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Has anyone dabbled with making up some 16 GA Black Powder loads ?

A while back there was a handful of us at our club who used to occasionally hold black powder skeet shoots - which quickly became known as 'black lung skeet shoots'

At that time everybody (all generous handful of us) were shooting 12 GA double guns, one guy used a Winchester model 97, another tried using a Remington 1100 and fried all the gas rings.

You'd shoot and then have to quickly crouch down to see if you hit the pigeon (actually what you would see is broken pieces hurtling down from the umbra of smoke.

After a round of skeet there'd usually be a thick cloud of smoke that would lingeringly hover over the field, on at least one occasion the smoke cloud drifted down over the abutting trap fields and actually shut them down - we thought it was funny, the trap shooters didn't.

Anyway I've got a hankering tp play with black powder again, and was just wondering if anyone had experience and/or thoughts on the matter.

OBTW, when using black powder - the guns recoiled differently (harder), and had to be immediately cleaned with HOT soapy water.

Joined: 07 Mar 2010 Posts: 483 Location: South Eastern PA

I've used black powder with an old hammer 16 I used to have and one observation was that the dogs did not like the sharpness of the report at all. It was just sharp enough to be a worry to them. It just sounded different and must have been harder on their eardrums.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1013139986

Lyman or Lee dipper set at 7/8 ounce

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/0000690973/adjustable-shot-dipper

FF or F Black Powder

Use the same dipper for shot as powder.

Plastic wads will melt, but I still use them

Nitro and fiber wads are more traditional and work well.

Over shot wad sealed with Elmer's School Glue.

Mike

After a couple of shots, the manager of Minneapolis Gun Club promptly halted my black powder skeet shooting because of the loud cracking report -- didn't want to upset the neighbors, I guess. I headed right down the road to Minnesota Horse and Hunt and shot a couple of boxes on their skeet fields. Without much wind, it quickly becomes difficult to pick up the second target on doubles. I used my Remington 1889 12 gauge hammer double. My barrels were so crusted up after 50 rounds it must have effectively been a 16 gauge! Never again. What a cleanup chore.

I used this same gun with some bismuth black powder loads on a goose shoot. Use a black powder load for the first opportunity. The sharp cracking report and the 2 or 3 foot flame out of the barrel in the semi-dark early morning hours is a real eye-opener for your hunting buddies -- nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!! Cool

Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 603 Location: Victoria BC Canada

You are mentioning a loud "cracking" report. I perceive it more of a loud "Booming" report. But, I admit that it seems to surprise or annoy those who are not familiar with it.

I would load equal volumes of shot and powder if intended for use on game. Mostly I use less powder for cowboy action shooting where the targets are close and remarkably easy to knock over. You can load up to 30% less powder and still have a safe load.

Going over equal volumes of powder merely wastes powder for no discernible gain in velocity. However, some like the flame thrower effect of overloading in low-light situations.

Remember, more powder opens patterns, and less powder tightens 'em up. So does the presence or absence of shot protectors.

Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 603 Location: Victoria BC Canada

Did a Google; Here are the results for JUST 16ga.com;

https://www.google.com/search?q=16+gauge+reloading+with+black+powder+site:www.16ga.com&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ACYBGNQsa5U0xppLvBl3GXRPR0mx56cb9g:1581694452754&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi1pP__rtHnAhWfIjQIHYolCDsQrQIoBDAKegQIAhAO&biw=1286&bih=733

Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 603 Location: Victoria BC Canada

Here is a post on shotgunworld; It shows 77gr of 2F powder. Consider that a maximum. A 30% reduction goes down 23.1Gr. to 53.9. My CAS load at 55gr. is right in there. (Sometimes I reduce to 50 gr. but then use 3F - NOTE: 3F is faster burning than 2F therefore a bit higher pressure.)

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=212498