Percussion Smoothies ?????

[Skychief]

I would like to hear from you guys about caplock smoothbores. I want to build a smoothbore that I can take turkey, rabbit and squirrel with shotloads and whitetails with prb's. I have settled on 20 gauge by the way. What barrel length might you suggest?

I am a little concerned about historical correctness (at least enough to ask about it here). Can you give me some background about smoothies with percussion ignition especially?

Any photos are appreciated.

Thanks for any and all thoughts about this "do-it-all" gun idea of mine!

 

[dbutch]

One gun for all seasons just sounds like fun.

On reading your post,I'm thinking what would be the largest powder load you would use, then find out how long of a barrel it takes to completely burn that amount of powder in a 62. cal bore.and start there. This should fit the (HC) concern and give you the best performance.. Good luck on your build-keep us posted.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Certainly percussion smoothbores of single and double barrel have been around since the mid 1820s. I have a T/C New Englander in 12 bore that is a wonderful hunting tool but not a "PC" version of anything extant in the historical record. Just a darned handy hunting muzzleloader.

Mine is jug choked by CoyoteJoe to #2 skeet +/- and throws a killer pattern to 40 yards. Bunnies and grouse have fallen to it . . . though my first turkey is yet to stumble in front or it. (I raise domestic turkeys and that kind of curtails some of my hunting "need" along those lines).

I have fired .690" balls at paper, milk jugs and stumps and have no doubt this would be a doable whitetail harvest tool out to 50 yards.

I carry a period J.W. Hawksley flask and a tin of fixins (wads & cards)

About right for an 1870 bird hunt.

I used to shoot a Bess ("Light Infantry Fusil") flinter in 16 bore that was fine for deer but a failure at rabbit and grouse. That had a 42" barrel. WAY too heavy for tight flushes. I would recommend something in the 26" to 30" range for an upland style gun.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

An early percussion fowler would look pretty much like a flintlock fowler and might even be a conversion from flint to percussion. It would have a fullstock and in 20 gauge shouldn't weigh more than 6 and 1/2 pounds--less with a short barrel of say 36" or 37". This would make a nice, well balanced field gun and would meet all traditional requirements.

If you want a later style, half stocked gun, think basically of half of a double gun in profile and I don't think you can go far wrong. Check Track's site as they usually have a few antique percussion doubles on there. The biggest difference between the double and a single barrel is in the forearm. Because you will need an under-rib for the ramrod ferrules, the forearm must run deeper rather than feathering up to the barrel. A bit more like a rifle and usually with a nosecap.
I think the full stock would be much easier to build and would be more comfortable to shoot with ball and heavier loads as in turkey gunning because the halfstock will be noticeably lighter than a fullstock.

 

[Tinker2]

I would like to hear from you guys about caplock smoothbores. I want to build a smoothbore that I can take turkey, rabbit and squirrel with shotloads and whitetails with prb's. I have settled on 20 gauge by the way. What barrel length might you suggest?

I am a little concerned about historical correctness (at least enough to ask about it here). Can you give me some background about smoothies with percussion ignition especially?

Any photos are appreciated.

Thanks for any and all thoughts about this "do-it-all" gun idea of mine!

This is one of mine, a caplock smoothbore.
A little short by this forum’s thinking but not uncommon were I live.

In my smoothbores I use a little larger shot size then I would in a jug choked barrel. Not a lot of shot or powder.

My one gun for all seasons was a flint smoothbore.

Tinker2

 

[poordevil]

That ball puller looks like it screws into a shotgun rod...where did yyou get it? Please

P

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

Depends on what part of history you're talking about. I have a H&R Springfield Stalker that I had bored out, and with a few tacks, etc. it looks like the smoothbore muskets sold/traded to the Indians around and after the Civil War.

 

[rich pierce]

It's possible to buy a working original percussion double but they are usually 12 or 14 ga.

 

[moose30273]

How about a 42 Springfield?

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I have a few old doubles in percussion from 20 ga to 12. Even a 16 ga with 36 inch barrels.

