Loading 16ga black powder ammo.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

"Square Load" is an oft misused term. It actually means that the SHOT COLUMN is as wide as it is high. For a 16 ga, that means somewhere between 7/8 and 1 oz. For 12 ga., about 1 1/8 oz.

The badly understood misuse of the equation of the same volume of powder and shot usually ends up being way too high for CAS use. Going way back to my posts on PTERYPLEGIA, the old wisdom is; "no more than an equal volume of powder to shot, but less, up to about 30% works just fine."

For CAS I use just under 60 grains for the 12 bore, and just under 50 for the sixteen. Slams the knockdowns very convincingly!

For hunting, or just showing off, I use equal volumes.

Pattern varies inversely with anything that disrupts the shot column. Use too fast burning powder = wider pattern. Use more powder than necessary = wider pattern. Use softer shot = wider patterns. Use smaller shot = wider patterns