Big Bore Addiction Group

[matt85]

Nice group on your 8 bore Matt.

Been a few years since I shot an 8, but remember the big difference between blue dot and 1 1/2fg black.

Yes, blue dot certainly tames the gun down a bit. Black powder ball loads aren't too bad though. The black powder bullet loads are stout and require the shooter to be on top of his game! I was using something like 260gr of FFg under a 1200gr bullet for regulation.

 

[Ray B]

260gr of FFg under a 1200gr bullet

Wow!! That reminds me of a fellow I met at the rifle range several years ago. He had a mortar tube that resembled and elongated gallon paint can the sides of which were about 1/2" thick. He'd pour 1/4 pound of black powder into it, then push a bowling ball on top of it. I think the ball weighed about 10 pounds. The tube was set at about 75 degrees. The ignition was electronic and when fired the ball when clear out of sight over into the next valley.

 

[matt85]

My buddy came over today to sight in his new Win M70 in 416 RM (ive got one myself, great gun!). So, I had to break out the 8-bore for a little fun as well. There were other guns involved but they were too small for this thread.

I saved the two targets I shot the 8 bore at, the distance was around 30 yards. Here are the first two shots:

Here are the second two shots. For size reference, the little holes are 416's.

 

[PCC600]

My buddy came over today to sight in his new Win M70 in 416 RM (ive got one myself, great gun!). So, I had to break out the 8-bore for a little fun as well. There were other guns involved but they were too small for this thread.

I saved the two targets I shot the 8 bore at, the distance was around 30 yards. Here are the first two shots:
View attachment 781615

Here are the second two shots. For size reference, the little holes are 416's.
View attachment 781614

Wow that’s good .

 

[matt85]

Wow that’s good .

W.J. Jeffery sold some top notch guns!

 

[PCC600]

W.J. Jeffery sold some top notch guns!

They certainly did . I have shot a WJ 577NE and a 475No2 - both were beautifully put together and handled well .

 

[Pondoro]

Gents..I have a Lyon & Lyon .577 3" BPE, Jones underlever screw grip hammer gun, , made year 1900. It is regulated for 167 grains blackpowder and 650 grain bullets (so engraved on the barrels).

I plan to shoot it..got hold of 650 grain Woodleigh softs..but are these too hard for the barrels..?

Do I need lead bullets to shoot it safely..??

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

Gents..I have a Lyon & Lyon .577 3" BPE, Jones underlever screw grip hammer gun, , made year 1900. It is regulated for 167 grains blackpowder and 650 grain bullets (so engraved on the barrels).

I plan to shoot it..got hold of 650 grain Woodleigh softs..but are these too hard for the barrels..?

Do I need lead bullets to shoot it safely..??

I would shoot lead out of it just because it is an old girl and maybe the steel in the barrel is not that tough, I doubt it would let go or anything like that but it could very well wear the barrel unnecessarily
Oh, and try not to shoot nitro powders as it may not be proofed for smokeless, I’d start at 140 gns of 1 P black and see how it reacts
Gumpy

 

[alby]

Gents..I have a Lyon & Lyon .577 3" BPE, Jones underlever screw grip hammer gun, , made year 1900. It is regulated for 167 grains blackpowder and 650 grain bullets (so engraved on the barrels).

I plan to shoot it..got hold of 650 grain Woodleigh softs..but are these too hard for the barrels..?

Do I need lead bullets to shoot it safely..??

I know Woodleigh make a 650gr RNSN for BPE, more-so for expansion at Blackpowder Nitro for Black velocities than barrel hardness. Have fired them in my RB Rodda .577 BPE Jones’s UL.

 

[matt85]

Gents..I have a Lyon & Lyon .577 3" BPE, Jones underlever screw grip hammer gun, , made year 1900. It is regulated for 167 grains blackpowder and 650 grain bullets (so engraved on the barrels).

I plan to shoot it..got hold of 650 grain Woodleigh softs..but are these too hard for the barrels..?

Do I need lead bullets to shoot it safely..??

I would probably shoot cast bullets, but there are specific BPE jacketed bullets. Woodleigh and Hawk both make them. I don't think I would use the standard 650gr Woodleigh bullets in a BPE gun.

