Using patched ball with an inline ML - (and a stewardship rant)

[Spartan2112]

I have a T/C Omega Z5 and on a good day can shoot 4" groups with it at 50 yards offhand, which most closely approximates most of my shooting during deer season here in Ohio. I use the T/C's 240 grain XTP "Mag Express Sabots" as they are the most reasonably priced that I have found.

However, thinking "green" I am wondering how this gun would perform using a patched round ball or conical. Anyone have any experience with trying this?

Maybe I'm nitpicking and you can call me an old goody-goody Boy Scout, but whenever I go out to the woods I always try to leave a place cleaner than when I found it, picking up old spent shotgun shells (and beer cans) while hiking or backpacking. Come on people - why give the anti-hunting tree huggers another reason to think we are a bunch of slobs?

This "green" thought came about on a recent trip to an ODNR range with my dad. We were both disgusted at the sheer amount of plastic shells left behind on the hand trap shotgun range - our boots touched more plastic than grass depending on where we stood.

OK - I got off my own topic and went on a rant here, and I'm not suggesting one ought to go downrange and pick up every plastic shot cup, or pay attention to where your spent shells fly rather than where the bird or squirrel drops; but even if one is shooting an autoloader, is it really too much trouble to make some effort clean up after yourself at the range? :banghead:

 

[mykeal]

I'm not suggesting one ought to go downrange and pick up every plastic shot cup, or pay attention to where your spent shells fly rather than where the bird or squirrel drops

Why not? If you won't, I will. The crap I find left behind both at our ranges and in the woods puts all of us to shame. We have two signs on all our range shelters and in the offices: the 10 rules of firearm safety, and "If you didn't bring your mother with you, pick up after yourself."

And yes, you can shoot prb's from your inline. However, you'll need to back off on the loads to get maximum accuracy. The faster twist won't stabilize the ball as well at higher velocities.

 

[Spartan2112]

Why not? If you won't, I will. The crap I find left behind both at our ranges and in the woods puts all of us to shame. We have two signs on all our range shelters and in the offices: the 10 rules of firearm safety, and "If you didn't bring your mother with you, pick up after yourself."

Thanks for the support on the stewardship issue. I was trying to sound a little less preachy. Agreed one ought to make an effort to hunt down spent shells and shot cups. On that note - the more I shoot, I'm thinking of getting into reloading my shotshells - are there any such thing as eco-friendly biodegradable shot cups?

Not having to worry about chasing spent shells in the woods is why I use an old-style SxS with extractors. Besides, if I miss after two shots, I'm probably not going to get the critter with the third.

And yes, you can shoot prb's from your inline. However, you'll need to back off on the loads to get maximum accuracy. The faster twist won't stabilize the ball as well at higher velocities.

Thanks for the tip - For 50 - 100 yard shooting I usually go with two 50 gr. pellets of 777 with the aforementioned sabot load. On the 25 yard range one 50 gr. pellet is sufficent with same. I'll try a 50 gr. load at all ranges (as 50 gr. pellets are what I have on hand) or maybe even a 30gr.

 

[azyogi]

+1 on the reduced loads for PRB, though I prefer the holy black.
There's more to good stewardship than trash, though that is a good start. In the 70's when I'd pack out more than I took in, some would say to me "you're such a boy scout" as if that was an insult. When I got my hunting merit badge, [ya I spent the 60's being a boy scout] Dad was staitioned in Germany and I took the Course designed for german youths seeking hunting and fishing license at the time I thought ecology and biology were excessive. Now I see how far sighted it was. Then came Global Cooling, all the smog was going to block out the sun and we'd see endless winter. So they put a bunch of weather stations at airports, wastewater plants, and other heat islands, and suddenly we had Global Warming, endless summer [and not the surfing movie] Now we have Climate Change, and I for one don't mind saying "HUH?" pardon my confusion, but really I have been paying attention and whats being said makes no sense. All I can do is shake my head, and not trust those who seek to profit from these problems.

 

[Cosmoline]

Or you could just ditch that in-line and get a rocklock roundball tosser using real powder. Nothing is more green.

 

[Spartan2112]

@ Cosmoline: Yes - I have been thinking of getting a flintlock once it is in the budget - low tech has it's advantages. Not to quibble (ok, I'm quibbling) - but a nice pice of bent yew, some tendon, flint, wood, and feathers would be greener - but I'm not ready to go that low tech.

@ Azyogi: Agreed there is far more to stewardship than trash - but when I posed the question to some shooters elsewhere, some lightbulbs went off as they had not thought about all that plastic going downrange with sabots.

I also totally get the "Boy Scout" insult. Back what seems a lifetime ago I worked for a certain financial company before it all collapsed. In a meeting I was getting grief from a manager for playing by the rules and treating customers fairly "What are you - some kind of Boy Scout?" I told him as a matter of fact I was and walked out of the meeting. It must have made some kind of impression, because I still kept my job - for awhile at least.

This is why I like places like THR, nice to chat with some people with integrity.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

When I was about 9 yrs old, my parents gave me a set of soldier molds and a small manual plastic injection mold machine. I would cut up old plastic detergent bottles, plastic milk jugs, etc and feed them into the hopper, melt them down and turn them into plastic soldiers. One trip to the range netted me a bushel basket of plastic shot wads and kept me turning out soldiers for a week. That machine was ruined when the house was flooded during a hurricane. I sure wish I could fine another. I could make all kinds of plastic stuff It looked a bit like an arbor press with a plunger and a round hopper that was electrically heated to melt the plastic. When the handle was pulled, the plunger went into the hopper and forced hot plastic out the bottom hole into the mold. I am sure the CPSC would outlaw them now as too dangerous. I could make sabots, muzzle protectors, all kinds of stuff

 

[flintlock62]

In-lines have a fast twist for PRB's, but you can shoot them if you back off on the velocity. Can you use Maxi balls or Minie balls?

 

[mykeal]

Not having to worry about chasing spent shells in the woods is why I use an old-style SxS with extractors.

I use a SxS 12 ga muzzleloader.



This last one's a Pedersoli:

The hard part is deciding which one.

 

[qajaq59]

I can tell you that if you don't want any duck to come within range, just leave a couple of shotgun hulls lying next to the blind. And if you don't think they show real well trying flying a light plane over a hunting marsh. The trinkle like stars in the night.

 

[ontarget]

Amen on the clean-up rant! I've been beating that drum for years. ESPECIALLY WHEN USING PUBLIC LAND! The people who leave their crap behind don't deserve to be within our ranks. They make us all look bad.

 

[brairpatch]

I just tried out the maxi hunters and love them. They should shoot fairly decent out of your um, whats it called?


Yeah, one of my next purchases will be a ML shotgun.