62 fowler

[lethemgo]

Just picked up my first fowler and took it out to the range. Shot a .60 ball .10 patch and 60 grains powder. Sweet ..but wondering what most shoot. Patched ball or powder wad ball wad. I know there's different ways to shot them and can learn more from the guys in my club. Just wondering what majority load. Thanks!

 

[Wes/Tex]

I've done it many ways and have experimented a lot over eh years. Ball, with & without patch, wads, cards, tow, moss, even clover! The last was festive but only so-so for accuracy. Some guns like patched ball...some wad with bare ball and card. Each seems to have a mind of it's own. I've gotten to the point in life where dragging 10 pounds of stuff around is
more like work and less like fun. big ole chunk of lightly lubed tow is light in weight and the two guns I've used it in did as well as other set ups. Powder, ball-o-tow, ball, second (slightly smaller) ball-o! :wink: Very historical and hysterical ...simple plan for a simple mind! :haha:

 

[hanshi]

When I hunt with mine I start out with (usually) a patched ball. All reloads are bare ball loads which shoot pretty good in my gun.

 

[Grumpa]

I have no experience with smoothbores. When you say "bare ball", do you mean "without a patch", and do you then use tow, or wadding or some other means to keep the ball from rolling down the barrel?

 

[longfowler]

My best luck with PRB in a smoothbore has always been with a wad under it, no mater what gun I used. currently I make .56 wads out of wet toilet paper in my loading block, let them dry a few days & poke them out. reduces my group size dramatically!

 

[paulab]

The only wet toilet paper around my house is the USED kind with organic lube on it. I punch the lube out pretty good, the paper comes in a roll. I get good groups at close range only. :rotf:

 

[ncmtmike]

For me,,I use powder 80grs fffg ,tow before & aft and a .600 ball and when using shot 1 1/4 ounce

 

[Grandpa Ron]

I have shot about all the combinations one could think of from bare ball with no patch sitting directly on the powder held only by a thin card wad, to a powder/hard card/cushion wad/bare ball/thin wad reminiscent of the “pumpkin ball” loads for us old timers.

I have shot patched ball, wad and patched ball and various patched and un-patched ball sizes. I can say that for my 28 ga. smoothie, 70 grain of 2F, a lubed ½ inch wad and a .526’ patched round ball is the best combination I have found so far. I can also say that there are many combinations that shoot almost as well.

My shooting group is based on 5 to 10 shots at 50 yards offhand, no rear sight because that is what I shoot in competition. It may also be a test of my concentration.

After experimenting with a rear sight or shooting off the bench and watching some of the top shooter shoot; I am convinced that the constancy of a smoothbore is highly dependent on the shooter, particularly with no rear sight.

 

[nwtradegun]

my 72 is 85 gr. 3f and patch 715 rd ball.good as a rifle to 75 yards. no patch cant hit a barn at 10 passes

 

[hanshi]

When I say "bare ball" what I do is seat a 1/4" to a 1/2" felt or cushion wad with the ball firmly placed on top of the wad. I also then put a card wad or two on top of the ball and seat it all down as one unit. Since I cast smoothbore ball from WW they are a bit tighter fit in the bore than a soft lead ball would be. For a prb I use a smaller - normally .590" WW ball and a .024" lubed patch. Even then I put a wad of some sort under it.

 

[satwel]

I shoot a .590 ball with 70 gr 2F using a .010 prelubed patch. If I do my job, it can deliver rifle-like accuracy out to 50 yards. I shot only rifles for years so when I built my first smoothbore, I started shooting patches that fit as tight as a rifle - requiring a short starter to load. After trial and error, I figured out that a snug fitting patch and ball that I can start with thumb pressure performs the best. I tried cushion wads between the powder and prb but quickly abandoned them.