i posted a question about 10 gauge shotguns on the shotgun forum, but i thought if a jobs worth doing, it"s worth doing right!
i"m trading my sxs 12 gauge, which i rearely use, for some kind of big wildfowling gun. mostly for fun, i won"t be using it very often. i now have a chance to buy an 8 gauge muzzle loader. i fired one once at a game fair years ago, it was very impressive. i"ve never owned a black powder gun before.
any thoughts? anybody got a black powder 8 gauge?

Try Dixie gun works ! and E-Bay

i know where i can get one, i just don"t know much about them!

Brass thief: Don't know where you are located but here in the States, 10 bore is generally the largest allowed for waterfowl hunting, and this may apply in all of North America owing to the migratory bird treaties.
Now an 8-bore rifle, that's another thing entirely! I want one.

hi Bill,
i"m in Northern Ireland,UK. the gun i want to buy is in England, where they have a lead shot ban. one of the by-products of our political situation here is that day to day matters of legislation have been suspended for the last year or so. the good news is that this leaves us as the last part of the UK to still be using lead shot! so a gun that was designed for wildfowling, but is"nt proofed for steel shot is"nt much use in Emgland, so i"m trying to get a good deal on it.
i think the maximum bore size for a smoothbore in the UK is actually over an inch, something like 1 1/4". this is a hangover from the old punt guns which were used a century ago by the commercial wildfowlers of the day(when men were men) now those were REAL guns!

Brass Thief

I have a Hollis and Sons Purcussion 6 Bore. Delightful to look at, lovely to hold, and I near piss in my pants every time I pull the trigger.

Seriously-Most black powder guns I have played with have been cartridge guns, and Have loaded shells for both ten and 12 guage.

1) Loading is the hobby
2) Even the most carefully assembled 10 guage BP rounds don't have as tight a 45 yard pattern as my Browning Citori 12 guage with 1oz loads, and full choke.
3) For our dove hunting and my level of shotgunning skill, oh boy are those open patterns from 2oz of shot great
4) The main problem is the wadding. Need access to a pattening bord. I wasted a heck of alot of powder and lead until I figured that I was getting a doughnut pattern with a blooming great hole in the centre. Spent a huge ammount of time buggering about with wads until I read an article from Robin Barkes in Magnum Magazine on how to make compressable, hollow centre wads, and now I get a pretty even pattern from both the 10 and 12.
5) Loading is the hobby- don't forget it- Takes me 5 evenings to load for a Saturday Afternoon shoot.

Have fun and stock up on the youngs 303 oil. Works better than anything else on BP guns and the smell will bring back old memories!

Brass: Is the 8 bore a cartridge gun or a muzzleloader? Either way I amsure you can get it shooting and shooting well. The large bores can often be made to handle a light load nicely. Also, you could use bismuth shot if you had to. I'll bet Circle Fly makes wads for it.

thanks for the replies guys,
i picked up my single barrel, 8 bore, antonio zoli reproduction
percussion muzzle loader on saturday, and it feels/mounts great(it"s only just over 7 lbs!)
i live in Northern Ireland, so i can still use lead shot for now anyway, but i"m still waiting for my black powder cert from the cops.
i"m told that pattern has a lot to do with matching the powder charge to the shot weight, so as not to push the shot too fast and scatter the pattern. any thoughts?
i hope to get everything together to shoot it within the next few days, so i"ll post again when i get a chance to pattern it with a few different loads.
good shooting.

Go down to the libary and find a copy of W.W. Greeners - the Gun and its Development. Preferably one of the earleir editions (I have 8th and 10th) He gives considerable detail on charge to shot ratio's and wadding for the best pattern. Best background info I have come accross.

