doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Double Rifles, Paradox Guns & Gauge Rifles @ doublegunshop.com I. Hollis 8 Bore Big game rifle - what to load ?

Hello All,

I bought this 8 Bore Big game rifle at the last Poulin Auction but I have no clue what to load for it.

Bore measures .850" and I bought some .830" round balls. Now I need to find out how much powder to use and patch thickness.

any suggestions?

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8bore-000.jpg

I've pictured some of the proofs for interest. There is a small J.N. stamp in front of the wedge cage. I wonder if anyone knows anything about this stamp.

Per suggestion from a different forum, I used an old tapered plum bob with various grit papers (120 to 600) to bevel the muzzle for easy loading. When I removed the barrel from the stock, I found that the wedge was years ago broken. (see pics) Not sure if this would be a shooting issue or not, but I had the piece of the wedge that broke off, so I silver soldered it back in place. It fits nicely and looks ok.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8bore-proofs.jpg



http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/REPAIRED-WEDGE.jpg

Wow, Thats Jewel!!! What is the twist? A fast twist would take less powder to stabilize the ball. A slow twist would need more powder to stabilize the ball . Also the guns weight comes into play, how much recoil can you, or the gun stand? ...LK

Twist is approx. 1 in 48 - A 150gr load would be about 90 ft/lbs recoil - 200gr load would be 125 ft/lbs recoil. I'll try and work up to see if its tolerable.

UPDATE.....

I went to the range to test my newly acquired muzzle loader. I have reaffirmed my dislike of muzzle loaders. When I go to the range with a cartridge rifle, all I bring is the rifle and a box of ammo. When I finish shooting, I go home. Not the case with a muzzle loader. Look at the picture of all the crap I had to bring. And, after shooting for only 20 minutes, I had to spent the next hour cleaning everything. Below is the target showing the results.
I am not sure if the results is good or not, so comments are welcome. (also, the repaired wedge did fine)

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/bp8-2.jpg



http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/HOLLIS-TARG.jpg

Wonderful group

Instead of increasing velocity with a heavier load to lower the bullet impact, I raised the front site. According to my math, I needed to raise the front site by 0.12" which would result in hitting 3" high at 25 yards, thus being dead-on at 100 yards. As I have done in the past on some of my other vintage rifles, I glued on a small copper hood over the original site. This copper hood is easily removed by heating with a match so that the original site is not harmed. Next trip to the range should tell if I'm successful.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8-bore-site-redo.jpg

Well, back from the range. With the front site raised, and a slight increase in powder, here is the result.

0 yards = +0.00" = 1795 ft/lbs ME
25 yards = +3.50" = 1748 ft/lbs ME
50 yards = +6.30" = 1682 ft/lbs ME
75 yards = +6.60" = 1632 ft/lbs ME
100 yards = +4.60" = 1585 ft/lbs ME
125 yards = +0.00" = 1541 ft/lbs ME
150 yards = -7.60" = 1500 ft/lbs ME

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8bore-targ-1.jpg

That's the reason I also am a black powder hater.

That is quite the rainbow trajectory, but it looks like your figuring was pretty good, instead of being dead on at 100 yards you were dead on at 125.

A bit more powder increased the velocity from 922 fps to 992 fps. This caused the shift from 100 yd zero, to 125 yd zero.

I have only ever shot black powder in a Navy Colt or a Remington cap and ball, but that was enough to tell me that I did not want to do it very much!!! But, since I don't have to do the clean up or pack up back into the truck, I sure do enjoy seeing YOU GUYS shoot it!!! I love the smoke and the flame that sometimes exits the muzzle especially at early morning or at dusk. But, again, I will continue to enjoy watching others shoot it. Just not for me.

Buckstix,

Given the size of the beasts that rifle was built to tackle, that trajectory gives you a “point blank” range aiming at 6 o’clock on the kill zone out to 125 yards.

It would be tricky for harvesting rabbits, but so would be finding the remains of any rabbits hit.

in Samuel Baker's book Wild Beasts and Their Ways in one paragraph in Chapter One he states "I have shot with every size rifle from a half pounder explosive shell, and I do not think any larger bore is actually necessary than a No. 8, with a charge of twelve to fourteen drams of powder. Such a rifle should way 15 lbs., and the projectile would weigh 3 ounces of hardened metal." Get a copy of this book if you can, it's a fascinating look into large bore game hunting in the BP era.

Hmm, 328 to 382 grains of powder... and, a 1312 grain bullet!

An 1850s Case for my 1850s Hollis 8-Bore.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/hollis-cased.jpg