with card wad than lubed cushion wad and then shot in a steel shot shot cup if you use steel shot, with lead you need no shot cup, then over shot wad. NEVER PUT PLASTIC AGAINST BLACK POWDER, IT WILL MELT AND MAKE A BIG MESS. I use a short started, about 3 x 5/8 in, to load charge near the muzzle and push it down all at once to stop bounce from air compression. You will know if your lub is working if second load goes down as easy as the first. Alcan wads can be found on ebay. Search "sporting goods-reloading-wads".

 

[Steve499]

I have no muzzleloading shotgun so I've not done this, but I read about making your own shotgun wads. Basically, they are paper mache, sort of. As I understand it, you drill a bunch of holes, a little over your bore size, in a board or something, and pack the holes with wet newspaper which you pack in tight with a hammer and wooden punch. When they have dried they can be pushed from the holes. I guess you can regulate the thickness to whatever you desire. I can imagine some improvements to make the process easier, like using some sort of vinyl instead of wood for the mold.

I would think wads of this nature could be used both over the powder as well as over the shot, depending on how thick you made them.

Steve

 

[Vairochana]

Check the pattern also; you can open or tighten it by adjusting the powder charge

 

[t-man]

thanks

Thanks for all the input. I got ahold of Dixie and they set me strate on what wads and cards to buy for the Bess. They seem like very knowledgable and helpful people.
Thanks again for the help, t-man.

 

[ferg48]

Glad

i'm glad these fine folks gave you the good info... the more often i'm here, the more i learn heh