New England Fowler

[nchawkeye]

You guys talking about turkey season have got me thinking about a smoothbore...Now, I have both a .40 and a .54 custom built flinter, so I'm not concerned about shooting round balls or buck and ball...Frankly, I would much prefer to use my .40 for turkeys...But...

If going for a pure, turkey gun...it seems that the Jim Chambers New England Fowler in the 10 gauge might be the ticket for decent patterns out to 30, maybe 35 yards...

I'm not crazy about the style, as I prefer a longrifle and lean more toward the Lancaster style...Jim's Pennsylvania fowler or the Smooth rifle have that long, graceful look that is so appealing to the eye...But from a fully functional standpoint the New England Fowler should give denser shot patterns...

Who has experience with a bp 10 gauge??? Am I on the right track??

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I think you are on the right track here. I'm having a 10 bore fowler made as I write, and it is to be used mainly as a turkey gun. It will weigh under eight pounds, so carrying it will be no problem. It's been a while since I've had a 10 gauge, so I can't really give a specific load range, but working up loads is part of the fun of owning a birding piece, and each gun is a little different anyway.

 

[ffffg]

A heavy load in a 10 guage to utilize its muscle (heavy shot load) is a big load if you get reasonable velocity.. Probably the biggest recoil the average shooter will experience in black powder.. What i mean is my 10 with a heavy load made my .62 cal rifle with 125 grains of 2f seem like a pussycat.... A better way to go would be a 16 or 12 guage with a full jug choke.. Now i feel a full jug choke is pretty tight for a flintlock at close range and moveing game. When the bird is moving at long range, sidways at all, the slow velocity of the shot, wind velocity, varying vectors of flight of the bird,and thier varying speeds,, makes determining the lead a manure shoot.... What im saying is to learn how to hunt, and get close to the flying bird is best, and to use cylinder bore with pheasants and ducks etc will be the most proficient with black powder when thier moving........ For geese, definitly the 10... but you will get better, more dependable, results with a full choke (on a still target like a turkey head) with a 16 or 12 guage with a full jug choke in my opinion.. The less recoil will decrease flinching and with a good load they will be a pleasure to shoot. Plus you wont need to give it the biggest loads......Improved cylinder to modified would be a good compromise for a jug choke on moveing game.. YOu can easily load the 10 gauge down to 12 or 16 gauge, but the short shot column may caouse tipping of the nitro card with standard type loads your used to.... so you will need to lengthen the column with what ever works, for instance maybe an extra half of fiber wad or lubed wool felt wad.. You also need to pay closer attention to roundness and diameter of your nitro cards with the 10, so you dont get blowby.. Not a problem but something that can occationally cause trouble.... dave..

 

[Mike Brooks]

Put a full jug choke in it and you'll kill turkeys out to 50 yards.

 

[Iron Jim Rackham]

If you're keen for a 10 gauge go for it. I tend to agree with FFFFG however about the merits of a 12 gauge. I bagged a lot of pheasants and chukars with a full jug choked 12 gauge fowler. I posted a 12 gauge pattern on the forum last week fired at 40 yards. I don't kow if it would be acceptable for turkey, but it's been great for pheasants and clays. In most hunting situations, the birds are flying directly away from me and a long reach helps. In trap shooting it's just "suspensful" to watch a clay travel before breaking it.

A 12 gauge gun is light and so's the recoil...at least with standard loads through a long barrel. I suppose if you want a dedicated turkey gun, bigger is better. But if you want a general purpose gun, a jug choked 12 gauge is tough to beat. Great for wing shooting on live and clay birds, and good for turkeys too.

 

[Wehrmacht]

OK, Mike....I'm very inexperienced with fowlers. Please give me your opinion of this:

I've had a New England Fowler built but won't have it in hand until the CLA in August. It's NE #20, page 52, in Grinslade's new book. Shortened the barrel to 51 inches, 16ga, had Lowell Tennison jug choke it 30 thousandsth. In your opinion will I be able to reach out 50 yards and be effective on turkeys? Sure hope so

 

[Mike Brooks]

Loaded correctly, yes, or nearly so. I don't have as much experience with 16 bores. But, the jug and the load are the key to long range success, more so than the bore size.

 

[nchawkeye]

Thanks for the input guys, when I get closer to buying I'll definately look into the 12 (and probably 11) gauges...

 

[Heinrich]

I own 12gauge, 10gauge, and 9gauge. The 9gauge although shooting the heaviest loads, recoil is easy on the shoulder, due to the weight of that gun.

The 10gauge and the 12gauge does not really have much difference in recoil. But I've found with both my guns that the heavy powder charges does not give me any better patterns, or better penetration, and down here in South Africa I shoot Spurwing Geese with both. Spurwing are the largest waterfowl you can shoot in South Africa, and have to shoot with no less than #3 shot.