Any bird hunters here.

[BigBoreBLR]

I spend atleast twice my time in the woods chasing gfrouse and pheasant. I shoot trap and skeet atleast once a week.

I think a fowler of some sort is in order.

Like to hear your preferences and experiences.

I hunt farm rasied pheasants released in the fall, so the pickings are easy and a missed shot of a flint not firing is OK. Grouse are tough birds to hunt, so maybe a percussion might be better.

About half my hunts, I fire two shots. I reload shotshell. One year I spray painted the shot different colors. Orange for the 1st shot, and green for the 2nd. Loaded one in each barrel. Almost everytime I fire twice, the bird had both colored shot embedded into himself. I shoot a 12ga 26" over under. I would try hard to match the lighter than normal swing of this gun. A touch less than the typical 12ga 26" pump gun.

Going back to this. I think the only way to match relative swing resistance is to use a single shot gun, not a side by side percussion.

Very rarely do I need more than a 40 yard shot. Sometimes I wait a second before firing so I don't hit the bird with too much shot. I also use a 20ga pump gun often. I trying to match the swing might be tough with a 20ga barrel. I can imagaine a 20ga octagon barrel woul weight more than two 12ga modern round barrels.

I also do very poorly with non-vented rib guns, beaded sight is what they call that most often. So, I should use a octagon barrel.

Lastly, do any of you guys use your smokepoles at the trap or skeet range. I could see affording the time to reload a shot for each station in skeet, or taking my sweet old time going through a sporting clays field. I can shoot and hold the thrower controller just fine. I would like ot take it to these events, but no dire need, I got an atlas AT50 electric thrower for personal enjoyment.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

I have chased the birds, Quail phesant and Dove with an over an under, I have since sworn off of the cartridge guns.

This year I started shooting a NWG in 19ga, 36" barrel points well and ignition in flint is tolerable. At our big Rondy this year I tried clay birds for the first time and ended up breaking 12 of 20 first time out with it, will need some work before we go after Dove this fall but I am confident.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Also,

if you go with an oct. to round barrel you will get most of the benifits of the oct. sighting plane with the weight savings of the round tube.

Just be sure to research barrels for your project as a straight barrel will resemble a fencepost in point-ability vs a nice swamped and tapered barrel.

 

[roundball]

For smoothobores, I've dedicated myself to single barrel Flintlocks...their sheer versatility has really been something:

20ga

28ga

20ga

20ga

20ga

28ga

28ga

 

[BrownBear]

I'm a fan of doubles, as much for the handling as the extra shot. Easy transition and adjustment of stock fit for me from the doubles I use in modern guns. The fowlers I've handled and shot are a lot more demanding about fit for me. So far I haven't found one that gave up enough of the rifle elements to become a real "shotgun" for flying birds. Balance for quick mounting and swings is much better with doubles, in my opinion of course.

Most guys lean toward using fowlers mostly for round ball and shot loads for sitting targets like turkey, but you don't hear about many using them for upland and waterfowl. In my experience there's a good reason for that.

 

[kurts]

Roundball, could you list the specs on your 20 ga rifles, want to have Tip Curtis build me one. Your guns are just what I would like.

thanks kurt

 

[roundball]

Roundball, could you list the specs on your 20 ga rifles, want to have Tip Curtis build me one. Your guns are just what I would like. thanks kurt

.62cal/20ga Early Virginia by Matt Avance/TVM
Super Premium ++ curly maple
Brass furniture
Rice 38” D-weight swamped smoothbore barrel
Rifle sights
Custom Patent Breech by Dennis McCandless before the build
Jug Choked Full by Caywood Guns before the build
Davis #6 double set triggers
Jim Chambers Deluxe Siler lock

Both the .62cal/20ga and .54cal/28ga were built from the same 12’ plank. Spent no money on parts & labor for things like patch boxes, carvings, inlays, etc...just bought the best stock wood he could get and let it stand on it's own.

The main difference between them is the 28ga has a matched pair of interchangeable Rice 42” B-weight swamped barrels... 28ga smoothbore and .45cal rifled

 

[biliff]

Shoot a lot of cartridge skeet, sporting and birds. Biggest transition to muzzleloading is the stock fit. Modern shooters like to get hard down on a relatively straight stock. There are some muzzleloaders out there that will let you do that, but many have too much drop to even get close and you need to adopt a more erect, heads up shooting style. Choose wisely.

I find my modern percussion double (Pedersoli 12g a) to be almost too light. They tend to be flighty compared with my modern O/U's. Follow thru can be a problem.

My flintlock Trade gun is fun wingshooting, but it has a lot of drop in the stock and I tend to lose contact. I do occasionally kill something with it, however.


I'm lucky in that my club has a key card system for the clays (skeet, trap,5stand, sporting) range. Traps are voice activated and one shooter can use the range by themselves. Using a muzzleloader during slow weekday periods is no problem.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

Nice Griffon there. I got the same dog.

How would you compare a 20ga flintlock to a 20ga modern cartridge gun. Let's say using #6 shot.

Also, lets compare a 28ga flinter to a 20ga modern gun.

 

[Shine]

My 20 gauge kills em just as good as any modern 20 I use 6s.

 

[biliff]

The Trade gun in the picture is a 20ga. Cylinder bore. Patterns like you would expect from any cylinder bore gun. Generally nice even patterns at close range. Pretty much 20-25 yds depending on what you're shooting at. My sense is the velocity is lower than a modern gun, but the pattern is the limiting factor.

I'm definately pickier about the shots I take with the flintlock. Birds need to be good and close over a solid point.

 

[Shine]

I just creep through the woods and when I see a partridge I shoot it. :grin:

 

[Supercracker]

I use an original 12Ga Belgian SxS for nearly all my bird hunting. I even took it to a (non serious)field trial a few weeks ago. I got some looks but still placed 4th, so you know what they can do. lol

I just bought a rough but restorable Westley Richards Sxs that I hope to be using next year. No pictures of it til it's presentable again though.

Managed to bag my first ever snipe in the final couple of days of the season this year.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

So, what can these fowler barrels do with a roundball? Lets say 50 yard performance.

Would you take a 75 yard shot on a deer. Maybe even a 100, on a calm wind day.

Keep in mind, I can use buckshot in NY.

Also, Does the patch stay put when loading the gun, or can the patch roll around the ball when loading. I am assuming you patch a smoothbore, am I right?

 

[Patocazador]

I'm a newbie when it comes to muzzleloading bird shooting. I can't hit the flushing wild quail when I finally get a shot but managed to pick up a dove here and there. (Actually my Boykin picks them up. :grin: )

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

At the very least you should be able to expect this kind of accuracy at 50 yds.

 

[blackdog of vt]

In that last few years I've become very fond of Colerains oct to rnd choked barrels. I have no need to round ball in my smoothbores so they fit the bill for trap, grouse and turkey just fine. A couple wool wads and a strip of ticking to keep the lead off the bore is all required to load, its not any slower than loading a round ball.
I've made several different smoothbores and I find Germanic style fits and wing shoots better for me. People get so hung up on english fowlers but the world is a lot bigger than that. There are quite a few examples in Shumways RCA books and Jaeger book. This is the 20 gauge I used last year, http://bdarms.blogspot.com/2013/11/germanic-smooth-bore-62.html

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I have had good success with my Pedersoli SxS caplock 20 gauge for upland birds. It's choked IC and M. It loves #7 shot, and the only time that I've ever limited-out on pheasants was with this gun. They're not too expensive.

I have yet to try my 20 gauge flitlock fusil on anything that flies.

LD

 

[BigBoreBLR]

How does the plain smoothbore barrels compare pattern wise to modern guns.

Will this gun shoot like a IC choke from a modern gun.

Let's say for comparisons sake, a 36" barrel to a 26" modern gun barrel.

Also, with a standard 20ga load, how much lead shot is being put down the barrel in weight?

 

[BigBoreBLR]

Shine,

what style is your 20ga. I'd like to see a full length picture of that.

Looks like a nice flat comb, just like my Citori.

The comb is the first thing I really look at with people's builds. Just concerned about a repeatable fast shoulder. Without that, the gun is useless to me. Both deer and birds. I stalk hunt and usually have a second or two before the deer starts moving.