How far would YOU shoot?

[Magungo1066]

We all know that our smoothbores can shoot almost like a rifle to 50-75 yards. However that may be, where is your personal cutoff distance for ethically taking a shot? Just curious. At this point (I am new to smoothies) I would limit myself to no more than fifty.

 

[tenngun]

Fifty is my cut off, but I’ve never shot a deer with a smoothie at fifty. Most have been under thirty five, a few under twenty.

 

[smo]

50 would be it for me at this point as well..

But where I hunt, that’s about the maximum range of sight... except for a few spots.
Which I prefer too let em’ sneak in close!

 

[Docgp]

Personally I think of my fowler as a bow when ranging. I vastly prefer to stick to 35-40 yds.

Then again, I'm not the best shot with it.

Doc

 

[oldwood]

Folks want to know , how far can I shoot my gun w/ round ball. Sight the gun in...start moving the target back until the group is too loose. Check the distance w/ rangefinder. Then start to fine tune the variables?
A couple suggestions using fine shot. Don't use more wads than a single .125 card wad on the powder and cut one of those in half for the over shot wad. The biggest problem w/ thick wads is they put holes in the shot pattern. Thin wads slow down faster and must allow the shot pattern to stay a dense cloud. We tried just about everything as far different wads . One more thing , We did better by using one size bigger fine shot that is recommended for modern shot shells. That's the conclusion...oldwood

 

[tenngun]

It’s kinda funny. A .62 ball is around 320 grains. As a ball that size it has pretty good ballistics. At three hundred yards off a 80-100 grain charge it should have plenty of power left to drop a deer and maybe an elk.
Thats a big hunk of lead. Lots of deer are taken by .40s and .45 on 40-60 grain charges. Fast, lots faster then a.62 but no where near the energy of that fat ball at fifty yards.
I would only go to fifty with my smoothies because I’m afraid I couldn’t hit consistently beyond that but I have a ton of energy that I don’t need for Bambi.

 

[George]

At a deer? If conditions were just right, I could put a hurt on one at 100 yards. Flintlock smoothbore, 20 gauge, 46" barrel, no rear sight, shooting from a rest.

At 75 yards:

At 100 yards:

Spence

 

[Daryl Crawford]

50"ish" is my answer. I'm grouping well enough at 50 to push a little farther but I wouldn't stretch the shot too much.

 

[rich pierce]

Spence, you’re killing it!
Off a rest, 60 yards would be my limit for a standing, broadside shot on a deer. I can keep my shots in a beer coaster at 50 yards off a rest.

 

[Greg Blackburn]

I got so I could hit a pie plate with my CVA .50 Bobcat, standing, off hand, at 100 yards. That's with PRB and that crappy trigger.

I'd go for a 100 yard shot with mine on a deer.

 

[josie wales]

Probably <40 yards now. I was at one time a hell of a shot but now at 69 years young I have trouble seeing the target and/or front and rear sight. I do a lot more still hunting also which bring deer a bit closer.

 

[Art Caputo]

While most all shots on whitetails I have encountered here in the Northeast are under 50 yards, I would shoot out to 100 yards with sufficient sight picture visibility and a stabile shooting position with either my rifles or rear sighted smoothbore. The accuracy of my hunters are well within the vital area at this distance. My furthest whitetail(about four decades ago) was shot off-hand at 110 paces with a 50 cal roundball from a CVA flintlock Mountain Rifle. At any range, unless I have full visibility of the downed deer, confirming it is dead, I will wait 30 minutes before approaching. Learned this years ago... the hard way.

 

[Bobby44]

Pie plates! Used them as practice for 50 yrs now. Archery and bp. as the new inlines came on the distance has moved back to (scoped) 100 yds. Still hunt with a flinter at 50 yds anytime. The problem has always been getting the target to hold a pie plate for me.

 

[hanshi]

The last deer I killed with a smoothbore was a 20 yard shot; pretty typical. I'd say somewhere around 60 yards; maybe a little farther if my mojo is working. Truthfully, I'm probably not that good at range estimation. My shots with a smoothbore (and rifles, too) likely average closer to 25 yards; longer shots are rare indeed. While thinking, is that deer at 40-45 yards or is it 55-60 yards, shooting or not is a tough decision to make. When seeing a deer beyond the "real close" distance I suppose I juggle eyesight, how much of the deer I see, intercepting brush and what the sight/muzzle looks like superimposed over the critter. Shoot or no shoot is then decided.

 

[Artificer]

Folks want to know , how far can I shoot my gun w/ round ball. Sight the gun in...start moving the target back until the group is too loose. Check the distance w/ rangefinder.
...oldwood

I believe this is good advice, though I would add doing this from offhand, sitting, prone and from a rest that can be duplicated in the woods (with a tip of the hat to Spence.) Notice how I didn't mention kneeling? LOL. That's because it is my worst shooting position and I would not trust shooting from the kneeling position for hunting, in my case.

I do my sight in and group size/load development from a concrete shooting bench to ensure I have the tightest groups possible, BUT I'm not going to have that in the woods to hunt. Once I have the load and sights set, then it's time to get off the bench and use the positions one can and does hunt with. When I hit a distance I can no longer keep the first shot FROM A COLD/CLEAN BARREL inside an 8 inch circle, that's too far to shoot from that position as far as I'm concerned.

Gus

 

[George]

It's a personal thing with me never to try a shot on an animal if I haven't proved to myself the shot is possible for me at that distance.

Spence

 

[Artificer]

It's a personal thing with me never to try a shot on an animal if I haven't proved to myself the shot is possible for me at that distance.

Spence

I could not agree more. Fortunately because I don't HAVE to hunt for survival, I've passed on a lot of shots over the years and even some I might have made, but wasn't sure I could make.

Gus

 

[longcruise]

I got so I could hit a pie plate with my CVA .50 Bobcat, standing, off hand, at 100 yards. That's with PRB and that crappy trigger.

I'd go for a 100 yard shot with mine on a deer.

That gun has a smootbore version?

 

[nkbj]

Hopefully this summer I get time to sight in a Pedersoli M1816 for 100 yard shooting.
Yep, sighting in. The rear sight is mounted on a spare rear barrel band. And I want to see just how good I can get 'er to do.

I'm tempted to get a rifled barrel for .650 or .662 patched round ball but have to try it smooth at longer ranges first.

 

[Greg Blackburn]

Longcruise...no idea what CVA had, mine is rifled.