I prefer a single barrel and have two of those, both flint, but one came with an interchangeable perc lock and drum. I did once have an original perc. smooth rifle in 42 cal. So they did exist.

Most of the smooth guns I have don't have sufficient barrel wall thickness that I would feel comfortable shooting PRB. My 24 ga trade gun excepted.

Smooth bore percussion guns filled a definite need between the flint era and cartridge guns. (approximately 40 years) I think that many were cheap foreign guns imported to sell by hardware companies and were used/abused hard and so not many survive. I have two such original percussion single shot smooth bores, that need repairs. Most that I encountered have broken stocks and internal lock problems, and Belgian proof marks.

In building a new gun, With a good quality flint lock, you would notice little difference between flint or percussion, and your gun would probably have more resale value. However, late flint or percussion, the guns look pretty much the same.

The original percussion single barrel smooth bores that I encountered generally had barrels about 34 to 38 inches long. The barrels followed the flint smooth bore lines having tapered Octagon for the first 10-14 inches at the breech and then a gradual transformation to round. If there was a "wedding band", it was just lines filed on the top exposed part of the barrel and plain where hidden by the forestock. Some had underribs and some just had thimbles fastened under the barrel.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I've got a '42 and it is a great gun. Are you talking about a cut down or one in full military dress. There is a big weight difference. A friend currently uses a cut down '42 with great success. The stock was cut off in front of the rear barrel band and the barrel was bobbed to 33" or so. A front sight was soldered on the barrel and a ferrule was soldered under the barrel to retain the ramrod. I believe that's all that was done but it took a lot of weight out of the gun and made a nice 14 gauge shotgun out of it. A heavy duty one, too, that handles ball and heavy shot loads safely.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Here are a couple of photos of my W&C Scott & Sons 14 gauge percussion single. It has a 36" barrel and weighs a whopping 5.3 pounds. Really a sweet little gun to carry. I probably wouldn't want to shoot a round of trap with it but for hunting I don't notice the recoil of 3 drams of 2f Goex and one ounce of shot.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Take a close look at Joe's gun. And maybe be a bit more open minded as to bore. The 16 is sweeter and check the barrel length and weight of Joe's shotgun. These guns were light!

 

[Skychief]

Mmmmm....very nice "CJ"!!! I hope to see more pictures of single barrel percussion smoothies. I like that one! Ever drive prb's out of it?

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

That sure looks familiar, Joe. here's it's sister.

it's 14 gauge, too, with a shorter barrel, and doesn't weigh as much as that beast. it's for sale, too.

Gene

 

[FyrepowrX]

Stumpkiller...i also have a new englader 12ga that i like chasing bunnies with now & then, though my wingshooting is on the lousy side.

Mine is the early model before they added screw in tubes, straight cylinder bore i assume...did you notice a good improvement in patterns after choking?

i've stuck with 6's & 7-1/2's mostly, about 1-1/8oz, and it patterns OK at 20-25 yards or so but after that things get sparse. using a plastic shot cup helped some, but still it is still a close range gun. plan is to turkey hunt with it next spring, would like to hear more about what worked for you. Many Thanks!

Scattershot..great looking gun.

Gerald

 

[CoyoteJoe]

That sure looks familiar, Joe. here's it's sister.

it's 14 gauge, too, with a shorter barrel, and doesn't weigh as much as that beast. it's for sale, too.

Gene

Yes Gene, I debated long and hard between those two, the checkbook just couldn't handle both, more's the pity.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Mmmmm....very nice "CJ"!!! I hope to see more pictures of single barrel percussion smoothies. I like that one! Ever drive prb's out of it?

No, I haven't, and so long as I own a rifle I probably never will. "One gun for all seasons" is a catchy phrase but since I own 35 or 40 guns I find no reason to try to make a shotgun serve as a very poor substitute for a rifle. In the thick stuff a rifle will serve as well as a smoothbore but when the range opens up, the reverse is not true.