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Hey all,

Yes, I'm still alive, and yes, I still have all my fingers. So nobody needs to speculate as to if my shotgun project blew up in my face and turned me into a drooling one-eyed pirate...

Anyways, on to more important things. Today was an excellent day. I finally scrounged a chronograph, and have some concrete data for my loads. I also had a chance to try out another "test" load based on a load from the "12 gauge from Hell" designer Ed Hubel.

So here we are:

Blue Dot load average: 1385fps.

Now onto my other load. I came upon data for black powder loads for old bore rifles, and decided I would stop being a girl and load some up. So I settled on 175grs of Pyrodex behind a .730 round ball of approx 550gr weight, mostly because that was all I could fit into a 3" hull. The math said that this should run at around 1550fps, with around 9750psi.

Black powder load average: 1450.

A note on this load: Holy **** does it recoil like a bugger. I think it's true that a guy can get the same velocities with smokeless powder, but with less recoil. This will kick the crap out of you and your gun, so make sure the stock section is reinforced or it might get exciting.

Also note that this black powder load isn't crimped: Just take a previously fired 3" hull, stuff it full of powder, seat a fiber wad, then the round ball. Use a dab of white glue to keep everything in place. A 3" crimped round isn't long enough to hold all that ball and powder, so I had to make due with this. It worked, but it isn't pretty. Eventually I will track down some 3" brass hulls and make those work instead.

Lastly, I made up some loads using my copper slugs in front of 62 grains of IMR 4759. Unfortunately, during testing these out, we were snowed out, and the chronograph wouldn't register any velocities (the photoreceptors were covered in snow previously, then fogged up after cleaning, and it still was blizzarding, so that was the end of that.) At the very least though, this load didn't blow me up, so at least I know that much. I'll post the results next time I'm out.

The math regarding the above round is based on Ed Hubel's load of 65 gr IMR 4759 behind a 600gr slug @ 11800psi for 1650fps. THIS IS OVER PRESSURE BASED ON SAAMI SPECS REMEMBER My load is slightly less with regards to slug weight and powder weight, so it's speculation at this point. Like I said, I didn't blow up, and there was no tough extracting, so it looks promising.

THESE LOADS ARE SAFE IN MY GUN. I DON'T RECOMMEND ANYONE ELSE USE THEM WITHOUT WORKING UP SAFELY. USE CAUTION ETC. AND REMEMBER NO CHOKES.

Black Powder Load:

Fed 3" Paper Base Wad Hull
Win 209 Primer
175 grains Pyrodex
Fiber Wad
550gr .730 round ball.
"Touch-of-white-glue" crimp
1450fps @ 9800psi

IMR 4759 Load
Fed 3" Hull
Win 209 Primer
62gr IMR 4759
WAA12 Hull
580 Grain Copper Slug.
Estimated around 1480ish @ 10800psi. NOT CONFIRMED, BE CAUTIOUS

*AUTHORS NOTE: I just want to repeat here that I do these tests and report these velocities for myself only, and to inform others. I don't recommend that others follow in my path, as none of these loads are pressure tested, and are at best scientific speculation. I still have all my fingers and have had no accidents, so in my book that counts for something. But always remember to be safe, that these loads are tested in my gun and my gun only, and while I list these things for academic study only, you use this information at your own risk.

Anyways, I apologize for the legal nonsense, but there are always "those" people out there... Cheers!!

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