Smooth bore question?

[idahjo]

I have never fooled around with a smooth bore but have an urge to build a Marshall-style 37" smoothie. Probably to be used mostly for round ball. I ordered a swamped 62cal from Liston Rice but still have time before the production to change the order to 'rifled'.

Any thoughts appreciated. Paul V.; you probably have some comments on this... hairbrained or ot?

 

[paulvallandigham]

What are you going to use the Smoothie to shoot? It seems to me that this is the most important consideration.

For instance, if you are going to hunt Elk, do you have prior experience hunting Elk in your state? Can you get within archery range of an Elk on a regular basis? If so, then a smoothbore will do just fine. However, If shots at Elk for you are over 100 yds, I think you want a rifled .62 cal barrel, as it will give much better accuracy at those longer ranges. Now, a rifled barrel is not going to flatten out the trajectory, and that ball will slow down and start dropping a lot after about 120 yds, but the group size from a rifled barrel out at those longer ranges will be a fraction of what you will be getting from a Smoothbore shooting round ball.

Are you rather going to use it to shoot grouse, or partridge, or dove a lot instead? There's some great hunting in that Hell's Kitchen area for birds. You even have quail on some of those steep slopes that make fast action and very difficult targets to hit. If so, then, of course, you go with a smoothie, and not the rifle.

And, if you live in N. Carolina, like Roundball, you have two barrels, one of each, so you can hunt both deer and birds.

If you belong to a gun club, and do any exhibition or demonstrations shooting for the public, a .62 fowler makes a great choice for splitting playing cards in half, or splitting the ball on an axe to break two clay targets at the same time. Of course, so shooters will accuse you of "cheating " because you use such a large caliber, but they are just jealous that they didn't think of it. The public won't even think about it, even after seeing you shoot. If you learn to set your feet right to shoot both targets, you can shoot them using the .62, or any smaller caliber gun, and maybe win some money from those challengers. I have been known to " borrow " a challenger's gun and split a card with his own gun of a lesser caliber than my own, just to embarrass him.

To learn how to make those trick shots, and be a better shooter, see my article:
[url] www.chuckhawks.com/off-hand_shooting.htm[/url]

Have fun.

 

[Many Klatch]

My personal opinion is that smoothbores are a lot more fun :haha: than rifles. They allow you to hunt anything that walks or flies on this continent with only one gun in hand, all you need to have with you is the right combination of patching cards and lead balls or shot.

Smoothbores shoot without having to clean between shots and they are just as accurate as a rifle out to 75 yards.

I particularly like shooting smoothbores because my old eyes can't pick up a rear sight like they used to. With a smoothbore there is no rear sight to worry about. Now all I have to do is put that little turtle front sight on the target and pull the trigger.

I can with some regularity hit large gongs out at 100 and 120 yards with both my Brown Bess and my .60 fowler. The smoothbores are underrated when it comes to accuracy. I have seen a number of rifle matches won by a smoothbore. :hatsoff:

Many Klatch

 

[tg]

I find the smoothrifle to be a fine choice for hunting, it will not likely swing as well as a regular shotgun, but they are adequate for either shot or ball I am comforable out to 60 yds with mine with ball some can do better, the rear sight can give an edge over a smoothie without one and would be acceptable on a smoothrilfe, You just need to examine exactly what you expect to do with this gun and go from there.

 

[idahjo]

Guess I was a little vague on my question. I planned to fit this one with sights like a smooth rifle. I do not hunt game as I cannot stand a lot of it (I know I must be crazy!)
What I want really is first the build. And secondly something to shoot that will interest me. I have a N.C. Vogler in .50 and am getting close to finishing an Antes in .54. Both are rifled Rice barrels.
Thought a smooth rifle would be an interesting thing to have also?!
Just wanted to have some insight as to what accuracy I could expect on this one in the 50 to 100 yard area. I have my own ranges so do not have to belong to any club, I am on my own to shoot whatever.
Thanks

 

[paulvallandigham]

At 50 yds, you can put all your shots in one large hole. a 2 inch group with a .62 is not impossible. However, out at 75-80 yds, no matter how fast the ball leaves the muzzle, or how much recoil bites your shoulder, that round ball is coming down through the sound barrier, and all kinds of bad things happen at that speed.( approx. 110 fps.) If you load the gun so it never goes above the SOS, you will have better accuracy, but the groups at 100 yds are going to be 6-8 inches, even off a rest. Some guns will shoot groups as tight as 4 inches, off a rest, but double that for your best off-hand shooting.

If you are hunting elk, they present a large target, so you can take a chance on a longer shot like that, and still bring home meat. But keeping your shots under 75 yards makes much more sense. You are sending a 3/4 oz. round ball into an animal, and it will do enough tissue and organ damage to kill the animal.

If you aren't into hunting, then you can use the gun to shoot bang plate targets all day long. They really bounce when hit by so much lead, no matter how heavy they are. I know some off-hand shooters who can easily shoot 6 inch groups at 100 yds with their guns, and one friend actually killed a deer with his .62 at over 150 yds. He was able to make the shot because he also has his own range, and had practiced all year shooting at bang plates at various distances. He knew how much he had to hold over, and he is a very fine shooter.

If you don't like wild game, its almost always because you have not eaten meat that was process correctly from kill to table. The biggest mistake is not not get as much blood out of the meat as possible before storing it, and then cooking it. The blood give the meat that strong taste people associate with old liver.

I have turned many people completely around in their attitudes on wild game with food I have cooked, but also processed correctly. No one complains about my wild game tasting " gamey ". If you want to know more, send me a PM.

 

[tg]

I would expect 3-5 inch groups in the 50-60 yd. range, probably opening up considerably past 75 yds. that has been my experience.

 

[redneck]

go with a 28 gauge. 54 cal. less lead and powder less drop. less recoil. i have owned the all and now use the 28

 

[Grenadier1758]

The point is well made that dropping of speed through the speed of sound (1100 fet per second) results in considerable turbulence around the projectile that will up the natural error in the trajectory. Translation - Opens up the group.