1st smoothbore

[steve hill]

Hello I'm looking at a 56cal smoothbore barrel for my renegade.My question is could I shoot shot out of this
to hunt turkeys and what gauge would it be considered?
Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Ohio Rusty]

I know one other person who had a .56 smoothbore barrel on his renegade. He was working up shot loads but wasn't happy with the results at that time. I don't know anyone else who used one, but with the proper powder to shot ratio and maybe make rolled paper cartridges filled with shot, I would imagine it would pattern well at close range. since a true 28 gauge is 55 caliber, you would be a bit bigger than 28 gauge (26 gauge maybe?). You would have to make all your own wads and over powder/shot cards as no one I know of makes anything to fit a .56. If you have a friend that is a machinist, he could measure the inner diameter and mill you out a tube that would be an exact fit. Sharpen the end and you would have a nice wad/card punch. As for turkeys ...you'd have to run some 1 oz. or 1 1/14 oz. loads thru the barrel to see how it patterns and what is the maximum effective range. It would make a great squirrel getter I would think ...
Ohio Rusty

 

[musketman]

Hello I'm looking at a 56cal smoothbore barrel for my renegade.

You could always buy a .54 barrel and have the rifling drilled out... :hmm:

 

[Keith]

Sounds pretty small for turkey. You won't be able to shoot a very heavy charge real well I think. There is no choke on those I think, so the range will be real short. Last, a .56 is about a 28 ga. it may not even be legal to use. Could be a fun gun for other things, like quail, but if you want it just for turkey . . . I don't know.

 

[adkmountainken]

i have a 56. cal T.C. smoothbore that i am very happy with. i use 80 grains ffg, 58 cal wonder wad over powder, 1 1/2 ounces #5's and a 58 cal wonder wad over shot. this load is very effective out to 25 yards for turkey. i took a 15 pound jake and absolutly hammerd him at about 10 yards. just know your limitations with the 56. and you will be fine. i also use the paper card system with mine 56. for the shot charges. it is a very handy, versitile smoothie. i am getting great groups with round ball out to 40 yards, it really impressed me. i'll try to post a couple pic's of the jake i shot with the 56.

 

[madstone]

Great photos. Takes a real hunter to get a 10 yd shot on a turkey!! You obviously know the limitations of your 56 and can compensate with hunting skills. I congratulate you!
I have a damaged TC New Englander barrel I always wanted to bore out to 56-60, etc. I may just do that, now!
I even tried hunting sq's with a double bbl 410 ML. If close it was great! Went on to try shot in my 44 revolver but gave up! Rifling doesnt allow a good patern. I wasn't that good!!

 

[flinttim]

Tip Curtis at Frontier Shop has Green Mt. smooth barrels and I'm sure you can get one breeched for T/C. Don't know what the dia of your barrel now is, but I bought a .54 x 1" x 42"smooth from him 2 yrs ago or so and I know he still has them.

 

[roundball]

Hello I'm looking at a 56cal smoothbore barrel for my renegade.My question is could I shoot shot out of this
to hunt turkeys and what gauge would it be considered?
Any help will be appreciated.

The .56cal SB is a good one...and if you're going to buy a new barrel anyway, you might want to consider a .62cal (.20ga)as the larger bore seems to have more flexibility.
I have a TC .56cal(.28ga) Percussion Smoothbore, and a GM .62cal(.20ga) Flint Smoothbore.

IMO, the .62cal(.20ga) lets me get out further with an effective load, particularly when hunting something requiring heavier/larger size pellets (ie #4's)


FYI, my .62cal/.20ga turkey loads with #6's puts:

29 #6's into a 4" tuna target at 25yds
11 #6's in a coke can at 30yds
8 #6's in a coke can at 40yds
(a coke can only presents a 2.5" x 5" target face)

They're both interesting and fun to experiment / hunt with.

 

[Keith]

Nice bird, looks heavy.
The load of 1 1/2 oz's sounds heavy. My T/C manual lists 7/8 oz as a load for that gun. If someone is willing to limit themselves to the weapon's effective range you can use most anything. With a good 25 yd. pattern like you get you aren't doing bad, IMO.

 

[adkmountainken]

Keith,
without a doubt as long as you know your limits on the 56. you will be fine. my patterns good out to 25 yards however i really try to stay in the 15-20 yards range. just have to rely on good calling, patience, and woodsmanship. i love to hunt but success to me is not based on getting a kill. i pass up many shots others would take untill i get a slam dunk, meat in the pot shot! i just love to be in the woods and i have the patience to wait for my shot. 1 1/2 ounces is VERY heavy for a 56. and i don't suggets it to anyone else. however for me at 15-20 yards it is a real killer and holds tight. good luck to ya and keep yer powder dry,
Ken

 

[Keith]

I like your philosophy on hunting. :master:To bad more people didn't see it the same way.

 

[Stumpkiller]

1 1/2 ounces is VERY heavy for a 56. and i don't suggets it to anyone else.

That's a full 12 ga equivalent load in, basically, a 28 gauge barrel. The T/C is certainly beefy enough to swallow it in stride (1" across the flats). It's a LOOOONG shot column, but for a standing or strutting turkey that doesn't matter (I bet that shot "column" is as long as it is wide at 25 yards). A really versitile gun. :thumbsup:

Skeet might be getting through that cloud, though.

 

[adkmountainken]

yes, a very long shot column but as i said i only use this load for turkey and keep it VERY close. to tell ya the truth the jake i [censored] cam in silent behind me with 9 others as i was concentrating on 2 big boss gobblers about 85 yards out that were answering me. i happened to hear a noise, turned around and i don't know who was more suprised the 10 jakes standing 10 yards from me or me!!!! it was wet that day and the sneaky critters really got the drop on me but i had time to turn, size up the largest jake and make smoke! what a feeling when the smoke cleared as there was my jake laying silent. being my charge was very stout and there was a liht, damp fog it seemed like it took forever for the smoke to lift! i will never forget it.

 

[adkmountainken]

just checked out auction arms and there is a T.C. 56. smoothbore just like mine dirt cheap! would make a fine smoothie for someone at that price!

 

[jlangenh]

Just wondering if I could use 28 ga. plastic wads in a 56 cal. TC smoothbore? If they were the proper size for the barrel, it might tighten up the patterns. Anyone have any experience doing this?

 

[Rebel]

A .28 ga. bore is supposed to be .550 so the .28 ga wad should work ok in your T/C smoothbore. You might have to make a wrap around it with paper to get a tight fit. Put an overpowder wad under it to seal the bore and it should work fine.

 

Saturday I took my most fun gun to a shoot,Northstar West .24ga. Shot RB at the gongs. Need more practice. Then tried it on clay birds. The only measure I had was 50 gr so---- 50 gr 3F and 1 1/2 measure of 8's(I guess that's about 1 1/8 oz). Missed one, clipped one, and powdered the rest ( only about 10 shots). I was getting on at about 30 yards( Need to get faster!). Too bad Oregon only allows 20ga min. for turkeys. Bill

 

[Black Hand]

Sir,
You may be able to get a 20ga barrel from NSW and with a little fiddling could get it to fit.
Black Hand

 

[jlangenh]

I will only be using the 56 cal smoothbore for squirrel hunting. I am hoping to come up with a load that will be effective out to about 30 yards. Do you think that is realistic or will the pattern just not hold at that distance?