I picked up a shotgun off someone here specifically because it was in the nickel finish and modified choke for use with the 209 shotgun primer adapter. I tried the gun out Saturday with some interesting results.
First I had some Triple Seven pellets left over from fall’s muzzle loading season. These were in my rifle for the entire season, and I would not trust them for hunting nor did I want to toss them. I had no idea if they would go off with the Centerline adapter rather than a true in-line ignition system. Well, they both went off as advertised. However, I do not recommend anyone run out and buy them. One of the problems with loading a shotgun built for shells in a muzzle loading fashion is the problem of the chamber, and forcing cones that a cartridge shotgun’s barrel has. In a muzzleloader’s barrel you have a straight tube from the choke to the breech plug. In a cartridge gun you have an enlarged chamber for the shell, a cone that squeezes the wad a bit, a straight bore section and finally another constriction at the choke before leaving the muzzle. The pellets exacerbated the chamber enlargement because unlike a loose powder they take up very little volume. When I dropped the pellet I followed it with a cushion wad that I had to really force through the choke. The wad pushed hard until it hit the forcing cone when it got easier to push and when it hit the chamber it almost fell free to the pellet. The shot dropped in fine, and I covered it with a thin felt Wonder Wad rather than the traditional over shot card. Again the Wonder Wad felt difficult to ram past the choke getting easier as it went past the cones and finally it too fell into the chamber area of the barrel. This is not a safely loaded gun. This procedure would produce a fine load in a true muzzle loader, an H&R shotgun is NOT a muzzle loader. The shot load (be it a round ball, lead bullet, sabot, or loose shot) has to be seated solidly over the powder charge. I broke the barrel and punched the load out. Reloaded just the pellet and the over shot wad and fired it off. It sounded like a cap gun through my ear muffs, but my wife ½ a mile away said she heard the shot.
Going forward I will only shoot loose powder loads, and may start using double cushion wads to fill the chamber such that the over shot wad is seating beyond the chamber’s leading edge. I will also start using shot cups, for protection of the chamber and better patterning. I also plan to load heavy charges to be sure the load has filled the 3” chamber and I’m seating the over shot wads before the forcing cones. Naturally a 2-3/4” chambered barrel would be a better choice for use with the adapter.
I should also mention that I was loading the shotgun in brutally cold (well below zero) weather. The cushion wads were hard, almost felt like stones; so they may not have been expanding like they should which added to the loose fit in the bore I’d imagine. I may load with traditional tow material in cold weather going forward too.