Shoot Your Single-Shot Shotgun for Pennies on the Dollar!

My very first gun was a Rossi break action with exchangeable barrels, one .22 and the other 410. That was 5 years ago, and I still am shooting it. As I started running out of the initial supply of shells my dad bought for me, I noticed how expensive 410 shells were; $0.67 per shot! Then I came across a video by Dave Canterbury, than an article in The Backwoodsman magazine on muzzle-loading a single-shot shotgun with Pyrodex. I finally got around to trying it, and it works great! In fact, I can shoot my 410 for $0.27 a pop using this method! Read on to find out how I do it!

Tools:

·        Can of Pyrodex RS or ffg blackpowder

·        Shotgun primers

·        Cheap 12 gauge skeet loads

·        Spent high-brass shotgun shells

·        Some kind of ramrod

·        Sheep’s wool

·        Powder measure

·        And a single shot shotgun!!!

Procedure:

Begin by cutting open some of the 12 gauge shells and extracting the shot. Put this in some kind of vial.

Now take the spent shells, cut the plastic off at the brass, and then punch the old primer out with a nail and replace it with a new one. That is all the prep work needed.

When you are ready to load the gun, open it up, and insert the cut-off shell into the chamber.

Now close the gun and set the butt on the ground. Measure out 30 grains of Pyrodex RS and pour it down the barrel.

Push a small wad of sheep’s wool down the barrel, tamping it firmly against the powder.

Now put 40 grains of shot (measured same as powder) down the barrel.

Now tamp another wad of sheep’s wool on top of that, and you are ready to shoot!

Here is the pattern with 7 ½ shot:

Have fun and be safe!

-Caleb