.54 smooth bore

[nathanbowenarrow]

Who hunts with a 54 smooth bore? I know it will handle deer but how good is it for use as a quell/dove gun?
Nathan

 

A friend has one that he uses for small game. remember that a .54 is like a a 28 gauge shotgun(really 29)--but also remember that it does not have (typically) any choke, so range is limited for killing patterns. Good news is that doves are not hard to kill with marginal patterns. With limits, a .54 ought to work for squirrels, rabbits and doves/quail, keeping shots at 25-30 yds or less.

 

[tom hargrove]

sir: i think that you must have never tryed to kill a semo dove they fly at 60mph and can do areobataics that make a f-16 pilot green with envey, :bull: but i do use a caywood in 54 and have had much success with small game at moderate ranges :winking:

 

[paulvallandigham]

a .28 gauge smoothbore will kill doves. I have a friend who took his .410 out just because one of his shooting acquaintance told him he couldn't kill dove with a .410. He shot over 50 dove over the course of several days, without missing a shot, because he picked his shots carefully, and he is one heckova shooter! I don't think he attempted a shot at 25 yds, and most were inside of 20 yds.

 

[crgabel]

I have used mine for Tree rats and have found that much over 30 yds is a hail mary shot. For that reason i try to limit myself to 25yds and have great luck on both tree rats and dove.
Craig

 

[Bearbait2]

Mr. Nathan B.,
We use our's on Snowshoe Hare, Squirrels and Grouse of various types.
With a patched roundball and max charge of 2F, it is capable of smacking a Moose with authority at 50 yards.
Best Wishes

 

[54ball]

I shot my .54-28 Carolina Smoothbore last week. I shot at aluminium cans and plastic bottles at about 30 yards. Every hit would have been a kill as far as accuracy is concerned. I was shooting out out of a 50grain TC measure with equal volume of shot. The best shot was the first one, powder, home made carboard card, dried leaf wadded up, shot and a carboard card on top. It filled the 12oz can with holes. The worst was when my home made over powder card collasped on loading. I think my shot mixed with my powder a little because the report was hollow sounding. I did not use a leaf on this shot. On this shot I still managed to put two pellets into the base of a 12oz can laying on its side. That was the rabbit head shot. I cant wait to take it out again and up the powder and shot.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Why not get the proper over powder wad and over shot cards from Circle Fly Wads, or Ox Yoke , if it is still in business before hunting season. The links page is now part of the membership services on top of the forum index, but you can find addresses, and often catelogs, on line, and even 800 numbers to call to place an order. If you want to tighten groups a little, try using standard 28 gauge plastic shot wads. They may not be traditional, but they will protect the shot, and improve the pattern of the gun. That could extend your range by 5 yds or more. Stick with the same shot used in 28 ga. shotshells for hunting whatever it is you want to hunt and shoot, and use the same dram charges in your gun as the factories load for the 28 ga. You won't be disappointed.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

In my .62 fusil I used the steel shot plastic cups for hunting on the federal Topock Marsh Wildlife Refuge (steel shot only allowed) here. Later tried it with #6 lead shot, holds 1 1/4 oz near exact, the performance was excellent. Friend of mine used the gun and load to bust clays out to beyond 40 yds, I can't do it, but he could.

Hard to go back to corn shucks or paper after the plastic success.

 

sir: i think that you must have never tryed to kill a semo dove they fly at 60mph and can do areobataics that make a f-16 pilot green with envey, :bull: but i do use a caywood in 54 and have had much success with small game at moderate ranges :winking:

....? I am not even sure what a "semo dove" is, so I guess you are right...I assumed that the man was asking about mourning doves, which can be easily killed with any kind of hit--they are not tough birds--I was referring to the fact that even the edge of a pattern could kill one and thus a .54 ought to be sufficient within its range (

 

[Joel/Calgary]

Hard to go back to corn shucks or paper after the plastic success.

Aye you talking about shucking around with wadding or with shot protection? In either case, how do you use it, and what have your results been?

Thanks,
Joel

 

[Ron LaClair]

Who hunts with a 54 smooth bore? I know it will handle deer but how good is it for use as a quell/dove gun?
Nathan

I should have my .54 smoothbore being built by Jack Hubbard, sometime next month. Squirrel season opens Sept 15th so I should be able to try her on those bushytails soon. I'm hopeing she shoots a ball center because I'd like to try it on deer. Then it'll be rabbits in the winter. I'm hoping for an all around meat gun with this .54 smoothbore.