Might my rifles become orphans?

[Skychief]

I doubt they'll be orphaned, but for the time being, they may gather a little dust. :haha:

I found time today to fire fifty-three, .600 roundballs from my fowler. Chicken soup for a man's soul. :thumbsup:

I tried several loadings, including some 90 & 100 grain powder charges in hopes of raising my impacts from my first outing with the gun.

As predicted, it really made no difference in elevation compared to the 70 grain loads I had monkeyed with before this evening.

My cheekbone was in full agreement to stick with 70 grains for now, especially while shooting off the bench. :shocked2:

At one point, I retrieved a gallon milk jug and filled it with pond water. The seventy grain load was quite impressive at forty yards! I'm satisfied that should I ever find myself under attack by a gallon jug, my fowler and I will come out on top. :blah:

On a serious note, I have absolutely no doubt what this load will do to a mature whitetail.

I'm rambling. The Cliff Notes version of today's shooting include honest 3", 5 round groups from said bench at 40 yards. With no more time than I have spent on this new endeavor, I am very pleased with such groups. These were made with pillow ticking cut at the muzzle and lubed with spit.

I did try some bareball loadings and they shot about as well, but, I felt more comfortable with the prb arrangement.

Also of possible interest, the last several shots that I took, I placed an 1/8" over powder card atop the octagon breech near the transition to round. I used it as a sort of rear sight with no groove cut in it. I found that when the front blade peeked above it, I centered every shot in the bullseye!

From this, I have more to contemplate in regards to adding a true rear sight to her at some point. Still not sure if that's what I will decide, as showing more breech worked well also today.

What else? Oh yes, I have found that my offhand shooting with this gun has room for improvement. Much improvement. :slap:

I think if I can get her to go off a little quicker, half the battle will be won. Compared to my other flinters (all rifles), this one takes a bit more time in setting off her main charge. Maybe something I can improve, maybe not.

Rest assured though, I had visions before all the smoke had cleared of bagging a fat buck or doe this Fall with her. Heck, I've been known to brace my rifles against a tree for a hunting shot. Why should this fowler be any different? :idunno:

Had to share some of my fun from today guys!

Best regards, Skychief

 

[George]

Also of possible interest, the last several shots that I took, I placed an 1/8" over powder card atop the octagon breech near the transition to round. I used it as a sort of rear sight with no groove cut in it. I found that when the front blade peeked above it, I centered every shot in the bullseye!

There might be a clue there worth following. :grin:

Spence

 

[roundball]

FYI, you wouldn't see any change in POI to speak of at a mere 40yds

 

[Britsmoothy]

Happy days, I don't miss any of my rifles at all!

 

[George]

Snug down on your gun with the wad in place on the barrel, take the sight picture which puts you on target, then without moving, remove the wad. That's your new sight picture. Hold it rock solid and pick out new reference points which you can use to repeat it without the wad.

Putting that wad on the barrel was a sharp idea. :hatsoff:

That shows you how little you have to change the sight picture in order to solve your problem. It also makes it easier to explain what is needed. You have to raise your head, which the wad forces you to do, but that's a hard idea to put across, sometimes.

Of course, a rear sight forces you to do the same thing.

Spence

 

[Rifleman1776]

Hold it rock solid and pick out new reference points which you can use to repeat it without the wad.

Easier said than done. Finding your hold with no rear sight is called finding your "anchor point". I was told this by a former sniper and long time ml champion shooter. I'm yet to learn the anchor point with my fowler. May try your temporary rear sight idea.

 

[George]

Yeah, it takes some learning, and it wasn't totally easy for me in the beginning because I didn't understand what the problem was. Once you learn it, though, you can use it without thinking in the hunting field under pressure. And it's a satisfying skill to have.

Spence

 

[tenngun]

I fitted a rear sight on mine. I know your feeling. I got in to ml back in the 70s and lost all interest in suppository guns. Then started shooting smoothies more and more since the mid 90s. They just be fun and rifles just ain't as fun as they used to be.

