Shotgun BP adapters?

You don't really need to buy an adapter. Every shotgun shell has a ready made adapter on it. Just cut off the plastic part. Or better yet, just reload a spent shell with black powder, wadding, and buckshot. You can use an overshot wad instead of a crimp. Best to keep it simple.

FL-NC said:

I've been doing a little research and found the adaptors that can be inserted into a single shot smoothbore to use 209 primers, and then front-load the shotgun with loose black powder and shot. Has anyone here used one of these things? How did it work? I have a 16 gauge NEF single that I was thinking about doing this with for short range deer hunting here in Fl using buckshot. Also, where do you get the buckshot pellets, and how many do you know to put in the thing? The most popular pellet size around here for deer is #1, which is what most people use for a modern 12 gauge hunting deer with dogs. Any info appreciated.

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You asked a lot of questions.
1. I haven't used one.
2. From videos and descriptions they work okay.
One issue with the 16 ga. is that they're only rated for 75 to 80 grains of powder.
But I don't know how strict that needs to be followed.
Personally I would want to hunt with more powder than that which may be possible if you exceeded the recommendation but then you would be taking a risk.
Otherwise its use would be more limited than if loading a regular muzzle loading shotgun.

Another issue is how deep the loaded shot or buckshot would be seated in the shotshell chamber and whether that could affect performance much.
That could be a reason for the powder limitation but I'm not sure.
A shotgun chamber has a lip against which a regular shotshell abuts when it's loaded.
The plastic shotshell wad helps the load of shot to smoothly by-pass that ridge.
But with the adaptor the powder and bare shot will be loaded below that ridge and the shot won't pass by it as smoothly as a normal shotshell load would.
And it could effect performance a little bit by causing the balls of shot to not exit that chamber area smoothly.
I don't know if it really matters or not other than it could affect how many balls of buckshot that you want to load.

3. You can buy bulk buckshot two ways.
One place is Ballistic Products which sells it in 8 lb. jugs in almost any size that you want. --->>> https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Lead-Buckshot/products/65/

Another source of buckshot is Hornady which sells some sizes in 5 lb. boxes.
But good luck finding any because it's not available very often, everyone sells out and then it takes forever to get it back in stock. --->>> https://www.hornady.com/bullets/buckshot#!/

4. How many buckshot to use is a good question.
Normal shot loads are called square loads which are a 50/50 ratio of powder and shot.
That means if you set your powder measure for 80 grains of powder, you should also load 80 grains of shot.
But buckshot is not as easy to load by volume because they're larger and create more air space in the powder measure between the balls of shot.
Shot loads can also be over loaded with shot to improve patterning.
That means that a person may need to count the balls of shot and experiment with loads.
And the amount of buckshot could also depend on how much powder you end up loading.
100 grains of powder is usually more of a normal amount, and a full load of shot can normally be from 100 to 200 grains volume if the balls of shot were small.
But I'm not sure with the buckshot since it could depend on the size of the buckshot that you buy to hunt with.
For instance, a 12 ga. #00 buckshot shotshell contains 9 balls of .330 diameter buckshot which is one single ball over a 1 oz load.
More balls can be loaded if using a smaller size of buckshot, and weighing the balls would verify how many grains [or ounces] of lead that you're loading.
There's also a buckshot chart on this Wiki page that indicates how many balls of each size it takes to make a 1 ounce load.
A 1 ounce load of buckshot would be on the smaller side, but may be appropriate for use with the adaptor.
Use this as a guide. --->>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_shell#Buckshot

POWDER MEASURE SETTINGS TO THROW OUNCES OF SHOT:

 50 grain setting = 3/4 ounce of shot
 60 grain setting = 7/8 ounce of shot
 70 grain setting = 1 ounce of shot
 80 grain setting = 1 1/8 ounce of shot
 90 grain setting = 1 1/4 ounce of shot
 100 grain setting = 1 3/8 ounce of shot
 110 grain setting = 1 1/2 ounce of shot
 120 grain setting = 1 5/8 ounce of shot

Here's some equal volume loads:

oz. shot-----Dr. powder-------Grains
3/4-------------2--------------55
7/8-------------2 1/4----------62
1---------------2 1/2----------68
1 1/8-----------2 3/4----------75
1 1/4-----------3--------------82
1 3/8-----------3 1/4----------89
1 1/2-----------3 1/2----------96
1 5/8-----------3 3/4----------102
1 3/4-----------4--------------109
1 7/8-----------4 1/4----------116
2---------------4 1/2----------123
2 1/8-----------4 3/4----------130
2 1/4-----------5--------------137

1 oz. of lead shot weighs 437.5 grains.
1 1/8 oz. of lead shot weighs 492.1 grains.
1.25 oz. of lead shot weighs 546.8 grains.

1 Dram - 27.3 grains of powder by volume

FL-NC said:

The most popular pellet size around here for deer is #1, which is what most people use for a modern 12 gauge hunting deer with dogs. Any info appreciated.

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How much power that you can get from 80 grains of powder could depend on the components and how well you can seal the powder in the chamber.

Regular muzzle loading shotguns are often loaded with a number of different components, depending on personal preference.
Folks use wool wad, fiber wads, over powder or over shot cards.
Some even use plastic shotshell wads either alone or in combination with the listed components.
Which means there's a lot of room for experimenting to find the best load.

