Hope someone can give me a starting point here. In my neverending pursuit of the the "grand old bird"-the turkey, I recently purchased a traditional CVA black powder shotgun to begin a quest for a traditional black powder "grand slam".
I plan to use Triple-7 powder, shot cups and #5 shot. Does anyone here have experience with the like and can give me a reference of where to start. I know that each gun will perform a little different. I have shot bp rifles and pistols some. Has anyone worked up any loads they can share and give me maximum ranges, etc. I would appreciate any help thrown my way. Thanks!
TBT

The CVA has a max load of 1 1/4 oz of shot. That would take 3 1/4 dram of powder. In black powder muzzle loading shotguns, you are always best in starting with the 1 for 1 of a traditional load. You will find that as you increase the powder to shot ratio, your pattern will develop holes in it.

Lyman has book out on black powder that offers a lot of info for the black powder shotgunner. I forget the name at the moment.

As for range, that will depend on how your shotgun handles the load. You will be best off if you pattern the load at various distances.

Actually, I would start with a lighter load. Say 3 drams in back of 1 oz of #5 or #4 shot. You can tinker a bit by the wad you use, and how many over the powder cards you use. I have never used the CVA shot cups, but would think they will help extend your range a bit.

Regards,

Pete

The "1 to 1" loading ratio, ie., equal volumes of powder and shot, is for black powder or an equivalent substitute like Pyrodex. I think that if you are going to use T7, you need to use 10% less powder than shot BY VOLUME!