BO shot "cartridges" for revolvers

[Shawnee]

Hi Y'All...

Going a furlong or so beyond Tim's excellent thread above detailing the fabrication of paper & ball cartridges - I'll ask - how can that process be made to work for using shot in C&B rovolvers (or maybe even muzzleloaders) ?
Would it be - powder/overpowder wad/shot all wrapped in the same paper? OR...

Would it be powder/overpowder wad- and then paper-wrapped shot? OR..

Would it be powder/paper-wrapped shot?

Would you use an overshot wad?

Seems like IF a C&B revolver like the .44s including the Ruger Old Army could handle 1/2 or 5/8 ounce of shot it might be a handy vermin pill.... maybe even a squirrel proposition! Of course given equal grain-weight of ball and shot, the shot will take up more space and the paper will take up some space too - so that means a reduced load of powder, at least in revolvers. But maybe not enough to make the load ineffective. Seems like space might not be a concern with frontstuffers like the T/C "Patriot" or similar single-shots.

What say Y'All ???

Please S'Cuse the typo in the Title. S'posed to be BP shot cartridges?

 

[Plink]

I've tinkered with shot in revolvers and front stuffers in the past. Between the short barrel and the rifling, I've never found a way to get decent patterns. Basically it turns the gun into a close range snake pistol, which isn't such a bad thing, but it's pretty limited. I'm talking useful ranges of only 10-15 feet though. I've tried cards over the powder and over the shot. I've tried wrapping the shot to protect it from the rifling, etc. Just never had much luck with it.

 

[RyanM]

BO cartridges? Sounds deadly.

In seriousness though, I think your best bet would be to use a reduced powder charge, undershot wad, the shot, and then a standard round ball over top of that. Something similar to these. http://www.gunblast.com/Snake_Stopper.htm

Just over- and undershot wads work okay for pistol shotshells that use faster-burning smokeless powder. But with BP, you need a ball or something else plugging up the chamber real tight (i.e., as tight as the usual projectile), so that the pressure can build up (or a very long barrel, so the initial pressure doesn't matter as much). Otherwise, the shot will just barely fart its way out of the gun.