Should I consider a smoothbore if I'm a rifle guy?

[Timber Wolf]

Of course you should consider one. As some of the other posts have mentioned, distance seems to be the most important consideration. I don’t have the experience a lot here do but have been surprised at the accuracy from my smooth bores in general. First off was 12 Gauge modern shotguns with slugs. I was amazed at what I could do out to a 100 yards with slugs.

Recently I was working with a .56 SB T/C and impressed with what I and another shooter were doing with it. We have only shot it off-hand but I would not hesitate to take it hunting. Do you have to have one? No. Will it add another dimension to the sport and your shooting? Yes.

 

[springfield art]

They are more addictive then rifles. I do very little shot shooting in mine.
Cant make them a rifle but it’s fun trying. And so much to do with them.
PRB, wad, bare ball, buck and ball, wad and patch, chewed ball, cartridge.
What works best sometimes just depends on the day.
And wads. OMG tow, woolen, hemp, wasp paper,brown paper, grass, dog hair(stinks) cork, pre made, and on and on.
I don’t shoot my riders as much as I used to. And grab my smoothies most of the time.
Just took a little doe with my 28 bore.

I'd imagine all those "trash" wadding things were used by people desperate for supplies in the wilderness; best to stick with cotton/linen patching.

 

[tenngun]

English loading manuals mentioned tow,cards, leather strips, old hat, saddle stuffing, brown paper.
The earliest mention I know of of patched ball in a smoothie is 1846, and it’s an English gentleman relating what he saw in Canada.
I THINK PRB was used earlier. Can’t prove.
This sport is supposed to be fun.
Should your idea of fun be clover leafs at a hundred yards you ain’t going to get it with a smoothie.
Should your idea of fun be playing with the old ways and experimenting then try them all. No one on their dying bed thinks ‘I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time shooting’ trash wads’.

 

[springfield art]

English loading manuals mentioned tow,cards, leather strips, old hat, saddle stuffing, brown paper.
The earliest mention I know of of patched ball in a smoothie is 1846, and it’s an English gentleman relating what he saw in Canada.
I THINK PRB was used earlier. Can’t prove.
This sport is supposed to be fun.
Should your idea of fun be clover leafs at a hundred yards you ain’t going to get it with a smoothie.
Should your idea of fun be playing with the old ways and experimenting then try them all. No one on their dying bed thinks ‘I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time shooting’ trash wads’.

You're right!

 

[Jay Templin]

Brown Bess (old Pedersoli) with military loads (paper cartridges: .690 ball, 110gr FFg) offhand at 50 yards this afternoon. Next weekend I’ll be taking her out for deer for the first time in almost 20 years.
As a rifle guy myself, I can promise that the only smoothbore you regret is the one you don’t buy.
Jay

 

[Josephg]

Should I consider a smoothbore if I'm a rifle guy?

No, you're a rifle guy, remember?

 

[rich pierce]

Regardless of some folks shooting 3” round ball groups at 50 yards with their smoothbores, this is not average performance and it is often not easy to find a load that shoots that well. I know guys who can shoot into an inch consistently with their rifles at 50 yards who work to get under 4” at 50 yards with their smoothbores. It may be partially due to the lack of a rear sight. On my .69 New England fowler, the wide breech tapers quickly. I am therefore able to file a groove lengthwise as a sighting notch. This helps.
I’d say if a rifle shooter wanted a fun all round gun for short range, a smoothbore can fit the bill. If so ingrained in seeking ultimate accuracy with a round ball that the group spread would spoil the fun, forget it.

 

[Bledfor Days]

Everyone needs a pipe tied to a stick.

 

[Brian Gibbs]

YES! You have to have a flintlock smoothbore. That’s the rules. You won’t go back to one of those cappy doodads!

 

[Bledfor Days]

Oh. Oh yeah. C'mon baby!

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

I have a smoothbore because I like to do this:

 

[Britsmoothy]

Oh. Oh yeah. C'mon baby!View attachment 49554

Don't worry. A good lapping will fix that

 

[springfield art]

YES! You have to have a flintlock smoothbore. That’s the rules. You won’t go back to one of those cappy doodads!

I love the term, "cappy doo-dads"!