But the combined weight of all of the components can also affect the velocity that you can get from the powder charge.
So the trick would be how to best seal the load to get as much performance as possible to make an effective deer load.
The modern shotshells even add a powdered buffer to the load.
But I wouldn't recommend going that far, but can't stress enough the importance of keeping the load of buckshot seated on top of the powder charge.
That's probably because of not knowing if the shotshell chamber dimension is larger than the bore.
If it is then you'd want to make sure that the components aren't too loose in the chamber area.
Compressed wadded paper can be rammed down tight on top of the load to keep the buckshot in place.
Most folks only use over shot cards, which there are different thicknesses.
But my point is that I don't know how well those cards will fit in the shotshell chamber.
A 3 inch chamber is more reason to compress a wad of paper on top to hold the buckshot in place.

It's probably important to test the load for penetration. whether it's using wood, meat, a bundle of wet newspaper , water jugs, food cans etc...
Triple 7 is a potent powder that can help to obtain the velocity that's needed.
80 grains of 777 powder is equivalent to almost 100 grains of most other powders. since it's 15% - 20% stronger.
Since #1 buckshot has 11 balls per ounce, then you would need to decide if you wanted to risk loading 1.25 oz. or 1.5 oz. of buckshot, an extra 3 to 6 balls.
That could also depend on your choke.
This outfit sells some traditional loading components such as wood wads, ramrod accessories etc... --->>> https://www.emshootingsupplies.com/store.html#/
If you end up going through with it then let us know how it turns out.

FL-NC said:

This would be illegal for hunting during BP season (in my state).

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Same for my state. Even using a manufactured adapter in a break barrel shotgun is illegal during muzzleloader season. But nobody mention muzzleloader season, did they?

I blame this guy for getting me to buy a Single Shot 12 gauge for shooting black powder.

drobs said:

I blame this guy for getting me to buy a Single Shot 12 gauge for shooting black powder.

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Everybody should have one anyway. So cheap and reliable. I've gotten more game with a single shot h&r shotgun than anything else.

noelf2 said:

You don't really need to buy an adapter. Every shotgun shell has a ready made adapter on it. Just cut off the plastic part. Or better yet, just reload a spent shell with black powder, wadding, and buckshot. You can use an overshot wad instead of a crimp. Best to keep it simple.

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Going to be a job getting those wads down through any kind of choke plus they'll be way undersized for the chamber if you just "cut off the plastic". You'd need at least 11 ga wads to seal effectively in a 12 ga chamber.

PapaG said:

Going to be a job getting those wads down through any kind of choke plus they'll be way undersized for the chamber if you just "cut off the plastic". You'd need at least 11 ga wads to seal effectively in a 12 ga chamber.

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A lot of original muzzleloader shotguns had/have choked barrels. Felt, paper, paper wasp nest, rolled up tow fibers, and numerous other common wad materials regain their dimensions after going past the choke and getting squashed onto the powder or shot. I do it all the time. And you can watch the video posted above to see someone actually cutting off the plastic and using the brass as an adapter in a modern break barrel shotgun. I tried it, it worked, but it wasn't as convenient as just reloading a shell with black powder. I use full length brass hulls as well.

I've shot many pounds, even kegs, of black powder in muzzle loading shotguns, cartridge shotguns and built more than a few. I've made dies to cut wads, to make over powder cups, machined jug chokes, swaged chokes and used modern barrels to build muzzle loaders. I've completed at various state championships, won a few, plus more than a few trophies at the NMLRA nationals. I'll match my curriculum vitae on black powder shotgunning with just about anyone around today.
All that said, I can still learn, but I'm not a fan of simple conversions. Read Greener's book. If the wads don't seal, the guns don't pattern.

PapaG said:

I've shot many pounds, even kegs, of black powder in muzzle loading shotguns, cartridge shotguns and built more than a few. I've made dies to cut wads, to make over powder cups, machined jug chokes, swaged chokes and used modern barrels to build muzzle loaders. I've completed at various state championships, won a few, plus more than a few trophies at the NMLRA nationals. I'll match my curriculum vitae on black powder shotgunning with just about anyone around today.
All that said, I can still learn, but I'm not a fan of simple conversions. Read Greener's book. If the wads don't seal, the guns don't pattern.

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I'm sure we're all impressed with your black powder shotgunning experiences, but patterning can be achieved by playing with the load, including the wads. What you said simply isn't correct regarding wads, chokes, and chambers in my experience. It is not "a job" getting the wads past the choke and them still functioning fine. And simply cutting off the plastic from the brass works fine if you use the right kind of wadding, i.e. a material that will reshape and expand to fill the chamber when properly set. Maybe you haven't experimented with the historical "practical man's" version of percussion shotgunning, being so focused on burning kegs of powder and putting little bitty holes in paper and flying saucers for people to watch and clap. I get rabbits, squirrels, birds and even a big alligator gar once. If it works, it works...

Oh, I've patterned many guns, loads, and cartridges. I've also learned from the best. Didn't want to appear to be bragging but I see how it may appear.
I'll stick to traditional methods as they work for me.