12 gauge smoothie and round balls.

[bighunter]

For the people that own or have shot a 12 gauge fowler smoothbore, how is the accuracy at 50 and 75 yards with a round ball? What loads were you using? Thanks in advance.

 

[sawyer04]

I have good luck with 80 gr. double f at 70 yards. Got a little kick to it. I card the powder and patch the ball.

 

[45man]

The truth as I see it. A BP shotgun is good with about anything. Fit is all you need.

 

[Rat]

I get deer killing accuracy at 50 yards, from a .020"+ patched and chewed .690" roundball, 140 grains of 1fg, and a bee's wax wad over the powder, and a wonder wad on top of that. And un-chewed .690" with a denim patch seems to work well also, but the former seems to be a bit more accurate, in my Bess.

In my gun, a heavy charge is more accurate than a light one.

 

[Rat]

She may shoot a tad further than 50 paces, but that would be the range I am most confident in making a hit.

 

[Robby]

80 of 2f is about all I can take these days, but its accurate if you put a little time in tuning it up. I'm sore thinking about it.
Robby

 

[Sparkitoff]

80 grains of FFFG in this particular gun with OP wad, cushion wad and ball with OS wad. Puts a figure 8 on the target (right over left) at 35 yards and at 50 yards the holes are 3-inches apart easily on a deer's vitals. I have not shot further than that.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

80 grains of 2Fg, a ½" fiber wad with a "dimple" in the center, a .710 ball, and a second ½" wad or a hunk of tow, is pretty accurate out to 50 yards. My son's 12 ga though only has a bead front sight. Other sighting types might do better, farther.

FWIW..., that load duplicates the old fashioned "punkin ball" load with 3 drams of powder and a round ball, that were used in the first half of the 20th century by hunters (especially in the Great Depression) to take deer who couldn't afford slug rounds. Folks would open up and remove (and save) the bird shot from a 2½ or 3 Dram load, then put in the round ball, and some beeswax to hold it in place.... they'd use a smaller than .710 ball if they had a choked barrel.

LD

 

[Bad Karma]

80 of 2f is about all I can take these days, but its accurate if you put a little time in tuning it up. I'm sore thinking about it.
Robby

My “twice barreled carabine” only weighs 6.5 pounds... and pretty stout recoil is an understatement.