Brass: There used to be a rule of thumb that a shotgun in the BP days worked best with a "square load," but I can't remember the definition. Could be the old equal amounts of powder and shot, but it may also have been based on the idea of a shot column that is the same height as bore diameter, with a corresponding powder charge.

well i got her up and running!
it"s great fun, and i need more load development, but i love shooting it. i"ve never owned a black powder gun before, and i just love the noise it makes! it"s a real satisfying "boom"
i"ve tried a few different shot sizes, and found that 7 or 8 shot is"nt heavy enough to break clays at more than 40 yds, while 1 1/2 or 2 oz of no 4 shot will dust them pretty well.
00 buckshot tends to scatter everywhere(maybe i need to try less powder with it), and i"m still waiting for my round ball pliers to cast some balls.
i"ve got 6 weeks to perfect my duck load!
good shooting!

7lb's I sure wouldn't shoot any round ball loads in it, at full speed. My 8 bore under hammer weights in at 13lb's and with the near max load of 300 grains of FFG Elephant Black and the 975 grain ball, its just a tad much, now mine is rifled so it may make a difference.

i"ve tried patched ball out of it, without much success! when i have time, i"ll try again with a tighter patch and a few different powder loads.
and yes, it kicks like a horse! i"ve read about the old muzzle loading rifles of long ago, and the horrendous recoil associated with them, so your rifled barrel probably generates more recoil with the added resistance from the rifling. mine kicks just enough to inspire confidence in the size of the gun!
good shooting

quote:

near max load of 300 grains of FFG Elephant Black and the 975 grain ball

Ouch! On both ends!

just as a quick update,
if anyone was thinking of using 2 oz of no 4 shot to shoot pheasants with an 8 bore-
don"t do it !
and on a completely different topic, has anyone ever made pheasant mince or burgers ?
good shooting

quote:

"m told that pattern has a lot to do with matching the powder charge to the shot weight, so as not to push the shot too fast and scatter the pattern. any thoughts?

Yes. The proper load for a ML shotgun is equal volumes of powder and shot, separated by a cushion wad, and a overshot card wad on top of the mess to keep it in place.

So, if you choose to shoot 2.5 oz. of shot in the thing, you set your measure to hold 2.5 oz. of shot, then fu=ill it to the top with POWDER which you por in first. Next, insert the cushion wadding and seat that onto the powder, followed by the measure full of shot, and finally the card was.

According top my recoil caculator, if you use 2.5 oz of shot in that 7 pound gun with 250 grains of black powder for a MV of 1100 FPS, the recoil will be 257 foot-pounds, or about TWICE THE RECOIL OF A 16-pound 600 NITRO EXPRESS WEIGHING 16 POUNDS! What fun, eh?? I hope you have shoulder insurance.......

yep, she"s pretty lively !
actually, it"s just a big shove. it"s not a sharp kick.(although everyone seems to take a step back when they fire it!) there"s no sharp muzzle blast either. just a lovely "thud", like a grenade going off, a big white cloud, and the old "rotten eggs" smell !
this is possibly the most fun gun i"ve ever owned, and it"s not even automatic !
maybe i"m getting old ?!
good shooting

Brass: Sure would like to see a picture of your 8 bore. By the way, if you aren't breaking clays at 40 yards with no. 7 shot, it must be moving way too slow. I would sure try some light loads in the 8 -- 1 1/4 ounces of shot over an equal volume of BP, properly wadded. Sometimes the light loads give very fine patterns, and they are easier on you and the gun.

For the really big stuff, try:

www.octobercountry.com

George

How about posting a picture of you 8 bore?

brass,,was talking with a friend who hunts deer with buckshot and blackpowder, he sugested you mite want to try and make some shot cartridges, he dose his out of fax paper and a dowel sized to fit the bore,,looks like a big rat turd once he's done, but works, right now he uses sawdust as buffer.

George,
John Shorb has sold October Country and no longer markets the Great American Sporting Rifle. I have one in 14 bore that I think is the best hunting rifle I've ever owned. It will make 'em come! For other heavy muzzleloaders contact Jim Gefroh in Ft Collins, Colo. I built me an 8 bore jaeger that I won't sell at any price.