It finally happened. this weekend at the range my buddy's 12-Bore, loaded with 750gr of lead and 136gr of blackpowder, connected with a 24" gong handing at 440 yards.

After nearly 50 misses, each of the last 4 rounds found the gong. Very exciting, though not as impressive as I expected.

My WinMag and similar rifles really set that gong swinging, and gives either a thud or dull ring. A 45-70 with cast loads often gives a clear ringing sound.

The 12-Bore, in contrast, was nearly silent and created no movement. The only way I could tell the gong was hit (via spotting scope) was a symmetrical puff at 3 and 9.

A note on recoil off the bench: Each of the 3 times I pulled the trigger on that fat bastard I sensed my ribs and shoulder. Like radar briefly lights up a group of planes, the recoil illuminated bones in a pulse of awareness.

Gonzo .What can I say? What shooting! What staminer!What determination!What a bloody idiot for subjecting his body to that sort of punnishment!!!!!!!!I love it! Outstanding!goood on ya Old Son Should be more of it

What! A mere 136 grains of powder for a 750-grain bullet? That's only about 1/5th the weight of the ball! MV must be in the low 900's someplace! No wonder it didn't make a sound or move the gong!!

He needs to shoot at least half the weight of the ball to get any kind of velocity at all - 375 grains or so.

El Deguello,

I don't know what sort of case would manage that ratio, but the 12-bore maxes out at 189gr with the long cases.

And I should clarify, I took 4 shots on Sunday. The other 50 or so (several sessions) were all by the owner: 70 year-old retired Army.

What really impresses me is his COMPLETE lack of a flinch. The Mossberg's safety clicks on every time you close the barrel, which he sometimes forgets. On one occasion I watched him close it and forget the safety, so instead of spotting I watched him. He lines up and I see his finger start squeezing, NOTHING. Not even an eyelid moves. This after at least 20 rounds for the day. I've seen the same thing on misfires with a 50-140.

Good times, good times. I am encouraging him to explore the upper reaches of the 12-bore.

Any chrony results? I got my dies from CH4D today and will be able to assemble ammo with consistent OAL and hopefully consistent velocities in my 20. Good to hear the update, hope to be posting my own soon.

quote:

Originally posted by Gonzo FreakPower:
El Deguello,

I don't know what sort of case would manage that ratio, but the 12-bore maxes out at 189gr with the long cases.

And I should clarify, I took 4 shots on Sunday. The other 50 or so (several sessions) were all by the owner: 70 year-old retired Army.

What really impresses me is his COMPLETE lack of a flinch. The Mossberg's safety clicks on every time you close the barrel, which he sometimes forgets. On one occasion I watched him close it and forget the safety, so instead of spotting I watched him. He lines up and I see his finger start squeezing, NOTHING. Not even an eyelid moves. This after at least 20 rounds for the day. I've seen the same thing on misfires with a 50-140.

Good times, good times. I am encouraging him to explore the upper reaches of the 12-bore.

OK, Gonzo!! I'm thinking of 12-bore muzzleloading dangerous game rifles, not cartridge arms!

quote:

Originally posted by El Deguello:
OK, Gonzo!! I'm thinking of 12-bore muzzleloading dangerous game rifles, not cartridge arms!

Ah ha. That makes more sense. I guess you can put as much powder as you want down the barrel before you cap it off with a bullet.

45LCshooter: No chrony yet. I'm not sure we'll ever use one. Good luck with your 20.

quote:

Originally posted by Gonzo FreakPower:

quote:

Originally posted by El Deguello:
OK, Gonzo!! I'm thinking of 12-bore muzzleloading dangerous game rifles, not cartridge arms!

No chrony yet. I'm not sure we'll ever use one. Good luck with your 20.

Gee, I hope you do! I would be curious to know just what that load is giving you. I am in the process of gathering the components to make a .73 cal. (12 GA.) Jaeger ML rifle. It will have a 28" barrel, one turn in 78", land 0.720" groove 0.750". I had intended to make the twist slower, like 1/104", a'la Capt. Forsythe, but the maker suggested 1/78". He's probably right. After looking at recoil figures, I'm not so sure I could stand up to a 1/2 weight of ball charge behind a 700-grain bullet - it is in almost double that of a .600 Nitro Express!! (230+ foot-pounds!!) So a little faster twist will probably be an advantage, since I'll probabvly have to make a BIG CUT in the powder charge!!!

(I don't know how guys like Pasha Samuel Baker survived shooting those 2-bores!!