I know why Steve uses the premeasured loads .......speed of loading, and simplicity. I have a couple of the adjustable shot and powder dippers, but I can reload with little premeasured pill bottles while my buddies are getting ready with the dipper. I know it's not "period", but most of us make compromises when we shoot these old guns anyway. I competed with m/l guns for many years, but I never got into "buckskinning".
Steve, someone gave me a little 20 ga. shell carrier about 25 years ago that has a foam block with 20 ga. sized holes in it, in which you were to take individual shells and place them. It is camo, and has a soft top that folds over the shells and secures with velcro. I found it perfect for shooting doves with my Manton 16 ga. percussion double. My little "pill bottles" of powder and shot fit snugly into the holes, and it will hold more than enough to take a limit.
Wish I could get pictures to post on here again, I'd put one up showing it. Really is a neat trick. I also have a "dove field and range" hickory ramrod with an old brass doorknob for a handle that works well. The problem with "extra" ramrods is ....... what to do with them between loadings. I solved that by taking a length of 1/2" EMT conduit and flaring one end of it. The other end I flattened and ground into a point. The length of it is just a hair more than the length of the ramrod, so that when the ramrod is placed into it, the base of the brass knob rests on the funneled end. It is a simple thing to take it in hand and use the big knob to push the conduit into the ground beside you, when shooting doves, or loading in the same spot in the field. Doesn't work well for quail, where you're constantly on the move. I just use the under barrel one for that.
Enjoy that smoke-gun.
SRH
