if tc has choke you will find that to use powder, nitro card, 1 /4 inch wool felt wad with tc lube soaked in it, , shot, overshot cards.. if full choke fold a slight fold in nitro card slide home and criss cross fold with another nitro card over it.. do not shove card in edgeways this can blow patterns.. yhou should have enough lube to make barrel pretty clean after loading, with muzzel loader.. for high speed loads and carfull loading you can work up to 90 3f in stout gun.. 1 1/8 ounce shot. i like nickel plate shot from balistic products for easy cleaning.. this is about 1100 fps.. pack the powder not the shot.. measure the load height with the rod protruding on yourfingers and be sure it is protruding correct height for EACH load.. , and pull load if anything is not right. stout loads will be dangerous if double loaded..cold weather needs more powder to keep up velocity,(90 grains 3f is max ins 12 gauge good gun) but i use shotcups in cold weather in cylinder bore becose the denser air really spreads paterns....... if cylinder bore use nitro card over powder and reduce powder to hold patterns tighter and use little bigger shot to increase pennetration and hold patterns together.. 1/4 to 3/8 inch glob of tc lube between card and one fiber wad ..get tc lube even on bottom of fiber wad.. you dont want to lube one side of the barrel and not the other.. slide down fiber wad 1 /2 inch thick for cylinder bore, then shot and over shot card. about 75-85 grains 2fg or 3fg powder 1 1/4 oz shot... im geussing becouse i shoot 16 gauge smoothborelongstock... and 12 gauge jug choked flintlock... to tighten patterns use more shot, less powder, larger shot, harder shot, you can use plastic shotgun buffer,and or use two wraps typing paper around shot in closed bottom shot cup with shot and buffer. make sure top is open on paper shot cup with over shot card over all( this is for cold weather in cylinder bore... to open patterns use chilled(soft)shot, more powder, less shot, smaller shot, pack the shot......... i wrap precut paper cups for longer trap shooting distances and ducks during cold weather in smoothbore, i wrap them around a tapered dowel that when the cup is removed it will fit abvout halfway into muzzel.. fold the breach end of the shot cup made from precut typeing paper over the end of the dowel....when the cup is in the barrel end put in shot, then buffer if you need it then slide down to top of shot and tear off top of paper would be over the shot, ram home and put in a over shot card.. this is alot if you have more questions just ask.. ill try to get back here clear up what is not understandable. be carfull,this can be fun, but dangerous if done wrong.. its not tough use common scence,work up your loads.. i get good paterns with 16 guage 42 inch smoothbore flintlock using 72-75 grains 3fg, nitro card, glob tc lube on bottome of 1 /2 inch fiber wad, 110 grains equivelent #4 bismuth shot, overshot card.. you can see a photo of me and three greenheads taken many years ago on a very very -20 cold morning jump shooting them with 12 gauge mortimer flintlock.. the mortimer has full jug choke.. pict at
http://members.aol.com/illinewek/ in the rouges gallery of mlml group.. if you like muzzeloading join mlml,, hard core muzeloaders.. great guys.. .. good luck dave schlick ffffg.
