How to Load Flintlock Shotgun?

[alienbogey]

I'm writing a novel, it's set in 1848, and a character loads a flintlock shotgun with shot for ducks.

In that time frame would the loading sequence be powder-wad-shot-wad-priming, or would it have been powder-shot-wad-priming (no wad between powder and shot)?

Or am I missing something entirely?

I've loaded and fired muzzleloading percussion rifles, but never a flinter or blackpowder shotgun.

I don't want to make a technical error in the description if I can help it.

 

[rcmodel]

powder-wad-shot-wad-priming

There has to be stuffing of some sort between the powder & the shot, or all the pressure would blow right on through the shot column. The stuffing could be a manufactured wad, a scrap of old rag, or wadded up paper, or whatever, but it has to be there.

rc

 

[alienbogey]

Great, that's what I thought, but I just wanted to be sure.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Jim K]

Sometimes wadded up paper was used, but normally wads were made or purchased. The wad between the powder and shot was called the "over powder wad" and was quite thick (about 1/3 inch). The "overshot" wad was thinner but still thick enough to be rammed. Home-made over-powder wads were cut out of felt or cardboard using a "cookie cutter"-like tool called a "wadcutter"*. Overshot wads were normally cardboard. Thicker wads were made by gluing thin wads together. The ramrods had flat heads so as to keep the wads straight.

The basic loading technique remained much the same after breechloading guns and shotshells came into use, though the powder, wads and shot were loaded into shells instead of directly into the barrel.

The powder and shot were usually loaded from two separate flasks, though there were flasks made with dual comparments and two spouts. Usually, the powder flask had a spout with some means of adjusting the charge. With a flintlock, there would also be a small flask for priming powder, which was finer (and thus easier to ignite) than the powder used in the propellant charge.

Powder "horns" were uncommon with shotguns. While rifles were the common arm on the frontier, shotguns were usually found in more settled areas, where such niceties as flasks were available.

*Hence the name "wadcutter" given to flat-nose bullets designed to cut clean holes in targets to make scoring easier in target shooting. The neat holes look like those left by a wad cutter.

Jim

 

[Cosmoline]

There's an old instructional poem called "pteryplegia" about the art of wing shooting that's a good resource:

http://www.archive.org/details/pteryplegiaorart00mark

In the time period you reference obviously the fowling pieces would be shifting to caplocks, but otherwise the traditions and methods would remain very similar.

Wasp nest paper was also used as wadding. Still is.

A shot snake might be used to measure charges of shot.

Double barrel fowlers were considerably more common by the 1840's than they had been in the 18th century I believe. There are references to them in Jane Austen's "Persuasion" as typical fowling pieces.

 

[RugerMcMarlin]

Ive probably been doing it wrong for years , but this looks like a good place to ask. I have a Flint lock Fowling piece, I have been loading it with equal parts shot to powder, using an old adjustable dram scoop. I put a little crumpled up ball of newspaper twixt powder and shot and a card disc, or another ball of newspaper on top.Tamped just snug. 2F with 4F to prime. Seems to work ok, I have some fiber wads I use some times. #6 chilled.

 

[Cosmoline]

Check this site out:

http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/shotgun.html

 

[david58]

Ive probably been doing it wrong for years , but this looks like a good place to ask. I have a Flint lock Fowling piece, I have been loading it with equal parts shot to powder, using an old adjustable dram scoop. I put a little crumpled up ball of newspaper twixt powder and shot and a card disc, or another ball of newspaper on top.Tamped just snug. 2F with 4F to prime. Seems to work ok, I have some fiber wads I use some times. #6 chilled.

If you are shooting a flint fowler, you are probably getting pretty close to how it was done in the 18th century. Maybe moss or tow or such rather than paper (speculating), but likely not anything manufactured. Historicaltrekking.com could point you to the way the originals were shot, if you are interested.
If yours is an English Fowler, I love it from here. I love the English guns!

 

[goon]

I've used dry grass, dry leaves, and corn husk and silk as wadding with my Bess. Generally I use the campus newspaper though.

Still, just about anything dry that will help seal the blast of the powder off and keep it behind the shot would work. I've heard of some guys using a chunk of wasp nest as an over powder wad, then another on top of the shot.

FWIW, I have also found that priming with FFg powder works fine. It's not a precision peice and if I prime right, I can't tell the difference. High speed photos will show FFFFg is faster, but did they have that granulation back at the time? I'd think that just priming from the horn would be more practical than carrying two granulations of powder around with you.

 

[RugerMcMarlin]

Cosmoline, Thanks thats a great article. I have not heard that poem before,
my gun measures out to about 11 gauge, I'm going to try 1F. The dram scoop I have says Ideal on it looks just like the one in the picture, except black handle.
I bought a big bag of Lawrence chilled 6s, about 20 years ago, havent really made a dent in it yet. Glad I didn't pay todays price! I went to a Rendevous in north central Missouri,back in the 80s, like maybe Fairview? , there was an old guy there, only had 1 finger, and a thumb on his left hand. I watched him break 100 straight Trap, with a Flintlock! I mean he didn't even fiddle with the flint! He was about half way through the next hundred, when I had to leave. Man, I was hooked! Whats the trick to shooting punkinballs through a choke? mine hit about a foot low at 25 Yds.

Goon I have mashed 2f into a finer grain right on the pan and it works, My patch knife has a pretty sharp piece of antler for a handle
From what I can tell the difference is the size of the grains so I just made smaller grains.

 

[RugerMcMarlin]

David58
Well we were laughing about that, first time we used yellow pages out of another guys phone book! just crumpled it up a couple times first.

I don't really know what it is, single barrel, with like a trade lock, kind of like a canoe gun, but the barrel is about 36". curly maple stock. only goes about half way to muzzle.Got a little german silver turtle for a front sight. I don't think its real old. I mean like 1780s old, I think it was made, in the 1950s or 60s. Its got a choke, that looks like it would be full,
but I havent been able to load it consistant enough to get a good handle, on how it patterns! Sometimes I get Modified, Sometimes kinda full.!? Just guessing, I think it was some ol boys turkey gun.

Whats an English Fowler like?

 

[goon]

Goon I have mashed 2f into a finer grain right on the pan and it works, My patch knife has a pretty sharp piece of antler for a handle
From what I can tell the difference is the size of the grains so I just made smaller grains.

I just use FFg as is. As I said, I know from discussing with other guys and from what I know about BP that FFFFg is definitely faster. But I know from experience that both are so fast that I can't tell the difference. But I was shooting a Bess. Standard practice with them was pull out a cartridge, rip it open with your teeth, prime from the cartridge, pour the rest down the bore, cram the rest of the cartridge and ball down.
Ready, level, fire!

 

[Curator]

Alienbogey,

How and with what the flintlock shotgun was loaded would depend on where your character was and the availability of "store-bought" components. In most civilized areas pre-made wads were available, Gunstores and dry goods stores sold them. Hudson Bay trading posts had various sized wads available in the F&I period (1753) Shotguns were usually loaded from flasks with a measuring spout and a "shot-snake" with a scoop attached. Wads were carried in a compartmented pouch.

Out on the frontier and after supplies ran out the shooter would have to improvise. The standard load for fowler was equal volume of powder and shot with one or two card or "pasteboard" wads between and a thin cork or card wad over the shot. When shooting large (swan shot or buck shot) the shot volume was often increased to 1 1/4 measure shot to one measure of powder. This gave a slight increase in velocity and range. Check out W. W. Greener's "The gun and its development" for accurate information about historic shooting.