Please help with exploring a smooth bore option!

[Kindo]

First post here, so please bear with me. I have been toying with the idea of either building or purchasing a smooth bore for my kids and I to use while chasing gobblers here in WI. I’d like to stay with a flintlock purely out of nostalgia.

I have a traditional style .45 flint that was made for me as a kid by Robert Kending in northern WI and while I love the style and handling of it, I’m not exactly sure of my options for a smooth bore. I have received some solid advice on some components and it sounds like I’d want a jug choke if at all possible.

Any recommendations on styles that may work better than others? So far I’ve been eyeing up some fowlers and trade guns that could potentially fit the bill. I’m really unsure as to whether I want to build or buy at this stage.

Thanks for any and all input!

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Club butt styles handle recoil well. It's what I'm making for myself in 8 bore.

 

[Darkgael]

Some years ago I was asking the same advice here when toying with the smoothbore idea. The advice was helpful.
I was not interested in making one. I ended up asking Mike Brooks to put one together for me.(Guns For Sale - Mike Brooks Flintlocks). I wanted a light, fast handling gun for upland birds. I picked a fowler from Grinslade’s book about Fowlers. It was a New England fowler #9 in the book. Mike Brooks made it for me In 16 gauge. It took a while. Worth the wait and the money.
So….something for you to think about.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Kindo, I would recommend getting the book, "Flintlock Fowlers: The First Guns Made in America" by Grinslade. To help with deciding on a style.

https://www.amazon.com/Flintlock-Fo...words=Flintlock+Fowlers&qid=1684848006&sr=8-1
You did not say what your experience in wood working or metal work is. Kits can be a complex assortment of parts that require the appropriate tools to assemble. You will need the fine chisels to inlet the metal parts into the wood. Very good fowling gun kits are available from Jim Chambers, Caywood, Clay Smith, Mike Brooks, TVM, Pecatonica and Track of the Wolf as well as others.

A jug choke to full is a good choice for turkey. A good gauge would be a 20 gauge. Your state's game department would have a minimum gauge stated for hunting turkeys. The jug choke will also allow shooting of round ball for hunting deer and larger game.

Do look at used fowling guns as available from time to time on the classified pages of the forum. There are some good buys available there.

As for the style that would work best for you, so much will depend on your body build and how the specific gun fits you. What gun fits me may be a cheek basher for you. The Northeast trade guns have a pretty straight stock, the club butts have some drop and handle recoil well, and the southern "Carolina" guns or English fowling guns are slim and elegant.

You will want a smooth bored fowler to weigh in at about 6 to 7 pounds for easy handling. The barrel should be 38" to 44" long. The length will depend on the coverage in the areas that you hunt. In my opinion the longer barrel is better, but that is up to you to decide.

 

[Kindo]

@Kindo, I would recommend getting the book, "Flintlock Fowlers: The First Guns Made in America" by Grinslade. To help with deciding on a style.

https://www.amazon.com/Flintlock-Fo...words=Flintlock+Fowlers&qid=1684848006&sr=8-1
You did not say what your experience in wood working or metal work is. Kits can be a complex assortment of parts that require the appropriate tools to assemble. You will need the fine chisels to inlet the metal parts into the wood. Very good fowling gun kits are available from Jim Chambers, Caywood, Clay Smith, Mike Brooks, TVM, Pecatonica and Track of the Wolf as well as others.

A jug choke to full is a good choice for turkey. A good gauge would be a 20 gauge. Your state's game department would have a minimum gauge stated for hunting turkeys. The jug choke will also allow shooting of round ball for hunting deer and larger game.

Do look at used fowling guns as available from time to time on the classified pages of the forum. There are some good buys available there.

As for the style that would work best for you, so much will depend on your body build and how the specific gun fits you. What gun fits me may be a cheek basher for you. The Northeast trade guns have a pretty straight stock, the club butts have some drop and handle recoil well, and the southern "Carolina" guns or English fowling guns are slim and elegant.

You will want a smooth bored fowler to weigh in at about 6 to 7 pounds for easy handling. The barrel should be 38" to 44" long. The length will depend on the coverage in the areas that you hunt. In my opinion the longer barrel is better, but that is up to you to decide.

Thanks for the great insight! I have a decent shop setup for a hobbyist, as I’ve made some longbows and do some other woodworking. I’m far from a professional though! To your point, my primary concern is finding a style that fits me best and trying to find some to get my hands on is difficult. I need to reach out to some regional orgs to see when they’ll be running their rendezvous this year.

I’d like something a bit shorter that will still have the fine, elegant lines of those southern guns.

As far as body build goes, Im 5’11” with slightly long arms for height and broad shouldered.

Thanks again!

 

[Mwal]

I have a flintlock smoothrifle in .62 it is cylinder bore. In percussion I have double barrel 10 ga and a 12 ga New Englander . My favorite at the range is .62 I shoot with shot and roundball. For Turkeys I would use it upto 25 yards. If you jug choke you can stretch the out. If I am upland I use 10ga. . The .62 in flintlock smoothbore is hard to beat. You can hunt anything with it.
Mwal

 

[Youngblood]

Get a musket repo. They are big and robust and you can sense the history (even tho it wasnt there, its same style).

Or a 20 or 12 ga trade gun or fusil.

 

[Rob M.]

First post here, so please bear with me. I have been toying with the idea of either building or purchasing a smooth bore for my kids and I to use while chasing gobblers here in WI. I’d like to stay with a flintlock purely out of nostalgia.

I have a traditional style .45 flint that was made for me as a kid by Robert Kending in northern WI and while I love the style and handling of it, I’m not exactly sure of my options for a smooth bore. I have received some solid advice on some components and it sounds like I’d want a jug choke if at all possible.

Any recommendations on styles that may work better than others? So far I’ve been eyeing up some fowlers and trade guns that could potentially fit the bill. I’m really unsure as to whether I want to build or buy at this stage.

Thanks for any and all input!

Make a NW Trade gun . They were used a lot up in your neck of the woods . Light , versatile , lots of history connected to them and they are not complicated in their construction if you want to make it ...I love em !

 

[user 53846]

I'm living in the Pacific Northwest, and all I hunt with are smooth bore guns. I used to live in Wisconsin. Definitely great hunting. I had a Flintlock there, but not a smoothbore. A 12 gauge smooth bore will take anything in North America, if you do your job properly. Hell, even my 20/.62 will!! You just have to know the limits of your gun, and realize its not an .88 Magnum.