Choosing Among Four Types of Replica Shotguns

You've decided to buy a muzzleloading shotgun, but which gun should you buy?

The four types of modern muzzleloading shotguns found today include:

1) Unchoked traditional percussion single and double-barrels

2) Choked percussion shotguns

3) In-line shotguns

4) Flintlock fowlers and muskets

Each of these smoothbores are fun to shoot and there are some possible crossovers in use, but each type is best understood as separate guns with distinct advantages and limitations.

Unchoked Traditional Percussion Single And Double-Barrels

Unchoked traditional percussion single and double-barreled shotguns are what usually come to mind when most people think of muzzleloading shotguns. These guns have prominent side-hammers, ramrods underneath their barrels, and, frankly, look like shotguns

Almost all of them differ from the originals in that they are stocked to modern dimensions to accommodate today's cheek-on-stock shooting style rather that the head-erect style used in the 1800s. Relearning to shoot in the old style can be done, but good results will be obtained faster if modern guns with less drop are used.

Shooting close-range quail and pheasant, close flushing rabbits and taking waterfowl over decoys are where these guns perform best. At 25 yards to 30 yards, the swarm of shot can be effective if the load is properly balanced for the gun. If tighter patterns are desired with non-toxic shot, use No. 4 steel, bismuth or HeviShot with plastic wads. The Winchester Red AA wad for 1-1/4 ounces of shot performs well with bismuth, and plastic waterfowling wads for 3-inch, 12-gauge cases will allow sufficient room for loading 1-1/4 ounces of steel shot. Newspaper will easily ignite on the ground, and has no place in the muzzleloading shotgun's wad column.

With conventional paper and fiber wads (one hard card over the powder, two fiber wads, the shot charge and a thin over-shot wad) powder charges must be kept modest to keep from shooting hollow-centered patterns. In cylinder-bored 12-gauge guns, 8s, 7-1/2s and 6s pattern best with 1-1/8-ounces of shot and 70 grains to 90 grains of FFg or Pyrodex RS.

The grand compromise with any muzzleloading shotgun is achieving that magic dense-patterning, consistent load that also shoots to the point of aim at 30 yards. There is no substitute for shooting patterns to determine, which load is more effective. Three shots with each load are a minimum to help even out shot-to-shot variations in pattern percentages. Changes in wads, shot, loading pressure, amount of fouling and as little as 5 grains of powder will make an appreciable difference in performance.

Choked Percussion Shotguns

Much of the above also applies to choked percussion shotguns. Because chokes constrict the front of the barrel, some wads cannot be loaded in choked guns. One way around this problem is to use the compressible felt Wonder Wads that are available for 20-, 12- and 10-bore guns as well as for less common gauges, such as the 11 and 14. If the gun has screw-in chokes, these may be removed to allow plastic wads to be loaded and the chokes reinstalled. Removing chokes slows reloading, but this is no real problem while turkey hunting or on a slow day at the duck blind. When shooting picks up, it is always possible to use the faster-loading felt wads.

Choked-bored doubles combined with plastic wads and No. 4 bismuth or HeviShot can extend the effective range of muzzleloading shotguns to 40 yards, IF loads have been properly developed and tested. I regularly take ducks, geese and swan with these guns at ranges of from 30 yards to 40 yards with powder charges of up to 110-grains of FFg and 1-1/4 ounces of shot.

In-Line Shotguns

In-line shotguns, which are muzzleloading rifles with shotgun barrels, are best scope sighted and used for turkey hunting. Almost all current production guns use screw-in chokes. The Knight shotgun is designed to take up to 120 grains of FFg and a full 2-1/2 ounces of shot to produce gobbler anchoring 80 percent patterns of No. 4s at 40 yards. This particular gun has jug chokes to allow 12-gauge wads to be loaded without removing the choke.

Other makers recommend lesser charges for their in-line guns. These loads range from 1-1/4 ounces of shot for Traditions' in-line shotgun, to 1-1/2 ounces of shot for Thompson/Center Arms' in-line and Encore muzzleloading shotguns, with charges in the range of 90 grains to 110 grains.

Since these guns almost are exclusively used for carefully aimed shots at turkeys (and occasionally coyotes and small game) it makes sense to mount scopes on these guns. This is particularly true when heavy shot loads are used since these tend to pattern lower than lighter loads of shot.

Flintlock Fowlers And Muskets

Flintlock muskets, trade guns and fowlers are available as factory replicas or as semi-custom production guns. Although more primitive in styling and operating mechanisms, they often costs several hundred dollars more than their more modern counterparts. In regards to the trade gun, the 20-gauge is an authentic bore size, but the 12-gauge is a much more versatile shotgun. Always opt for the larger gauge, unless the faster handling 20-gauge is specifically desired for grouse and small game shooting.

Brown Bess muskets, the British service gun of the Revolutionary War, are 11-gauge. These guns can use 12-gauge plastic wads if an 11-gauge hard card is used over the powder and a buffer of 20 grains of Cream of Wheat is loaded under the plastic wad and a thin 11-gauge card used over the shot. With lead or bismuth shot, an alternative is to use two 11-gauge felt Wonder Wads over the powder and another over the shot. I commonly shoot steel shot from my cylinder-bored muzzleloaders without using protective plastic wads, but these wads are necessary when shooting the abrasive tungsten-alloyed HeviShot.

There is no furred or feathered North American game that has not been taken with these flintlock guns. Like the cylinder-bored guns, these are close-range guns best used for wingshooting birds, small game, and, with a single patched ball, employed for shooting deer-size-game at ranges of fewer than 40 yards.