smooth bore how accurate

[more powder]

I have been trying to make up my mind for my next rifle.I had it nailed down to a New England Fowler or French trade gun type D. Well, after a lot of research,I find out a rifled barrel would not be correct.Well, all I hunt is deer,elk and bear here in Mt.A lot of my shots are out to 100yds;so,what kind of group does a smooth bore shoot at that range,or did thay make rifled barrels in about 1740?ANY HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. Ron

 

[Bushwhacker]

I hunt big game with my 62 smoothie. Elk, Deer, Hogs, Bear ect. Any bp gun wheather it's rifled or a smoothie I won't take a chance on wounding an animal past 60-70 yards. at 50 yards I can hold a 6" group, past that my eye sight plays tricks with me. At our range we have life size steel silloutes out to 125 yards. I can hit them but not necessarly in the kill zone.
:redthumb:

 

[Ron LaClair]

I've got an English Fowler 12 that shoots a round ball center. In fact it has put a lot of rifles to shame out to 50yd's. I don't think I'd shoot at a critter at 100yd's, that's pushin it and might cause a wounded animal.

If you go with a smooth bore your just gonna hafta get closer to your game. :imo:

 

[FireMaker]

Two of us are AR15 instructors at our department. The other is a cowboy shooter. For breaks, I bring out either my .62 smoothie or my .54 southern. My partner brings our a 45-70 or a 44-40 carbine. Dont really matter, we always out shoot the guys with the ARs and it makes them mad. We have a ball of fun doing it. Its an eye thing.

 

[cayugad]

My .62 caliber smoothbore is excellent out to 40 yards. After that the group really starts to open up. I once shot it at 75 yards and could not keep all the shots on a 8 X 11 piece of standard paper.

I hunted with it this year but did not get a chance to use it. Where I was the longest shot would have been about 35 yards and I knew I could make that shot with the smoothbore.

I will say that down range power of that 324 grain ball hitting the target is really something. I only shoot 80 grain of Goex 3F but that still is a solid sounding load...

 

Apparently, accuracy out of a smoothbore is a chancy thing. I have a 20 gauge (.62) which I have tried with .600 and undersized balls and various loads and have yet to find an accurate load. I have heard of excellent 50 yd accuracy from smoothies, but mine won't do it (yet--I have not had time to play with it enough). The lack of rear sight on most such guns limits them, but even with sights they can be tempermental. My neighbor has a .50 smoothie and after trying several loads and combos with it, had a rear sight mounted. Didn't help much. For one thing, most of them just will not be as accurate as a rifle, period, so if you want to hunt with them, you need to get close. I am getting a new 20 gauge fusil soon (I Hope)and hope it will shoot better than my old fowler....

 

[vinnynj]

i have a 62 smooth rifle has a rear sight shoots clover leavs at 25 yds 65 g ff goex .600 ball ticking patch shoots about 3-4 in at 50 for deer wouldent shoot past 50 yds and have passed on a lot of shots just not shure of shooting at that distance at game and im not the cowboy i was at 18 im shure the ball will kill at 100 yds plus but it is beyond my skill at that range

 

[No Deer]

I guess it depends on your expectation of accuracy. If you are a competition shooter, a rifle will surely group much better than a smoothie, so don't expect the same tight groups that can be achieved by a rifle (generally speaking, there is always some joker that can/will prove this wrong). That being said, if you are a plinker, and/or a hunter, a smoothie will fit just fine for your expectations. You can hold close enough patterns to hit the gong on woodswalks, or to hit the vitals of game, within the range limits of your ability. On our woodswalk I will take on any rifle shooter in my club with my smoothie, at the shorter range targets. For me, the smoothie fullfils all my shootin needs with accuracy that satisfies me.