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

Finding your cheek weld takes a bit of work but the best way to start finding it is by shooting, so how bad can that be? I would start by mounting the loaded gun with your eyes closed and only using your cheek on the comb of the stock as reference. If when you open your eyes things don’t look lined up, close your eyes again and redo the process. When you feel like things are lined up when you open your eyes take the shot. Assess the results and adjust your cheek weld pressure to make the change. Reload and start the process again.

Going about this in a progressive manner as this will help you get on target and build your confidence. If you commit to learning this it will not take as long as you might think. I was shooting good groups in a couple of weeks. Only after you are getting consistent groups then you can make adjustments to you front sight.
By the way, it helps if you use the slot of the tang screw as a rough aligning reference for you horizontal correction. In my sight picture I see it in the periphery but it helps a lot.

 

[Tinker2]

Have you tried a lighter load?

I see all sorts of loads that are a lot more then I use.

From 1980 smooth bores have been my deer guns
My .62 guns were designed and built to shoot 55gr with PRB
More than adequate here, on the prairies, for our mule and white tail deer.



William Alexander

 

[Alden]

53 rounds... I'M tired! LOL

 

[majg1234]

My 62 SB has "Turtle"front sight.I was lucky and found out early on if I snuggled far down on it like a rifle it shot really low (6"- 8").I did learn that shooting it more like a shotgun brought the POI closer to the POA.Now I use the Turtle sight like an inverted T, placing the part that is soldered to the barrel like the horizontal part of scope crosshairs.The upright part of the site bisecting the target.With this method I can get 2"-3" groups regularly @ 60 yrds.The key is repeatability, which comes from making a lot of smoke :grin:

 

[fischereco2]

You know, you are really lucky because it just so happens that I opened up an orphanage for wayward rifles today. I will provide all of your rifles with the care, attention, and activities they need so they don't turn towards a life of crime. Just send me a private message for my mailing address... :thumbsup:

 

[George]

My 62 SB has "Turtle"front sight. I was lucky and found out early on if I snuggled far down on it like a rifle it shot really low (6"- 8").I did learn that shooting it more like a shotgun brought the POI closer to the POA. Now I use the Turtle sight like an inverted T, placing the part that is soldered to the barrel like the horizontal part of scope crosshairs.The upright part of the site bisecting the target.With this method I can get 2"-3" groups regularly @ 60 yrds.

Good description, majg1234, and is almost exactly my experience. I also have the turtle type sight, which looks like this to the shooter.



When I first shot my smoothbore I snugged down on it just as I had my rifles all my life, sight picture looked like this, with the tip of the front blade just peeking above the curve of the breech.



Shot very tight groups, but several inches low at 25 yards, so I began doing what any rifle shooter does, filing on the front sight. I used the same sight picture, shot and filed, shot and filed, until I had filed off at least 1/8", and had made only slight improvement. Very frustrating and confusing. It finally dawned on me that wasn't going to work, that I was going to have to use a different sight picture. My gun is octagon to round, so I lifted my eye just enough to see the front edge of the top flat, lined up so just the tip of the front blade showed above that, like this:



Better, but still very low. I raised up a tad more so that the bottom, horizontal bar of the sight rested on the straight edge of the top flat, and put the tip of the blade on the target exactly where I wanted the ball to hit, like this:



Success, and a helluva relief, I was beginning to think I would have to use Hershel House's method and whack the barrel against a tree. With this sight picture I have shot less than 4-inch groups at 100 yards from a rest.

Of course, as anyone with a new gun should do, I worked up a load which would consistently shoot tight groups before I ever began adjusting the sights.

Spence

 

[George]

This method works very well and it's something which can be a great learning tool for any of us. Great for finding out if a gun fits you reasonably well, too. But, and it's a deal-breaker but, it won't work at all unless the sights point where the gun is going to shoot. The problem with many smoothbores is that they don't, so the best cheek weld in the world won't make the ball hit where you are aiming.

Spence