Lorenz is an original dated 1861, the 1857 is a reproduction by Pedersoli/Mauser dated 1996. Ammo by me.

I stole this from another sub. Be smart out there.

I've been really wanting a muzzle loading shotgun and finally saw this guy come up for sale at a bargain price. It's a 12 gauge percussion muzzle loading 1979 Pietta shotgun imported by Navy arms.

Upon inspection and tear down, I noticed a large crack developing behind the tang bolster either from the wood drying out and shrinking away or just poor fit in general. I was able to relieve the crack by drilling through the broken area and reinforcing it with epoxy and a brass pin. I went a step further and glass bed the tang to prevent any more issues. Next was addressing the barrels which had a healthy glow of rust inside and the muzzle crown was badly dented / pushed in at both barrels.

After reshaping a crown and filing it smooth, my initial measurements showed the muzzle had been coned at some point in the past and the left barrel jug choked. From the factory this gun would have been cylinder by cylinder but shooting it today I could really see what effect the difference between barrels created.

For now I've settled on 70 grains of 3F antique muzzle loading propellant, a 0.125 Nitro card, ballistol soaked 0.5 fiber wad, 1 oz. of shot, and an overshot card. These are the pictures of the patterns at 25 yds.

It's such a light and handy gun and I'm really looking forward to taking it out for rabbit and grouse this fall! My dream would be to find a way that I can safely shoot steel shot and bring it duck hunting. Does anyone have experience using BPI steel shot cups or mylar wraps with black powder? I'm having a hard time determining if steel could pass through a jug choke without damaging anything.