We had another outing with the war wagon today. After a semi-successful seat installation, we set out with four Barnes guns and did a little shooting. Gary and Jim probably have other pictures to add so I'll just cover the shotgun shooting here.

We've found that you can make a pretty good shotgun shell for muzzle loading into the Woodsman. They can be made short enough to breech load but the gun likes a longer heavier load. We generally go for about 575gr to 650gr of #5 shot.


That's Paul starting the assembly of a shell. We use index cards cut to size and some copper tube as a form.

Here's the first shot of the day:

That was from 20 yards away.


Plenty of shot on target there and it hits hard enough.


That's the shell case from the first shot. It looks like it cleaned the barrel some.

Here's the next shot.

We probably should have zoomed out a little to get more of the scene but it's still a neat movie. This shot was from 25 yards with a shell about 50gr or so heavier than the first.


Still plenty of shot on target.


Case number two. You can see from the well defined rub marks that the shells are going in and out of the barrel without coming apart.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2009 01:01AM by Jerry.

Very nice videos jerry. Seeing those shot in flight is so cool and that is some serious weight that gun is pushing. About how fast do you think the shot is travelling? Please post more slow mo videos....he he

Hi Ced!

I don't know how fast the shot is going for sure but I'd estimate around 600 FPS. Jim had his chrony there but wouldn't let me use it with the shotgun!

I took a few pics, though not as many as the other day.

The War Wagon got some snazzy new seats! Unfortunately, like most of our shooting upgrades, they're still a work in progress. The cutouts in the bench need to be adjusted, and the leg stems are a bit too wobbley sometimes. Still, it's better than sitting on a rickety stool with a piece of foam padding as a booster!



It was a bit frosty yesterday too. The temperature probably never got above 33 degrees (which was the high that I saw on Gary's truck thermometer). It sure didn't feel like 33 but for a short time, and the mud in the field was mostly frozen into rock. The guys broke out the propane heater in the War Wagon to offset the chill.



Here's Jerry muzzle-loading the 576 grain shotshell into his Woodsman:



Jerry with the Woodsman right before his first shot.



I shot the high-speed video while Jerry took the shots and Gary filmed both of us. Afterwards, Gary and Jerry gleefully inspected the damage.



As there were three of us and the War Wagon only seats two, we set one of the portable benches up for me to use. I got some excellent chrony data which I haven't yet had a chance to compile. This view of the range shows my chrony out at 11 yards (to help deal with the muzzle wash these big bores create). Gary's chrony is a little closer and to the right -- he was collecting some data for the 58 Rendezvous. Also, notice the setting sun almost due west from our position -- it makes things a bit difficult during the latter part of the day as we end up shooting right into the sun.



I love the five foot microline whip on my tank. I can put the tank / reg on the ground and leave the bench clear for slugs, oil, camera, range finder, notebook, snacks . . .



Another good (but cold!) day of shooting. I'll have some more BC and chrony data posted soon.

-- Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2009 01:05PM by Jim.

Here's a picture of our intrepid photographer. One day he's going to have to share how he gets those 100kb pictures to look so good. I wonder if the Nikon has anything to do with it?

Great Post Jim,

I'll dig out some of my poor little Sony pics here in a minute.

Hey - I told you it would be warmer reading about the shoot that experiencing it yesterday. Gosh ... I'm not cold at all! hehe.

Those shotgun videos are the bomb. Love that angry swarm of shot coming in. I was amazed at how it just sent that steel target for a loop too! Nothing whimpy about it. They were "packin' a punch".

Those mahogany stocks get more rich each time I see them too.

Don't let Jim get too you either guys. He's climbed Mt. Rainer. Shucks ... this was nothing for an old survival guy like Jim.

Correction. Those are my shop-worn hands loading the Woodsman. Jerry's pilot's hands wouldn't look quite so ... topographical ...

Gary

Was watching that shotgun video again . . . we need a close-up impact of one of the bigger slugs against a steel plate next time. Gotta figure out some way to protect the camera -- maybe a piece of fiberglass? We can use my little table-top tripod to set it up at plate-level, perhaps ten yards away? Then someone has to push the button and get to safety.

Sounds like another project . . .

-- Jim

I did look at my pics. I didn't have anything that Jim hadn't covered.

I keep being pleased with how nicely that Mahogany ages.

Also, keep being pleased with how that load of small shot knocked that steel target flat. I would not have expected that.

Great time - nice memories.

Gary

Good read, I'd say it was packing a PUNCH alright. That should be an excellent squirrel load. Thanks for posting it.

Jerry,

More great footage, thanks for the great entertainment!

That shotgun load throws a great pattern.

Joe,
One of these days a squirrel will find itself part of a test program...
Lon,
I wish that the video would play frame by frame via the photobucket player. If you watch the video using quicktime and scroll through it, it looks like popcorn as the shot balls hit the plates.

I saw a cam that mounts on top of your scope. You get those action shots then. Dory

Dory,

I don't think we have a problem capturing the action. I think the biggest problem is presenting it via a forum. If I view the same videos we show here using quicktime on my computer, I can look at any chosen frame and see what is going on. With the photobucket player I can start and stop but not scroll back and forth to see exactly what I'm looking for.

I meant when you were squirrel hunting. You won't be able to use a tripod. Dory

Oh, I get it now.

I've seen those mounts but I'm going to pass. Maybe someone else with a .62 will pick up that ball and run with it though?