doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hunting birds with a muzzleloader

Rich,
I do not use a muzzleloader for birds. Reloading is too slow.

But I do use blackpowder cartridges a lot. Maybe 50% for ducks and pheasants. I use both lead and Bismuth. I find no need to clean until the end of the day (and my fouling will be a lot worse than with a muzzleloader).

I use only Swiss or Goex real blackpowder. Never, ever Pyrodex, which has the most corrosive fouling that I've ever seen. Real bp will clean up very easily with just dihydrogen oxide (aka water). Regular lubes are perfect after everything is clean and dry. My guns have spotless bores after decades of this sort of use.


A friend of mine visited years ago to hunt pheasants with an old English single 4-bore muzzleloader. He was pretty organized and fast in his reloads. His ramrod doubled as a walking stick which made messing with it in the ferrules much simpler. He even knocked a turkey out of the sky with that thing, much to my dog's amazement and joy.