Oh, and try not to shoot nitro powders as it may not be proofed for smokeless

I use almost exclusively modern smokeless powder in my black powder double rifle. If done right, it works fine.

With that said, there is a much higher risk of damaging the gun. Only extremely experienced hand loaders should attempt nitro-for-black loads.

 

[tarbe]

My buddy came over today to sight in his new Win M70 in 416 RM (ive got one myself, great gun!). So, I had to break out the 8-bore for a little fun as well. There were other guns involved but they were too small for this thread.

I saved the two targets I shot the 8 bore at, the distance was around 30 yards. Here are the first two shots:
View attachment 781615

Here are the second two shots. For size reference, the little holes are 416's.
View attachment 781614

I would save those, too!!

 

[Altitude sickness]

This shooter shows perfect follow through. He imparts no forces on the stock as the bullet is traveling down the barrel. Because the rifle is in the air.

81K views · 6.3K reactions | You’re never prepared for a .500 ne to double on you, but it gets your attention when it happens. The left trigger on this one touched off every time the right barrel was fired. This was the first time my friend Trey had

You’re never prepared for a .500 ne to double on you, but it gets your attention when it happens. The left trigger on this one touched off every time the right barrel was fired. This was the first...

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[matt85]

That is precisely why I never load/cock both barrels for a new shooter!

A perk of the old hammer guns is that you can simply cock one barrel at a time.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Also, cocking indicators can be hard to see, but it’s pretty easy for everyone around to see if you have your hammer gun cocked or not.

 

[matt85]

I wish they still made hammer guns!

I believe Verney Carron was still making them for a while. I contacted them years ago about it because ive always wanted a 577 NE hammer gun... But the price was outside of what i could ever afford.

 

[BeeMaa]

I wish they still made hammer guns!

I believe Verney Carron was still making them for a while. I contacted them years ago about it because ive always wanted a 577 NE hammer gun... But the price was outside of what i could ever afford.

Your appetite for recoil tolerance (or punishment) amazes me.

 

[matt85]

Your appetite for recoil tolerance (or punishment) amazes me.

I've honestly found that guns of proper weight don't hurt to shoot. That may sound obvious, but most guns made in the 21st century are too light.

People see my 8-bore and think the recoil will be brutal... But at 16.5 pounds it's easier to shoot than most modern 45 and 50 caliber guns. It took years to convince my buddy that the 8-bore wasnt going to hurt him! But when he finally tried it, he found it was actually quite easy to shoot well.

One of the most enjoyable guns i've had the pleasure to shoot was an old Army & Navy 577 NE double. Not sure what year it was made, probably early 1900s. It weighed around 15 pounds and while the recoil was stout, it was easy to shoot well and didn't hurt.

Random rant about the weight of modern guns.

 

[matt85]

I did a bunch of shooting today with the 8-bore! It was a combination of practice and testing a theory on wad stack up. I wanted to see if adding more wads would bring the POI up, my gun had been shooting low in previous sessions. Distance was about 40 yards off sticks. I pulled a few shots, so clearly more practice is needed!

The load is the same in all cartridges; Winchester 209 primer, 67gr of Alliant Blue Dot, Circle Fly wads, and a 900gr 0.850" ball. I only loaded 10 cartridges, which didn't give the 3rd target a fair chance. On the third target my hand slipped a little under recoil cause the left barrel to go a bit wide. But I believe I still succeeded in proving that getting the ball closer to the case mouth with more wads, does in fact bring up the POI.

Here is four 1/2" wads under the ball:

Here is four 1/2" wads and one 1/8" wad under the ball:

Here is four 1/2" wads and two 1/8" wads under the ball:

 

[matt85]

We had some nice weather today, so I did some more shooting with the Jeffery double. This time a couple neighbors joined me and I held an impromptu "large bore shooting" class. Two guys had never shot anything bigger that a 30-06 got to learn how to shoot an 8-bore 3.25" comfortably and accurately.

I did try a bit of longer-range shooting but accuracy was sub-par. The distance was probably only about 60-70 yards, but my group opened up quite a bit. I did a bit of "head scratching" before I remembered I had used Winchester "muzzle loader" primers in these cartridges. They just aren't hot enough to ignite the large powder charge properly, leading to poor accuracy. Thankfully, I've just about burned these primers up and will continue on with standard Winchester 209 primers which provide better accuracy.