Rifle Method smoothbores???

[goon]

How much buck and ball would a smaller bore fusil handle?
Honest question - I'm thinking it still couldn't toss as much as a Bess could. There is a reference later on to a group shooting red squirrels and birds for food, so they were apparently also carrying some shot - or they were very good marksmen.

 

[gearheart]

With the recipe for the time arguing that it required a pound of lead to kill a man in a combat situation, Brown Bess balls were about 16 to the pound, it would seem that accuracy took a back seat to getting as much hail in the air as possible. The emphasis was on loading and firing volleys as fast as possible and hoping some of the shots would be effective.

 

[tg]

Do we have any details on the bore size of the guns used?, I thought they use one of the Bess modles? most military guns from any origin would likely be .66 or larger. and would probably toss 6-8 buckshot plus the ball.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

With the recipe for the time arguing that it required a pound of lead to kill a man in a combat situation, Brown Bess balls were about 16 to the pound, it would seem that accuracy took a back seat to getting as much hail in the air as possible. The emphasis was on loading and firing volleys as fast as possible and hoping some of the shots would be effective.

I have to ask where you got the "pound of lead" figure. George Washington put the figure at more like a man's weight in musket balls for every casuality. If it only took 16 musket balls it seems no army would have survived its first battle.

 

[goon]

With the recipe for the time arguing that it required a pound of lead to kill a man in a combat situation, Brown Bess balls were about 16 to the pound, it would seem that accuracy took a back seat to getting as much hail in the air as possible. The emphasis was on loading and firing volleys as fast as possible and hoping some of the shots would be effective.

Yeah, but the question was if there was any evidence of smoothbores being loaded with patched round balls like you'd load a rifle.
So we have Rogers saying he and five men made six kills, one shot each, moving targets at 100 yards.
Assuming he was telling the truth, I'd say this at least requires us to pause and think hard about what we "know" about smoothbores.

Do we have any details on the bore size of the guns used?, I thought they use one of the Bess modles? most military guns from any origin would likely be .66 or larger. and would probably toss 6-8 buckshot plus the ball.

No, I don't think the size of the bore is recorded anywhere. Just that it's called a "fusee".

 

[Many Klatch]

If the target was a canoe with 10 men in it, they were all kneeling and probably lined up pretty close back to front. Sounds like an easy target to hit about 20 feet long and 36 inches high. If you can but the ball into the an area that size at 100 yards you probably will hit somebody.

Rogers says that "we put put ourselves in readiness to receive them in the best manner we could". That means to me that they had time to check their priming and probably lay out two or three cartridges apiece for quick reloading. I think more than one shot apiece would be a given.

Many Klatch

 

[goon]

Does a "salute" indicate more than one volley? He says they gave the French "a salute" that reduced their number to four.
I'm not sure what a salute consists of... If it's more than one shot you have a point. If it's one shot each...

 

[Stumpkiller]

OK, so I just read Rogers' Journals and he tells of one action in which he and four other men fired on a boat carrying several Indians and a Frenchman at one hundred yards and killed five of them.

Ah, here we may have the illusive reference to a "canoe gun". Rogers & his men may have been carrying "canoe guns" and the volley "fired on a boat" sunk the French bateau and the passengers all drowned. Specialized weapontry to deny them water transport: the canoe gun. :hmm:

 

[paulvallandigham]

AHHHHH! Now we know what " canoe guns" were used to do! :bow: :grin: :blah: :blah: :rotf: :rotf: :haha: :shocked2:

Your comment reminds me of the " Fractured History" bits they did on the old " Rocky and Bullwinkle" Cartoon shows. :rotf: :surrender: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

 

[goon]

OK, so I just read Rogers' Journals and he tells of one action in which he and four other men fired on a boat carrying several Indians and a Frenchman at one hundred yards and killed five of them.

Ah, here we may have the illusive reference to a "canoe gun". Rogers & his men may have been carrying "canoe guns" and the volley "fired on a boat" sunk the French bateau and the passengers all drowned. Specialized weapontry to deny them water transport: the canoe gun. :hmm:

In "Of Sorts for Provincials" the author mentions that one colony ordered some swivel Blunderbusses to be mounted on battoes. Not sure which one and I'm not near the book right now, but I'll try to get an exact citation eventually.

 

[jethro224]

OK, so I just read Rogers' Journals and he tells of one action in which he and four other men fired on a boat carrying several Indians and a Frenchman at one hundred yards and killed five of them.

Ah, here we may have the illusive reference to a "canoe gun". Rogers & his men may have been carrying "canoe guns" and the volley "fired on a boat" sunk the French bateau and the passengers all drowned. Specialized weapontry to deny them water transport: the canoe gun. :hmm:

:hmm: Didn't Patrick McManus write a book titled "They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?" :hmm:

I never put 2 and 2 together until just now.