Conicals in smooth bore

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Yes, @naterflint, there are a number of threads on the Forum that have tested the use of conical bullets in a smoothbore. The consensus is that wadding, patched or bare, a round ball is the better solution when we want a solid projectile to be shot from our smooth bored guns.

Conical bullets need to be stabilized by spin to be accurate.
 
brazosland said:
OP, have you held a .62 caliber ball in your hand?

Tell you what, stand at 50 yards and let me shoot you with one.

Then, if you are able, let’s discuss its effectiveness as a hunting projectile. Let me know when you are ready.
Click to expand...
does he have to catch it in his teeth? 😅
I tried a couple REAL bullets in my fowler, as what was stated earlier in the thread, accuracy is great at 10 ft.
At 15 feet they are minute of chronograph. don't ask.
 
I tried a conical or two in my 12ga, I didn't have any cast so I cut apart some 12ga slug rounds and tried the rifled slugs. They shot an awful group and key holed on every shot.

I would suspect that someone could try a wide variety of conicals and loads and find something that would shoot OK. In my 12 that would be something in the 500+ grain weight that would punish the shooter to the max, no thanks!
 
I am embarrassed to say I tried a conical in a smoothbore and the experiment was an abject failure. I bought a mold from a member here off the forum for a conical, maybe a Ballard or something. It cast a beautiful slug that was a nice fit for the bore of my .56 smoothbore Renegade. Lubed bullets had just a hint of resistance as you pushed them “whistling” down the barrel. It also had a nice thin skirt around a hollow base that theoretically should expand on firing sealing to the barrel. Anyway, although it appeared to have every chance to succeed it keyholed badly, all over the paper. Those big, ragged, sideways holes were impressive in their ugliness. This from a long gun that shoots very well with a patched round ball. And yes, I am a little slow and hard headed at times but I just had to try it for myself. Oh well, even a bad day casting and burning black powder is better than working.
 
naterflint said:
Has anyone tested if conicals bullets shoot straighter in a smooth bore
Click to expand...

I think it was also done in the ACW, but not as an "idea" but as a logistics faux pas. I read somewhere that Confederates shooting .69 smoothbores got hold of a mess of .58 cartridges, and were using those until "better" ammo was found. I wouldn't want to be within 50 yards of a volley from those, .58 minies or .69 round balls.

It was a very old source, and I read it decades ago, and I'm not sure if it was conjecture, where they saw a unit with old .69 smoothbore muskets had been issued .58 cartridges, or if the unit had been upgraded to rifled muskets so the ammo was correct, and the historian didn't know of the weapon change, and assumed the old .69's were still being used.

LD
 
Foster slugs versus shuttlecocks...
shuttlecock-4152150_1280.jpg

You'd have to make the slug conical in cross section like an old style water cooler cup, like an ICBM delivered warhead reentry vehicle. There's no reason why you shouldn't except that people seem to want the front end big.
 
I've tried 'em...they fly every which way from point-of-aim. Bare & unpatched round balls were much more accurate from my 2 smoothbores; patched ball was even better!
You could try two RBs if you wish to experiment with heavy loads. :ghostly:
 
Billy-by-gosh said:
I've tried 'em...they fly every which way from point-of-aim. Bare & unpatched round balls were much more accurate from my 2 smoothbores; patched ball was even better!
You could try two RBs if you wish to experiment with heavy loads. :ghostly:
Click to expand...

I had a friend win a shoot with a 56 smoothbore Renegade against rifles. He had a great accurate load for it.
 
🙄
Why? Why, why, why? 😞
Did deer, elk, moose, and bison, suddenly evolve to have Kevlar with ceramic breast plates? Maybe we should cast with depleted uranium?

Roundballs have been killing anything that needs killing on this continent for hundreds of years. Did something change?
Seems like it was only a few years ago that one of our now late members killed a bison with a 20 gauge/.62 caliber smoothbore.
Is somehow a .600 to .610 diameter ball weighing in between 325 and 342 grains not enough?
 

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