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BUCK
CONNER
Staff Writer
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Those fine
feathered friends are about to come into season
again here in the Rockies. We have all read from
different sources about the best or perfect load for
hunting turkey. Seems the loads vary from one writer
to another that's why I'm bringing this up. Many of
you may have seen or heard of this fine gentleman, a
wonderful muzzle loading gun maker, very good hunter
and just a fun guy to know.
Yes I'm
talking about the one and only Danny Caywood of
"Caywood Gunmakers" of Berryville,
AR. http://www.caywoodguns.com/
I own several of his fine arms and recommend to
anyone that wants a first class muzzle loading
firearm.
Back to my
original statement, "Turkey Loads". Danny
has this information posted on his website and
believe me its dead on the money for "optimum
pattern density" as Danny states in the
title to this article. Read his article then grab
that smoke pole, and the needed supplies Danny says
and head out back for your own testing.
_____________________________________
Turkey
Loads for Optimum Pattern Density.
by
Danny Caywood of
“Caywood
Gunmakers”.
In reading
about recommendations for loading shot in
smoothbores, we often come across references to the
use of fiber wads, felt wads and heavy over-powder
cards. Far
be it from us to pretend that we know it all when it
comes to shooting shot loads. However, it seems to
be clear and reasonable when you stop and consider
this; if the component over the powder is heavier
than any individual shot pellet, it is very possible
that the heavy component will overtake the shot
charge after it leaves the muzzle and hit it. This
quite often results in splotchy patterns or donut
hole patterns. Sound familiar? If you've suffered
this occurrence, here is a loading tip that might
help put a longbeard on the table. This pertains to
cylinder bore guns, but can be used in choked guns
also.
We
recommend using only
over-shot cards on the POWDER charge, if you want a
tight pattern .
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The
reason is that the light cards, say 3 or 4, seal
the gases upon ignition and as they exit the
muzzle, being light, they don't follow the
charge and disturb it. They tend to go to the
sides and leave the charge flying straight. If
you desire a tight pattern for turkeys, purchase
either nickel-plated, copper-plated, bismuth or
any other HARD shot (not steel) of your choice.
The reason for hard shot is this. If a round
pellet stays round, it will fly straight. And by
extension, 500 round pellets will fly straight
if they stay round. When they get flattened or
mis-shaped by the crush of the powder igniting,
they will not fly straight and you will get many
flyers. Bismuth may be the best because it is
almost as dense and heavy as lead shot and
almost as hard as steel. So it has the
penetration of lead, but stays round for true
flight to the target.
The
suggested loading procedure for maximum pattern
density is this;
Using your
shot dipper as a powder measure, pour down a set
amount ( example; 1 1/8 oz of volume for a 20 ga.),
then
seat 3-4 overshot cards on the powder to pack it
and push out any air. Then take a single
overshot card and push it down the bore approx.
3 inches. Now, take that same volume of shot, as
used for the powder measuring, and drop it down
onto the card where it will be visible. Then
take a dipper full of cornmeal
muffin
mix ( not straight corn meal) and drop onto the
shot. Tap the side of the barrel ( keep head and
eyes from in front of muzzle!) until the shot
works it's way to the top and the cornmeal has
worked down into the shot charge. This will
provide a buffering element so that when the
powder ignites, the shot will push against the
meal not the other shot pellets. Then place one
overshot card on the shot load and seat it on
the powder. The reason to use the muffin mix and
not the straight corn meal is that there are
sugars and fats added to the mixture that aren't
present in the straight corn meal. Apparently,
these pack somewhat and allow the charge to be
bunched up for short distance from the muzzle,
helping to give you a great pattern. We
recommend using no. 7 or 7 1/2 size shot for
turkeys for the pattern density. These size
pellets will penetrate a gobbler's skull at
26-28 yards which is about as far as one should
shoot at a turkey with a cylinder bore gun
anyway. If this load does not give you a good
pattern, try using one less increment of powder
as thrown by your shot charger, so that you are
using just a little more shot . If you are using
choked guns, you can go to the bigger shot
sizes.
By all
means experiment with your gun to see which
loads pattern best for THAT PARTICULAR GUN.
Sometimes, a gun will throw a better pattern
when LESS shot and powder are used. And by using
the corn muffin mix when you shoot a turkey, the
bird is already smoked and breaded and ready for
the frying pan when you pick it up.
GOOD
HUNTING AND BE SAFE!
DC
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