How accurate are your smoothbores?

[Turtle Creek]

Am truly enjoying my flint rifle and have never even been around a smooth bore/musket.
Might be fun to mess with if there is a modicum of accuracy.
What is considered 'accurate' for a smoothie?

 

[Stumpkiller]

On a good day three shots centered in 4" at 60 yards. On the worst of days 10" at that distance. For me much beyond that it falls off. I don't have a rear sight on my smoothbores and that likely would help.

At 25 yards three ball widths. :wink: The advantage of one ounce balls. :thumbsup:

 

[Turtle Creek]

Thanks. Be interesting what the other smoothies say.
Sure as hell loading has to be easier.

 

[bpd303]

Here is an old one. Haven't shot it much since I have been working on an old Jaeger. I'm sure those groups would improve with a little load tweeking. http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/283028/post/1317300/hl//fromsearch/1/

 

[Turtle Creek]

Nice piece, especially the originality and being able to use it.
Does caliber, heavier vs. lighter, seem to make any difference accuracy wise?

 

[Turtle Creek]

Just noted the smoothbore section...ought to look around huh.
Anyways this is smoothbore talk for riflemen....

 

[George]

Flintlock 46" 20 gauge, no rear sight, from a rest...

25 yards, 3" bull, modern components:



25 yards with tow wadding:



35 yards, 5.75" bull, cedar bark wadding:



75 yards, 5.75" bull, modern:



100 yards modern, 6" bull:



Spence

 

[Turtle Creek]

pretty nice shooting

 

[azmntman]

Well I wanted a smoothie, now I NEED one, thanks alot! :blah:

 

[Toomuch51]

Just to add my "2-cents" to the mix, my wife and I both shoot an "Ultra-Hi Minuteman" 18 bore (.67 cal,) with 70 gr. 3F and .648 patched ball that will hold very close to rifle accuracy out to about 50-60 yd. before starting to fall off.

Toomuch
..............
Shoot Flint

 

[spudnut]

Ive outshot some rifles from time to time at woodswalks. Come on in the waters fine

 

[George]

Turtle Creek, In 1992 I was in the same situation, wondering what smoothbores were all about. I had an invitation to hunt javelina in Arizona and was considering the possibility of using a 20 gauge double-barrel flintlock shotgun I had recently acquired, but had no idea if shooting round ball out of it could possibly get the job done. That was long before such a thing as this forum, and so I had no one to ask about it, decided to just try it and see. I loaded it with patched roundball and shot some targets. I was surprised and impressed. Here are the first shots I ever fired from a smoothbore using ball.







I got the pig. :haha:



Spence

 

[Turtle Creek]

Nice shooting! Much more accurate than I suspected.
Man that's an ugly dog you're pettin'.

 

[George]

Man that's an ugly dog you're pettin'.

Yeah, but sweet tasting.

In most any discussion of the accuracy of smoothbores a lot of responders will tell you they do OK out to about 60 yards, but that beyond that the ball goes every whichaway. I've proven to my own satisfaction that when that happens, it's me, not the ball which is at fault. As a hunter, I think of 100 yards as my maximum dependable range with a smoothbore. Well, with my long-barreled smoothbore shooting my best load. My longest kill on a deer with it has been 70 yards, but under just the right conditions I can do it at 100.

Mikey likes it! :haha:

Spence

 

[Britsmoothy]

Nice work Spence.
I tried today my flintlock from Pedersoli at 40 yards.
It wandered right as it heated up! The group(5 shots) was a foot wide!
That was with some .570" I had of old but my bore is .629"! I need some .600"!

B.

 

[Dave K]

Spense, I think the same as you. My grps. are 3-4" at 50yds. But at 100yds. I open my GRP. To about 12". Is it me? I am using the slot of the tang screw for a rear sight. It just can't be the most accurate sight picture.

 

[George]

Spense, I think the same as you. My grps. are 3-4" at 50yds. But at 100yds. I open my GRP. To about 12". Is it me? I am using the slot of the tang screw for a rear sight. It just can't be the most accurate sight picture.

Dave, I am convinced the guns are much more accurate than we give them credit for. In posting all these... too many... targets I was trying to answer Turtle Creek's question, how accurate are smoothbores? Not smoothbore shooters, but the guns, what are the guns capable of? After seeing my guns do that well just one time I have no doubt it's my fault when they won't do it again. There are a gazillion guns, loads and shooters in the mix, of course, and it can take a lot of work to find the right combination, but I believe the shooter is usually the biggest problem. Of course, we try hard to put the blame on the gun or the load. patch, lube, sights, etc., etc. I think we are looking in the wrong place. As Pogo said, we have met the enemy, and he is us.

Spence

 

[hanshi]

That is some amazing accuracy and shooting. About the best I can do at 50 yards is 5 shot groups of about 2.5" to around 4". The average, then is around 3". Mine has a rear sight, too. Three shot groups fare better but 50 yards is the farthest I've tried. These are patched loads, but the bare ball load I shoot is about pie plate size for 5 shots though three shots are smaller.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Man, I'm in with Spence on this one. I can quickly see when I'm not providing a stable aiming platform...groups suddenly look like buckshot patterns. I't always human nature to blame the gun, the patch, the ball...you name it. Much to my sorrow, it's always me...well, nearly always. Sometimes the gremlins do come to visit, but it's usually the nut behind the trigger! :wink: Consistency is the name of the game, do it the same way-every time and relax! :thumbsup:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I have a 50 Cal smooth fainter with a rear sight. It will beat rifles at 25 yds on the nightmare.