Flinter weight??

[Nor Cal Mikie]

Ran into a guy at the range a while back that was shooting a "smooth bore" flinter. Nice looking gun! He mentioned that a friend of his was going to make "kits" but there wasn't enought $$ in it so he only mad 2 or so.
The thing that amazed me was that fact that this gun was so light I still couldn't get over it.

I saw him yesterday and remarked that I hadn't gotten over the weight of that gun. He mentioned that it was "really" a shot gun and that it was a 62 caliber. Lighter than a regular shot gun barrel. I wouldn't mind having one just like it.
It wasn't real fancy but when you threw it up to your shoulder, it was "beautiful". It takes a lot to impress me and I "was" impressed!!
I've got a couple of Hawken style rifles and they are "clubs" compared to this one. Just thought I'de relay my thoughts. I like that gun!! :hatsoff:

 

[rafterob]

Not a smooth bore, but my first (and only) build so far surprised me when I received the Maple fullstock pre carve. Very light.I somehow had the impression that a gun stock needed to be hard and Heavy. I have a 13/16, 36" .45 barrel. I haven't weighed it but it feels about 1/2 the weight of my .50 "Hawkin". I could tote it around all day.

 

[Captain outwater]

Fowlers have a much thinner barrel than rifles. They don't need metal to hold the rifling, and they don't have the resistance the rifling makes, so they have less pressure and can be even thinner.
And of course they are made to not hold steady but to swing on birds, so they balance and hold easily to the shoulder.

 

[J.D.]

The thing that amazed me was that fact that this gun was so light I still couldn't get over it.

I saw him yesterday and remarked that I hadn't gotten over the weight of that gun. He mentioned that it was "really" a shot gun and that it was a 62 caliber. Lighter than a regular shot gun barrel. I wouldn't mind having one just like it.
It wasn't real fancy but when you threw it up to your shoulder, it was "beautiful". It takes a lot to impress me and I "was" impressed!!
I've got a couple of Hawken style rifles and they are "clubs" compared to this one. Just thought I'de relay my thoughts. I like that gun!! :hatsoff:

And that is only a part of the difference between a custom, or even a well made semicustom gun compared to the feel of production guns.

Even properly made rifles with swamped barrels, the correct amount of drop, and correct LOP will feel very light and well balanced in comparison to production guns.

Well made guns with quality components are a joy to shoot, aren't they. :thumbsup:

 

[tg]

It is not unusual for a long barreled trdae gun or fowler to only weight 6-7 lbs, my fusil came in heavy just under 8 lbs. as I have a .62 proflie barrel in .58 bore but it will probably hamndle most any load I put down it.

 

[paulvallandigham]

As has ben noted, I am suspecting that you were handling a fowler, which comes with a half octagon, half round barrel, that generally is lighter in weight than a full octagon barreled gun. The guns usually have half stocks, which also cuts down on the total weight, and shifts the balance point of the gun rearward. Some Fowlers, of course, come with full stocks.

There are several good fowler " kits " for sale including Jim Chambers, and Caywood arms, and I believe that even Track of the Wolf is marketing their own kit. Mike Brooks, a good member here, also markets his own kit. A new book on Fowlers was published a year ago, and provides great information, and wonderful pictures on the various schools of fowlers found in N. America. The Book is titled,

" Flintlock Fowlers, The First Guns Made in America,"

by Tom Grinslade. You can find the book available through Amazon books, or from Track of the Wolf and some other suppliers listed under the " links" section at the top of the Index age to this forum. Its a terrific reference source, if you are interested in making your own fowler.

I own a fowler made for me by a local builder, from " scratch", with a comparatively short barrel of 30" in 20 gauge. The Fowler is Left Handed, and the Pitch, Drop at Comb, Drop at Heel, and Pitch were all made to fit me. My main purpose is to use the gun to shoot shot for bird hunting, but I have also tried working up some RB loads with it to consider using for a deer hunt some day.

If you do acquire a Fowler, I think you will like it. Everyone comments on the lighter weight of the guns compared to more traditional( and later made) full octagon rifles and smoothbores. Balance for a smoothbore is more important than the total weight, if you intend to shoot at moving targets. Good luck. :thumbsup:

 

[Nor Cal Mikie]

What kind of accuracy could you expect with a patched round ball in a smooth bore?

 

[tg]

Most after finding what their gun likes can keep a 4-5 inch group from a rest at 50 yds, many do better some not as well, I have often hit the long gong 12"x48" cylinder on our trail at about 90 yds or so with my smoothrifle but it has a rear sight.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Wow!

It depends on the barrel, the size or diameter of the ball used, and the patching used. Generally, you need to consider that shooting a PRB from a smoothbore is like a baseball pitcher throwing a " knuckle Ball". The knuckle ball does not spin, nor does the PRB fired from a smoothbore. The Knuckle ball is used because pitchers can learn to make it break away from its flight path, at the last moment, often diving down so that the batter misses the ball by swing over the top of it.

A similar result happens with a PRB fired from any smoothbore. Out to 60-80 yards you get pretty good accuracy.

Some men are reporting they get very good accuracy out to 100 yards with the small bore guns( 28 gauge) shooting a PRB. They are generally using a straight, Octagon shaped barrel with that small diameter bore, and putting heavy loads of powder being the PRB to get that longer range accuracy.

But at some point beyond 60 yards, the ball begins to be affected by the air and winds more, and group size opens up dramatically. With the 20, 16, and 12 gauge balls, these large diameter balls offer a lot of frontal surface area pushing against the air, and they shed velocity much quicker, than that smaller, 28 gauge RB. The lighter weight of the fowlers, in particular, makes putting lots more powder in these larger bore guns painful to shoot, for very little gain in accuracy.

Most of us who own fowlers are content if we can achieve 2-3 inch groups at 50 yards, using open sights. A rear sight will help reduce the size of the groups, compared to shooting a gun with only the front sight on it. Someone with a strong barreled 28 gauge smoothbore will probably out shoot my 20 gauge fowler, with its half octagon, half round barrel.

I hunt river bottoms for deer, and its rare to even see a deer at more than 50 yards, much less be able to take a shot in the dense cover at that long distance. So, I don't see my fowler as any kind of handicap for hunting deer just the way it is. I have a .50 caliber rifle I can use if hunting more open country. I therefore don't need a smoothbore that shoots small groups out to 100 yds, or further. Most deer hunters, with experience over a number of years, will admit that they take most of their deer within 100 yards, and even more are within 50 yards. My shortest shot was 2 yards, standing next to a tree. My longest shot has been about 40 yards at a deer that chose to stand in a small opening through the woods from where I was standing. Because of the small opening, the shot looked a lot longer than it was, when I paced it off.

I think accuracy when shooting a RB out of a smoothbore is pretty relative to the kind of hunting you want to do. If you think of a smoothbore as a short ranged firearm, you won't miss a lot of deer.

 

[tg]

"Well made guns with quality components are a joy to shoot, aren't they."

Now that sounded down right ELITE! :wink: