Rifled vs. smoothbore

[rogervan]

Hi, it's been a long time.

I have a rifle with a 36 inch long, 62 caliber rifled 1:66. I damaged the barrel and have to replace it.

If I use a 62 caliber smoothbore, would it shoot the same as a rifled barrel in that large caliber?

Clf

 

[jdkerstetter]

No. Smoothbores are fine within their limited range but don't have the legs of a rifled bore. You are likely to loose up to half of your effective accurate range and maybe more.

Likely you will need a different patch/ball combination also. Enjoy, J.D.

 

[hanshi]

Yes you will lose about half your range with a smoothbore. For most of us old, nearsighted smoothbore shooters 50 yards is a long shot. That's about it for the rank and file. Some shooters are really good and have better barrels and can do their thing at longer range. As long as I can hit a milk jug at 60 yards with a smoothbore, I'm a happy fellow.

 

[RADeO]

I damaged the barrel and have to replace it.

Clf

Is the damage external or internal? If internal, such as excessive pitting or other damage to the bore, perhaps you can have it rebored to a slightly larger caliber, then buy a new mold of the appropriate size. Might save you a good amount of cash over having to replace the barrel.

If the damage is external, such as some sort of angular misalignment (ie. bent) :cursing: , then a new barrel may be your better bet.

 

[WMR]

My first ML was a TC Renegade 56 cal. smooth bore 'cause Massachusetts only allowed smooth bore when we started ML deer hunting.

It'll drop a woodchuck at 40 to 50 yards with a light 50 gr charge. That big 550 ball is kind of like setting the chuck on the railroad track and letting a train hit him.

 

[rogervan]

It's internal and shallow, and about 1/4 inch X 1/2 inch, and 3 inches down. The blemish shreds patches. I made that gash by not thinking when I used an un-bushed screw-tip remover to remove a ball that was about 2 1/2 inches down, and by pushing and twisting, the ball rotated so that the screw was boring both the ball and the barrel. The basic flaw is that the trip of the barrel is smaller than the bore a few more inches down. I had it made from scratch, and it's still never been shot (6 years or so). This might be a defective barrel. A new barrel costs 150 or so. I wish I could find a higher spec barrel.

Thank you for your suggestion.

Crawls In Brush

 

[nkbj]

Just wondering, did you look into reboring?

 

[segner05]

You mentioned that the "flaw" is about 3" down the barrel. Have you thought about cutting maybe 3 1/2" or so off the end and then soldering or dovetailing a new sight?

 

[jdkerstetter]

I would just have it looked at by a competent barrel guy like Bobby Hoyt. It is unlikely you damaged the barrel so baddly that it has to be replaced.

One deep gouge in a barrel at that point may catch fowling but if any surface imperfections are relieved below the level of the lands and grooves and smoothed out it should shoot just fine.

Good Luck, J.D.