Shooting Minnie balls in my 20ga

[Texas Gil]

Anyone had any good accuracy shooting Minnie balls in a smooth bore? Don’t want to try it if it doesn’t improve accuracy . Could be another rabbit hole that just burns up ammo!

 

[Eterry]

Ive never tied it, some that did posted on here a while back. Accuracy was NOT impressive, iirc. But it's an interesting idea, may be worth a try. Report back with pics, please.

 

[Maven]

A roundball between .595" and .605" may be a better option since you can shoot it with (a) patches as you would rifle; (b) tow wads fore and aft; (c) rolled into a cartridge; (d) as a bare ball with only a thin over powder wad; or (e) thick card stock over powder wad, RB, and thin over powder wad. Any of these will probably be more accurate than a conical bullet designed to be spun by rifling.

 

[Texas Gil]

I have been shooting RBI’s for years with descent hunting accuracy out to 40 to 50 yds. Just trying to push the deer size kill zone accuracy out another 10 to 15 yds.
My to yd groups are around 10” but at 75 yds I’m all over the place.
Thanks for the input

 

[54ball]

A smooth bore is a point and shoot gun. Meaning, shoulder it, put the bead on it and shoot. This is especially so with just the front bead. I find trying to aim or more correctly, trying to “draw a very fine bead”....opens up the group or causes a miss. Quick or instinctive shots tend to do better.

Also....A man has to know his limitations. 70+ yards could be a no/go whereas 50 yards is deadly. Young eyes and stamina sometimes can stretch the range of these.

Things that may help you gain a few yards....

A rear sight. Personally I like a course rear sight. Probably more than any other factor a rear sight is the best improvement for accuracy. The 18th Century trade guns used a course rear sight close to the breech. It works well.

Upping the powder charge....Each gun is different but upping the charge sometimes improves smoothbore range and accuracy. The theory is the bigger charge, the straiter and further the ball flys before it starts to yawl.

Try different loadings...Some guns do better with wads or even tow. There’s all kinds of smoothbore loadings.

A cool gun....The best shot is the first shot. Practice that first shot. The gun does not have to be dead cold but shooting a group, shot after shot can be counterproductive. When the gun is super hot the sights can be lost to the mirage effect.

Shoot the way you hunt. The bench is only OK if you are hunting from a bench “ shooting house”. If you hunt sitting, shoot sitting. If you hunt offhand, practice off hand. The same goes for prone and everything else. Remember, even with rear sights, change in body position can change impact.

Oh, the minnies will have a accurate range measured in feet rather than yards. They will be unstable, apt to tumble.

Lastly....find your range and stick to it. If it’s 50 yards....so be it.

 

[Texas Gil]

I’ve been shooting this trade gun for 12 years. You are right the best most accurate shot is always the first one.
Thanks for the insight. Appreciate the experience and the knowledge you have.
Love my smoothie!

 

[Timber Wolf]

This guy I know (not me) recently tried some nice tight fitting hollow base Minnie balls in his smooth bore. They were carefully cast and pan lubed. He was pretty sure they would work fine. Despite trying different powder charges and shooting off a bench the “accuracy” was TERRIBLE. As in most not even hitting the paper at 25 meters. Of those that did some key-holed. If I had not experienced it myself, uhh, I mean “heard about it” I would not have believed it.

 

[Texas Gil]

A smooth bore is a point and shoot gun. Meaning, shoulder it, put the bead on it and shoot. This is especially so with just the front bead. I find trying to aim or more correctly, trying to “draw a very fine bead”....opens up the group or causes a miss. Quick or instinctive shots tend to do better.

Also....A man has to know his limitations. 70+ yards could be a no/go whereas 50 yards is deadly. Young eyes and stamina sometimes can stretch the range of these.

Things that may help you gain a few yards....

A rear sight. Personally I like a course rear sight. Probably more than any other factor a rear sight is the best improvement for accuracy. The 18th Century trade guns used a course rear sight close to the breech. It works well.

Upping the powder charge....Each gun is different but upping the charge sometimes improves smoothbore range and accuracy. The theory is the bigger charge, the straiter and further the ball flys before it starts to yawl.

Try different loadings...Some guns do better with wads or even tow. There’s all kinds of smoothbore loadings.

A cool gun....The best shot is the first shot. Practice that first shot. The gun does not have to be dead cold but shooting a group, shot after shot can be counterproductive. When the gun is super hot the sights can be lost to the mirage effect.

Shoot the way you hunt. The bench is only OK if you are hunting from a bench “ shooting house”. If you hunt sitting, shoot sitting. If you hunt offhand, practice off hand. The same goes for prone and everything else. Remember, even with rear sights, change in body position can change impact.

Oh, the minnies will have a accurate range measured in feet rather than yards. They will be unstable, apt to tumble.

Lastly....find your range and stick to it. If it’s 50 yards....so be it.

I thought about your comments about that first shot! Maybe you are on to something about smooth bores when they are cool or cold. Thin wall barrels don’t lend themselves to consistency. It’s always the repetition of my shooting range work that produces misses , fliers etc. However, my first shots are consistent . I’ve experienced a similar thing with recurve bow archery. Walk out to the target take my first shot and bullseye! 10 shots later fliers,etc. tired muscles and tired steel produce unpredictable results.
Hmmmmm!
Thanks

 

[Kev308]

I had a bunch of 20 gauge slugs the I took apart and shot in my smoothbore, packed the open base with crisco and had at it. Once.
Never tried that again. Let's just say I shot the sampler. Accuracy didn't even enter into the picture.

 

[TreeMan]

I shot about half a dozen Parker hale 58 cal minies out of my 75 cal Brown Bess. I had the bright idea of putting them in plastic 12 gauge shot cups with a wad of tow on top and over the powder. The fit was perfect. All I can say is they went down range about as well as unpatched roundballs at 25 yards. That was the end of my experiment. Kinda like a homemade slug round.