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The last two years, all of my dove hunting has been with a SxS 14ga. ml'er. I sometimes have taken the flint 20ga. SxS out, but it is usually the 14ga. No, I can't shoot as fast as the breech loaders, but I am not terribly far behind them. It is just a matter of everything in the right place. My percentage of made shot is as good or better than the breech loaders. I think it has a lot to do with the cyl. bores and I did spend a fair amount of time at the patterning board. I personally prefer the English head, but I guess that is what I am used to. I use a turkey hunting vest as my shooting coat and all the pockets allow me to have everything at hand in a hurry. My rammer is kept is a tube tied to my belt.

I use an Irish head for the powder bag, actually a shot bag filled with powder, then a thin felt wad a thick fiber wad then the shot and either a real thin overshot wad or a wad of crumbled up newspaper. I hunt without a dog in heavy brush so I made these home made speed loaders that are only about an inch tall that fit neatly into my pocket. The home spun speed loaders hold my pre-measured shot charge and all of my wads. The powder bag hangs from my belt. So I'm lean and trim as much as I can be that is and sorta outfitted like I am carrying a breachloader.
All the best

I like my Janeck (Saxony) buscheflinte during the muzzleloader deer season...one barrel with a .58 Lee R.E.A.L. for deer and the smooth .58 barrel for phez or sharptail. Hunted waterfowl for many years with a Dewson 10-bore....wish bismuth were less costly so I could start up with it again.

May I suggest "The Muzzle Loading Shotgun" by V. M. Starr if you can't find a copy it's online at,

http://members.aye.net/~bspen/starr.html

Seems kind of amatuerish to me, caps in the pocket???? How about a Tedd Cash built capper held by a lanyard around the neck then placed in a shirt pocket instead, where's his pick to clean out the nipples after repeated firings in the field just in case of an obstruction, is he going to put that in his pocket too??? After you put in the thick cushioning wad you effectively air lock that bore and any other wad (over shot wad) that goes in has to bleed the locked air in order to push passed it, no mention of that or how to overcome it!!! He seems to be making joke out of it but I would like to tell him that loading a muzzleloader is probaly the most dangerous activity someone can do while handling a firearm!!! I'd tell him to stick with breechloaders they're probably more his style!
All the best

I am not sure how old this article is, but it is an old article. This article and way he does it, is how I based my loading and carrying pattern. I first tried the shooting bag and it was just so much stuff hanging off to the side that shooting from the hunting vest pockets was just so much more effective. Not only faster to reload and find everything, but made it much easier to go through the brush.I do carry a Ted Cash capper though around my neck.Though I do have a vent pick with me with the flinters, I usually just have a safety pin on me for the cap guns. I never needed it though. Some guns have a problem compressing air with wads more than others, I guess it is the one thing he missed. I don't do anything about it except let it "hiss" as the air goes out. Hunting from the shooting vest, I carry the powder flask in the my right pockets along with the over powder cards and cushions(if I am using cushions). In the left pockets I carry the shot flask and over shot cards. As I return each flask to the pocket, while I am in the pocket, I grab the cards and cushions that I need next at the same time. So you are not going to each pocket very much, just pretty fast. Once loaded, cap or prime.In the extra pockets, I carry the tools I may need, like a nipple wrench, worm, etc. but again, never needed them yet. Oh, just in case you were wondering, I do not load powder directly from the flask, there is a measure hanging around my neck that I dispence my powder into from the Hawlsey style flask.

I note that Mr Starr, did not use cushion wads, ony two cards over the powder & one over the shot. All were the same wads he cut himself from card stock of about 3/32" thickness. From what I have read over the years, both by him & by others About him, I get the impression he was Extremely Successful in his use of the muzzle loading shotgun. Those Ted Cash cappers are nice, I know I have one, but not a necessity to enjoying a ML'r, I know I got along rather nicely for years without one. Many who enjoy the MLr also enjoy providing home brewed accesories for as much as possible, rather than just throwing money at the sport. A nice capper can be made from a piece of heavy leather with holes punched to hold a cap tightly & slit out the side for pulling off after cap is placed. For many hunting uses you don't really need 100 caps ready to place at a moments notice. A couple ready for a quick reload often serves the purpose well, & they can then be replenished at will.

Mr. Starr jug choked my Dewson 10 bore. I used to carry my powder in individual containers inside my chest waders while duck hunting. Its tough to have to pick one booted foot up out of the water to have something to put the butt on while loading!
I was shooting 6 dr Fg and 2 oz copper plated 4's till the headaches began. Then I went down to more reasonable loads.

The only capgun I shoot (rarely) is my Mullin 8ga and for it, i use a round leather capper made as Piper suggests as I find I sometimes scratch the barrels with the Ted Cash capper. It's usually my son shooting the Mullin as I generally prefer the flints over the capguns anyway. To avoid double loading, I load concurrently. I hold the gun, butt on the ground and the barrels sideways between my legs and always start with the barrel furthest away. I put powder in each barrel, then OP wad but start both wads before ramming them home, then start both cushion wads before ramming them home, them shot in each barrel (furthest on first) then start both OS wads before pushing them home. Extremely unlikely to get a double this way as the only chance is a double powder or shot and in the slim chance that that were to happen, by ramming the wads down one right after the other, the difference in ramrod depth would be readily apparent.

I gather some marks could be put on the ram to help check for a loaded barrel. Or check for a powder charge with wad(s) seated over it, but no shot loaded, yet. This just in case the routine gets interrupted with the possibility of losing one's place.