doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Loads used for grouse in 1898

I was rereading an old book on upland bird shooting today ("Hitting Vs Missing With a Shotgun" Hammond 1898) when I found reference to the loads the author used.
I have posted about this subject before a couple of years ago.

...The charges that I have used for many years in a 12-gauge seven pound cylinder bored gun, with entirely satisfactory results are, for the right barrel-which I nearly always use first, three-drams of good black powder with five-eighths of an ounce of No. 10 shot, and for the left barrel the same amount of powder with seven-eighths of an ounce of No. 8 shot. These charges give good penetration and pattern, while the recoil is scarcely noticeable.

I mention this because of the talk on this board of the heavy charges used today in a twenty eight gauge.
When I posted this a few years ago the general opinion was that the author was probably a market hunter who shot only sitting birds.
But when reading the book you would find that the author was an enthusiastic sportsman, and shot only flying birds.

Pete

Interesting that he used such small shot. I'd hate to eat a bird that was shot with #10 shot!

But there was just over a half ounce of the shot.

Pete

Hard to believe a sportsman would use #10 shot on grouse.

sub ounce loads over three drams of black powder should yield pretty high velocities...any data to share?

My experience using 10's on woodcock--mentioned in John Alden Knight's book "Woodcock" (1944) as having been a pretty typical choice back then--was not a happy one. Also using 5/8 oz, but in a 28ga. Two birds dropped, got back up and flew again. One hit on a crossing shot looked like the breast had been liberally seasoned with pepper. I've killed a few early season grouse with 9's, and a few more with 8.5's. But I can't imagine using 10's on them.

One thing to bear in mind is, No.10 shot might have been larger in size in 1898 and it almost certainly was heavier because there probably wasn't much antimony added to the lead. And as Ed pointed out, with over three drams of powder under a five-eighth ounce load it must have very high velocity with a lot of energy.
Pete

That may well be the case, but I wasn't around in 1898, and nor do I shoot blackpowder loads for upland hunting. I certainly wouldn't use #10 shot today for grouse. I want to be sure they are dead when they hit the ground or die soon after. In that regard I find 6's do the job just fine.

Well, good for you! You can shoot any size shot at grouse that you want.
pete

I read an artical on some famous grouse hunter, that exclusively used a fairly heavy load of 9 shot . I think in a 28 or 20 I can't remember who. But all I could think about was how much shot I would be picking through