Ugly Sauce
Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2020
- Messages
- 6,229
Whilst I was fine tuning my hunting load, I thought I'd run some of my close range, fast loading, wolf-repellent paper cartridges through the rifle that I had made up for my little .58 short-snorter carbine. I was going to shoot them off the bench at 25, but then realized why do that, and guess at the spread at 40-50 yards, instead of shooting at 40 yards and getting a better idea of the accuracy.
So, this was shot at 40-45, but I had to sit with my back against a tree, and rest the gun on my knees. Not super steady with that long heavy barrel. I'd say it's pretty good wolf repellent at 50 yards, (3" spread) the furthest I would shoot at a wolf, and only if I was sure it was closing in with evil intent. Anyhow, in the event of the whole dang pack closing in with evil intent, being able to load and fire quickly could be a plus. !!!!
The cartridges are simply a ball in a paper tube, (grocery paper-bag paper) 80 grains of 3fg, the end folded over and the ball end dipped in pure melted bee's wax. They load easy in a fouled barrel. After pouring in the powder I did not turn the cartridge around, or tear off the excess paper, just rammed it down with the "tail" or tube attached. Try them, you'll like them. The cartridge on the top of the plate is a double-ball load. I didn't try one, but they shoot very well in the carbine.
Tear off end, pour in powder, ram the whole thing down, cap with the capper hanging around my neck, and fire-in-the-hole! Fast.
On my hunting load, I discovered last year that loading the REAL without any wad, it shot much better. I was loading a wool wad dipped in bee's wax over the powder, and a wonder wad over that. Today I tried just the wool/wax wad without the wonder wad, and it shot a little better yet. Rifle does not like the wonder wad. My Jeager loves them. !! Them rifles is so fussy about what they like.