How Are You Loading For Original 1887 12g

[Gabriel Law]

I was lucky enough to buy a nice 87 Winchester a couple years ago,and I love shooting it.  Mine has a 32" full choke barrel and is wonderful for trap shooting.  I had to re-stock the butt stock as the original had been altered by a ham-fisted fool, perhaps a hundred years ago.

I have loaded both brass and plastic shells for it, both  with great success.  For plastic, I use Winchester AA shot shells, cutting them to 2 1/2".  I load them on a Ponsness Warren 12 gauge shot shell reloader and use 12 gauge A, B, and C wads and 7 1/2 shot.  But before crimping I eject the cartridge using a short 3/4" dowel and take them to my drill press where I roll crimp them.  I purchased both the shell shortening device and the roll crimper from Precision Reloading.
For the brass shells, I do not resize, and I use 11 gauge wads.  I use a produce called "water glass" to seal the overshot wad...bought it at our local hardware store.  I have had no issues reloading plastic shells as many as three times before they start to perforate.  But black powder, in my case 2Fg GOEX, 75 gr., is hard on the plastic and they do require replacing.
My gun appears to have a fluid steel barrel rather than a pattern welded one, but I never use smokeless in it nontheless.  This is truly a long stroke lever gun.

[Rube Burrows]

I was lucky enough to buy a nice 87 Winchester a couple years ago,and I love shooting it.  Mine has a 32" full choke barrel and is wonderful for trap shooting.  I had to re-stock the butt stock as the original had been altered by a ham-fisted fool, perhaps a hundred years ago.

I have loaded both brass and plastic shells for it, both  with great success.  For plastic, I use Winchester AA shot shells, cutting them to 2 1/2".  I load them on a Ponsness Warren 12 gauge shot shell reloader and use 12 gauge A, B, and C wads and 7 1/2 shot.  But before crimping I eject the cartridge using a short 3/4" dowel and take them to my drill press where I roll crimp them.  I purchased both the shell shortening device and the roll crimper from Precision Reloading.
For the brass shells, I do not resize, and I use 11 gauge wads.  I use a produce called "water glass" to seal the overshot wad...bought it at our local hardware store.  I have had no issues reloading plastic shells as many as three times before they start to perforate.  But black powder, in my case 2Fg GOEX, 75 gr., is hard on the plastic and they do require replacing.
My gun appears to have a fluid steel barrel rather than a pattern welded one, but I never use smokeless in it nontheless.  This is truly a long stroke lever gun.

A beautiful gun for sure. Sounds like a good process also. I have been watching tons of bp shotshell reloading videos to get an idea how I will do it once I get all my components in. I am hoping mine will come in tomorrow. Its the first gun I have purchased from Gunbroker so I am hoping the transaction goes smoothly.
I will surely post photos once I get it in.

On another note...... how are yall cleaning your original 87s after shooting the black powder. I have only used black powder in revolvers so far and those are pretty easy.

[Cap'n Redneck]

The 1887 is convenient as it can be swabbed from the breech end.

I point the muzzle down, put a plastic funnel in the chamber and pour in some lukewarm water with a dash of dish-washing soap.  Then push all the gunk out the muzzle-end with a cleaning-rod w/ 12ga jag & patch.  Repeat as needed.  When the bore has been cleaned to satisfaction, oil it.  Depending on how pitted the bore is You might want to check back on the bore after a couple of days. 

You shouldn't have to take out the breech-block assembly too often.  It's skeletonized and really quite accessible.  I suggest squirting some WD-40 into the nooks & crannies to soften things up and use compressed air to get the gunk out.  Be extremely careful not to break the mainspring if You need to take the breech-block apart.

I tend to get a little more blow-by with all-brass shells than with paper- or plastic-shells, but not enough to outweigh the cool-factor of the all-brass shells...!  I wipe the chamber between stages when shooting CAS.

I also get more reliable extraction with all-brass shells because they are heavier.  The light paper- and plastic-shells have a tendency to not disengage from the extractor-claws, and leave me with a sort of "stovepipe malfunction".  They must then be "brushed" or pryed off...

If the extractor-claws slip over the cartridge rim leaving the spent shell in the chamber You can tighten the springs with this quick-fix: remove the extractor and spring and drop a spent small-pistol primer into the bottom of the hole.  Then re-install the spring and extractor.

[Rube Burrows]

The 1887 is convenient as it can be swabbed from the breech end.

I point the muzzle down, put a plastic funnel in the chamber and pour in some lukewarm water with a dash of dish-washing soap.  Then push all the gunk out the muzzle-end with a cleaning-rod w/ 12ga jag & patch.  Repeat as needed.  When the bore has been cleaned to satisfaction, oil it.  Depending on how pitted the bore is You might want to check back on the bore after a couple of days. 

You shouldn't have to take out the breech-block assembly too often.  It's skeletonized and really quite accessible.  I suggest squirting some WD-40 into the nooks & crannies to soften things up and use compressed air to get the gunk out.  Be extremely careful not to break the mainspring if You need to take the breech-block apart.

I tend to get a little more blow-by with all-brass shells than with paper- or plastic-shells, but not enough to outweigh the cool-factor of the all-brass shells...!  I wipe the chamber between stages when shooting CAS.

I also get more reliable extraction with all-brass shells because they are heavier.  The light paper- and plastic-shells have a tendency to not disengage from the extractor-claws, and leave me with a sort of "stovepipe malfunction".  They must then be "brushed" or pryed off...

If the extractor-claws slip over the cartridge rim leaving the spent shell in the chamber You can tighten the springs with this quick-fix: remove the extractor and spring and drop a spent small-pistol primer into the bottom of the hole.  Then re-install the spring and extractor.

Thank you for the info. It's threads like this that make these boards so much fun. Learning from others.

[Rube Burrows]

Got the shotgun in last week. Inspected it over and everything looks good.

I loaded up some Magtech Brass shells last night. Ended up with about 1oz of shot over 77 grains of Graf & Sons FFG powder made by Goex.

I could not find that exact load but it seems to be within reason for the 87 if I read everything right.

[Dave T]

Not trying to start an argument with the Cap'n, but I would spray Ballistol into the action rather than WD-40.  It is s
doing an excellent job of protecting the innerds of my single action revolvers so I don't have to detail strip them every time I go out to burn some BP.

YMMV,
Dave

[Rube Burrows]

Finally got to shoot my 1887 Winchester.