The Single-Barrel, Break-Open Shotgun

[Midnitemo]

00 buck on rabbit is overkill and you'd quite likely miss such a small target , and if you did hit a lot of the meat would be spoiled...No 5 shot is a good compromise hunting round, a little big for birds(pigeon etc) , marginal for dogs and fox but it would work....jack off all trades , its ideal use is rabbits which I think will make up a large percentage off the cartridges use.

[Talon]

Midnitemo has pretty much covered anything I would have said.One thing that could be worth buying is a .690 ball mould.Keep it handy and practice casting some balls (for fishing weights ),and also consider the option of a cheap single barrel cylinder bore gun (for skeet shooting)

[Mortblanc]

00buck has only 9 balls in the load. It was developed and always has been intended as a means of making a smoothbore gun a large game tool at close range. Its use as a defense round is a side effect.

#5 shot had around 350 pellets in the load.

At 40 yards a full choke will place 70% of the pellets (about 280) in a 30"circle giving around one pellet for every 3 square inches of target space. 2-3 of those #5 pellets will kill rabbit or any other small game.

I also keep a lot of #8 loads for shooting clays.

I prefer single 0 buck of .30 caliber (gives me a couple of extra balls per shell) for large targets and use it with a "super full choke" which we refer too as a "turkey choke" or "coyote choke." My turkey choke gives 100% pattern at 40 yards with most of the balls in a 18"circle. At 50yards I still have 90% with an occasional flyer outside the circle. Past 60 yards things start going (as you put it) pear shaped. The large shot is still deadly out to 70 or 100 yards, just not very predictable.

My general purpose shotgun sits by the back door right now with the turkey tube installed, one round of #5 as the first load up with single 0 buck filling the remainder of the magazine. Coyotes are my biggest concern but I want a round of #5 shot first up in case I see a rabbit or squirrel roaming the yard that needs to be eaten.

From my back door to the first fence is 40 yards and I have killed critters consistently inside that area. From the first fence to the second is the 100yard mark and I have killed a couple of coyotes half way across that range and helped a couple more find their overdrive gear as they neared the far fence.

I have a round ball mold for each of my shotgun gauges and they are very effective. I was not aware you fellows could own those on a shotgun certificate? Your standard certificate limiting you to shells with no fewer than 6 shot in the shell.

One can remove the shot from a shell, cast a ball and replace it into the shell. No need for fancy reloading equipment. I use a rifled choke tube for 4-6" groups at 100m. (I am sure you fellows are not allowed those) I can do the same with an improved cylinder (skeet) choke at 75m and can stay inside a 12" circle at 100m with the smoothbore and single round ball. Bear in mind that this particular shotgun has a scope mounted for assistance in shot placement.

One can also play tricks with the regular shot-shells and change their performance drastically....

Waxing the shells is something that takes on a few minutes work with a standard shell, makes it very effective against large targets, and if a situation returns to normal one could simply break down the shell and throw it away with TPTB none the wiser.

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http://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2011/07...gun-slugs/

[Talon]

(22 November 2013, 00:07)Mortblanc Wrote: I have a round ball mold for each of my shotgun gauges and they are very effective. I was not aware you fellows could own those on a shotgun certificate? Your standard certificate limiting you to shells with no fewer than 6 shot in the shell.

You can't on a section 2 certificate Mort.I was just suggesting a ball mould is a useful addition in your fishing kit or even for a catapult,the mould is legal to buy.
I was in no way advocating that people break the law (I certainly wouldn't risk imprisonment).It's just another addition to the kit bag and may prove useful pstf.

[Mortblanc]

If their presence is not a problem by all means keep a few already cast and in the tackle box!

If you already have them made then all that is needed is a regular shell. Cut the end off the shell just like the video I posted and dump the shot. Drop the round ball into the shot cup in place of the shot and squirt a bit of White glue on top of the round ball. Let it dry for a couple of hours and it will hold the round ball in place against recoil or as it is cycled through the magazine. No need to melt wax or use a reloading machine.

They do usually strike at a different point than a load of shot, so one would need to sneak a practice round or two so they would know how to hold the sights if they were ever needed.

I need to cast a bunch up myself. I have a new MEC 650 loader I just got set up and I am going hyper wishing to break it in.

[Skean Dhude]

(22 November 2013, 05:12)Talon Wrote:

(22 November 2013, 00:07)Mortblanc Wrote: I have a round ball mold for each of my shotgun gauges and they are very effective. I was not aware you fellows could own those on a shotgun certificate? Your standard certificate limiting you to shells with no fewer than 6 shot in the shell.

You can't on a section 2 certificate Mort.I was just suggesting a ball mould is a useful addition in your fishing kit or even for a catapult,the mould is legal to buy.
I was in no way advocating that people break the law (I certainly wouldn't risk imprisonment).It's just another addition to the kit bag and may prove useful pstf.

As usual our laws are not fully joined up. You can buy a mould without even having a SGC. When you assemble the cartridge you have created a Section 2 item and unless you have the certificate you are illegal. You can have all the components though to make that cartridge with no issues whatsoever on a normal SGC.

[Tartar Horde]

When you talk of "moulds" and "balls" do you mean Musket/flintlock type ammunition? and it is perfectly legal to buy them UK.

[Talon]

(22 November 2013, 12:50)Tartar Horde Wrote: When you talk of "moulds" and "balls" do you mean Musket/flintlock type ammunition? and it is perfectly legal to buy them UK.

Yes Tartar,just a simple lead ball like a musket fires.You can get slugs as well as round ball (think of a very large air rifle pellet)and the component parts are all perfectly fine to buy.

If you assemble a slug or ball cartridge though it immediately becomes section 1 ammunition and 5 years if you don't have the section 1 firearms licence with a slot for slug ammunition.

You don't even have to have a section 2 licence to own standard cartridges but you need one to buy them,go figure.It's another one of our strange firearm quirks.
So by all means buy a mould as it's perfectly legal to do so.Just stay legal and don't assemble the round.

[Tartar Horde]

Being able to cast Ball and Minnie bullets from lead has got to be simpler than making cartridges/shells for modern Guns hasn't it? and lead is pretty common, so is there a place for gunpowder weapons, if only from the standpoint of being more "self sufficient"?
Do any of you folks have direct experience of them and what are your thoughts.

[Skean Dhude]

There is certainly a place for old style weapons in our preps. Some of us already have them others are looking at them.