16 gauge BP questions
I spent Thanksgiving blazing away at wild Kansas pheasants with my 12 G coach gun, Brass shells and a healthy dose of BP, which has a nice pattern at 20 yards but not at 35.
I am thinking of buying a 16 gauge (a nice light, only 6#, & relatively cheap French side by side) for pheasant hunting, and load Brass shells with the real gun powder.
All the published 16 gauge loads, for the heathen smokeless powder are for 1 ounce of shot,
The rangy wild pheasants in Kansas where I hunt need more shot that that, perhaps I need more shooting too, but I have killed a lot of birds with 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 ounce in both 20G 3' mags and 12 G. Unfortunately I had my browning 20 G SxS stock cut down for my kids and now can't hit anything with it. And since coming over to the darkside hunting with my 12G autoloader is out of the question.
I think I need 2 1/2 to 3 drams and 1 1/8 ounce of #5 shot (a 12G "heavy field load" equivalent)
Have you loaded more than a ounce of shot in your 16 gauge(s)?
with and ounce of F swiss or goex and a nitro and fiber wad, I know there will be lots of room for extra shot in a brass shell, should I be concerned about pressure problems? In a 12 G brass shell I could probably add 1 3/8+ ounces of shot and still glue on an over shot card.
Thanks
okotoks