 

[Gary]

I think you can count on hitting a man sized target (think of the old Police B-27 type target) at 75 yards. There have been hits at longer ranges, but it's really iffy and TWOG (The Will of Gawd). Tests by the Prussian Army in 1800 showed that trained men firing by platoon could hit another platoon at 100 yards with 53% success ratio. Untrained men got only 40%. The scores went up when the target was the size of a cavalryman (bigger target, easier to hit).

 

[Gary]

BTW, depending on your gun, I wouldn't try to push past 40-50 if you're going for game.

 

[jim gray]

did thay make rifled barrels in about 1740?

Yes there were rifled barrels in the 1740's and before. It is commonly believed that rifling first appeared in the first half of the 16th century.

 

[Muggsy]

Hey Firemaker- great to see your interest in other types of guns! I've got one guy on our SWAT team that is getting into modern muzzleloading- I took my 20ga fowler and my Charleville in one night and let him shoot it up. I'm trying to convince him to ditch the in-line and go traditional. The rest- wont even touch the things- I think they are scared of them.... he he... IMHO, shooting a flinch-lock has really taught me steady control and follow thru's on my shots and have improved my modern shooting skills.

As for hitting accuracy of a smoothbore- i've not tried too many shots long distance shots with my fowler, but I can say that i've easily hit the paper at 100yrds. Not dead on, but a group of 12" or so is not bad for not finding the right load combo. I would image that I could get that group down by playing with various loads and ball sizes. Not having hunted with it, I would think that I would get a decent kill shot at 100 yards on a deer.

:results:

 

[bbuck]

Ya.. :master: :master:Just gota love a good marksman (Eight steady Hole Factors) :master: :master:

 

[bbuck]

Can some one tell me how to get this @&^%$#!*& Quote thing working :curse:

 

[Rebel]

Just click on Quote in the box above the post. Then when it comes up as your reply, just highlight everything you don't want in it and hit the backspace bar and erase the rest.

 

[bbuck]

Then when it comes up as your reply, just highlight everything you don't want in it and hit the backspace bar and erase the rest.


hey it works Many thanks O great computer Guru. Us lackeys Is trying to lern dis stuff

:master: :master:

thanks

 

[Rebel]

I don't be no Guru, just another Lackey that has had it explained to him. :: Hate this confounded thing, but can't live without it. ::

 

I guess it depends on your expectation of accuracy... For me, the smoothie fullfils all my shootin needs with accuracy that satisfies me.

What No Deer isn't saying is that his expectation of accuracy is pretty darn good. We spent the day shooting at an empty LP tank, starting from 25 yards, him with his fusil fin, me with a percussion rifle. We backed up 5 yards at a time until we were back around 100 before he finally missed once.

And besides, you Buckskinner fans can see that...deer...that he shot in the February issue. If you can hit a target that small on a dead run on a cold day, you're doing pretty good!!!!!

:blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah:

 

[Rebel]

And besides, you Buckskinner fans can see that...deer...that he shot in the February issue. If you can hit a target that small on a dead run on a cold day, you're doing pretty good!!!!!

That was a deer? I thought it were a jackrabbit. :crackup: Figured it was a real good shot with a smootbore flinter with a ball. :crackup:

 

[RussB]

When I first got a smooth bore my first attemps were all with shot. I worked on that for a while, and then I got a rb mould from Jeff Tanner.

My first attempts at 35 yards were miserable, at best.
I was still trying to shoot it like a shotgun. You know, the point and shoot thing, all in one movement practically, "snap shooting" some may say.

Then I started shooting it like a rifle, taking my time, watching my breathing, squeezing the trigger, watching my stance, etc etc...and things got better.

For the first dozen or so times I couldn't even "make paper" at fifty yards. Now, if I'm having a pretty good day, I can keep half of 'em in the black of a 12" bull, even better than that off the bench...but I have sights too. Not at all PC, but a lot of fun!

This year all my practice is going to be done Off Hand. Off Hand shooting has always been a weak spot for me...at least I felt it was, and I use a rest, even improvised, at every opportunity.
This year is going to be different. I'm going to learn to shoot that smoothie off hand.

Russ