accuracy with my trade gun

[Old Charlie]

The accuracy with my trade gun leaves a lot to be desired. While I have read here of folks getting accuracy as good as a rifle.
I have been reading LIFE IN THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS by Ferris.
He comments several times that the trappers in his bunch only used the trade gun for running buffalo. That is point blank range. He tells at another point were he and another trapper are hunting with trade guns, ( he had fallen from his horse and broke his rifle)He said they were mostly unsuccessful because of the poor accuracy of the trade gun. He considered it all but useless.
Old Charlie

 

[Bearbait2]

Mr. Old Charlie,
At what distance are you testing for group size? Our accuracy is quite acceptable out to 50 yards.
Best Wishes

 

[Old Charlie]

I shoot my trade gun at 50 yards. I thied a shot at 100 yards. The ball droped about 2 1/2 to 3 feet.
Old Charlie

 

[Bearbait2]

Mr. Old Charlie,
Our old .62cal was built from a kit using Track of the Wolf parts. We are using 90gr of 3f and a tight patched ball (short starter required). Prime with 3f as well. At 50 yards it shoots better than I can hold. Not so good at 100 yards. There has been a lot of discussions regarding various combinations for best accuracy. Seems to vary with the individual weapon, as you probably know from your own experience.
Best Wishes

 

[Brasilikilt]

It's all just a matter of experimentation in finding a load that works in your gun, as well as plenty of practice to know where your gun is going to hit with a certain load.

I have heard from friends that using a bigger ball and no patch works rather well

Hope this helps

Iain

 

[tg]

I have has several smoothies, the French fusil I like the most will put .535 .550 .562 or .570 with anything from a snug fit with an over powder card to a bare ball held with wadding in any of the ball sizes into a paper plate at 45-50 yds, 3" or less with a snug fit and card, most of the other guns have shot as well, historicaly smooth rifles with a rear sight were not uncommon and evidently prefered by some.You may just have a bad fit or may need to put a rear sight on just to maintain consistant sight picture to see what the gun can do,and play with different combos.

 

[Bearbait2]

Mr. Old Charlie,
Should have mentioned, ours has a small rear sight.
Best Wishes

 

[William Joy]

I can shoot 5-6 inch groups ( 5 shots) at 50 yr. With shot my patterns are acceptable to 25-30 yr. So living in 1750 to ..... here are my thoughts:
Large Lead and powder consumption! If you are living in a homestead, I guess not a big problem, and it can be a great overall weapon- if you travel a lot - a rifle might be better....

 

[Wes/Tex]

First of all, smoothies are purely 50 -75 yard propositions. Longer barrels are generally, though not always, a bit more accurate with the longer barrel giving a longer sight radius. Measure your bore accurately and try a ball .020" under bore diameter with a .017" lubed cloth patch. If this doesn't give descent results, try using the ball bare with a card above it to hold it in place. Smoothbores are more finicky about accuracy and experimentation with your gun will eventually tell you what it likes best. Good luck.

 

[KHickam]

It had taken me over a year and lots of powder and lead to get my smoothbore figured out. But, at 50 yds now I can shred a 5.5" target with 5 rds, on an occasional basis. Most often I get acceptable accuracy 5 of 5 shots on an 8" bullseye.

Mine shoots a bit left so I hold on the right edge of the target.

 

[dlpowell]

If he stock doesn't fit you'll never get good groups. I'm not technically adept enough to explain why and how. But I do know from experience that if the gun don't come to point when you raise it, you'll never be happy. Hold your gun like you are expecting a shot, close your eyes and bring it to shoulder fast. Open your eyes, if you don't see a level sight plane something is wrong.

 

[Cutfingers]

We have had this thread before and I agree with those who state the smoothie is accurate out to 50 or 75 yds. Many times they can outshoot a rifle at those distances. I shoot a 62 and use 70 grs of FFF with an over the powder card and then a 600 round ball with a .010 patch. Priming is with FFF. Outstanding results. Mine is a custom made English Fowler by Dave Conte from Caywood parts.

 

[11th corps]

Mine was built with T.O.W. parts.
after reading the O/p's thread yesterday, I decided on my regular Saturday shoot to take the smoothie.
Its one of those guns you cannot shoot on occasion and be proficient with. At least I can't. I was having a hard time keeping the ball on an 8" target at 50 yards this a.m. Its my first time out this year with it.
I probably need to look into a rear site. What type do you guys use? I assume its dovetailed?
Even with my crappy shooting, it was still a blast

 

[tg]

"What type do you guys use?"

I don't use one on the Fusil but have one on the smoothrifle and have had them on other smoothbores, I like a low, simple, flat top type.

 

[flintlock75]

I installed a fancy jaeger rear sight on my trade gun. It looks good and greatly improved accuracy.

 

[Rod Lassey]

Practice makes perfect, keep at it and you'll figure it out. I shoot 70 grains of 3f in my 24 guage (.58 caliber), with a bare .570 rb. I wad with wool blanketing. I usually grease the wad between the powder and ball, depending on how much time I want to take to reload.

The quote from Ferris goes on to say that his partner made several good shots with his NW gun. There are plenty of other quotes from various authors that speak of the accuracy of the NW gun in native hands. But then again, those guys shot theirs most every day--and that is the secret, if there is any secret of smoothbore shooting.

By the way, don't be afraid to add a rear sight if it helps. I'd say that nearly half of the trade guns in the Museum of the Fur Trade have had rear sights added at some point.

Rod

 

[Cutfingers]

Rear sights are fine as long as you do not plan to shoot any NMLRA sanctioned matches.

 

[Many Klatch]

I have won a number of rifle matches shooting a smoothbore. However, most of those matches were shooting at gongs between 25 and 50 yards. I have hit a silhouette bear at 120 yards, but I found out later that it hit the ground in front of the bear, bounced up and then knocked the gong down. I can hit a 36" gong at 100 yards about 3 out of 5 times with my smoothbores, I don't think you can ask much more of them. At 25 yards I can keep the shots in a ragged hole if I'm holding good that day.

Many Klatch

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

If you do install rear sights on your smoothbore
there are matches for sighted smoothbores on both sides of the road at Friendsip!
:thumbsup:

 

[Cutfingers]

I was completely unawear of smoothbore matches with rear sights, especially at Friendship. Is this something new? Are there a large # of shooters at Friendship in this catagory? And, are there any specifications as to the type of rear sight? And any other answers to questions I failed to ask.