What fun! My Pedersoli percussion double is an absolute joy. It's taken dove, pigeon, rabbits and squirrel and it's one of my favorite guns to tote in the early squirrel woods when the cover is too thick to get guaranteed head shots.
One thing I've found. If you are right handed or left handed, it doesn't matter, but the support hand needs long sleeves or a forearm protector. You can get tatooed with burnt powder and cap debris otherwise!
I do not trouble myself with shot cups and whatnot. I load the gun the way it was loaded back when the wagon trains carried everyone with a westward dream into the unknown. Scatterguns outnumbered rifles and pistols several times. I dump my powder and seat an over the powder card. I put a quarter inch or half inch cushion wad over that. Dump my shot (6 works best for me) and place an over the shot card. I have interchangable chokes, but I have changed them out to the most open choke available for both barrels.
You can experiment with powder/shot combinations and have a ball. For squirrel, I don't often load more than 70 grains of powder and an ounce of shot. Light kicking and well balanced. Same holds true for rabbit. Dove requires (for me at least) a bit more shot so I can fill the sky a little better. In that case, I up my powder to 90 grains. I've found that my patterns are actually a bit tighter with the lighter loads and quarter inch cushions.
Read this essay by Ross Seyfried. It's wonderful.
http://www.98.net/ibha/shotguns.htmThis can get habit forming.
Dan
