Jonathon yep, shorter horn makes sense. I am mech. engineer and there are two big things wrong here: the 9.5mm (3/8") stuffer tube and its length. Most of the problem, probably, ALL could be solved by using the diameter stuffer tube for 16 mm casings. There is NO advantage to going smaller, just disadvantages. Pressure drop(in this case back pressure on the cylinder / piston goes up exponentially as diameter is reduced.

Jonathon It looks to me you may have missed a small point in the original post. He said he was using 16mm casings but a 3/8" stuffer tube. 3/8" is VERY small-- only 9.5 mm! He is trying to punch it through a pinhole darn near.

thanks. As it turned out I did use a pork butt, cost only $1.48/# on sale and pork fat appears to be running about 50 cents more. Pure fat is a lot harder to come by, guessing because there is just less of it – supply and demand. One recipe I was using called out pork fat and I directly substituted the ground pork butt and it tasted fine even at a 25% ratio. The other sausage experimental batch I made with 50% and it is even better. So, 50/50 is the future now. thanks for your input folks!

excellent, thanks.

OK, interesting. So, you are implying, then, that during the smoking process while slowly ramping up to final smoking temp the risk is that bacteria have a chance to multiply and without the cure chemicals in place it is a breeding ground. However, also implied, since cooking breakfast sausage rapidly heats the food to temp in the frying pan it the process kills any bacteria there or attempting to multiply. . . right?!

Just wondering what most folks use when making breakfast sausage using venison, what is the range of pork % that could be considered “normal”?
What ratio would be typical of italian sausage, chorizo?
I made some with 50% pork/ venison and found it too taste just fine. It’s original recipe called for only 25% pork and I found that too firm, dry and cooked up like a hockey puck and likely to char during frying. What is most typical ratio amount for pork in breakfast sausage made from venison / pork?

Just getting into sausage making, advice on need for cure:
If I am only making venison / pork breakfast sausage, italian sausage, “burger” from a blend of pork and venison with intent to freeze(not smoke) in 1# bags is it not necessary to use these added “cure” solutions. It seems they are targeted to jerky and smoked products meant for room temp / dry storage vs frozen storage, true?

Just getting into sausage making because I tagged a small doe. Small amount of meat to mix etc.
I notice most / ?all? your recipes are geared toward pure beef or pork and not so much blended sausages like what is typical of what hunters make for sausage. Is it reasonable to conclude that any of your standard recipe’s(eg: Holly medium pork sausage, your big seller) can just be directly used for venison sausage assuming you will be using a ratio of pork to venison in the mix? Or, should the ingredients be customized to accommodate the unique characteristics the venison causes?

I notice LEM and other manufacturers of sausage stuffers offer a 2" dia. size of stuffer outlet tube. Is this necessary or simply convenient when fill plastic tubes like 1# pork sausage bags? Many stuffers are available with max size tube being max about 1.6".