Smooth Bore

[Thing]

I have never owned a smooth bore. Now thinking of starting out with one. I seen a tulle for sale. However I read somewhere that this style stock tends to slap you in the cheek on recoil. Has anyone had this experience ?

 

[Skychief]

I have with heavy loads. Only gun that ever bothered me (recoil-wise).

 

[JGlaza78]

I've never noticed it with mine. Shooting a Track of the Wolf kit Tulle 42" barrel and .600 PRB with 80 grains 3f Goex.

 

[Ranger1759]

you gonna shoot that, that freeeeench gun at muster? lol lets just hope it goes off.....lol

 

[JGlaza78]

That's my hope every time I pull the trigger. The reality of the situation don't always match my expectation!

 

[nwtradegun]

had 2 of them. used HEAVY charges for hog hunting. never bothered me . it was a 62 cal.

 

[kingsax26]

remember friend, everyone shoots a gun differently. the best advice I can give is trty to find someone that has a tulle and shoot it. I would say that almost no blackpowder gun would hurt with a lightload...the energy just isnt there. I can say that the Tulle for me does indeed cause some discomfort with heavier hunting loads. However i just deal with it and I like mine very much regardless. I see you mentioned you have a tulle you can purchase...go ahead ...buy it!! If it doesnt work for you it will sell very quickly...they have a strong following. or it may be wonderful for you to shoot and your in the clear!

 

[Snakebite]

I had a Northwest Trade Gun once, a friend of mine helped me build it and it came out a little short on the length of pull. It was a .12ga and I'm thinking I had a .710 mold. I don't remember how much powder I used (this was over 30 years ago) but I remember it was not fun to shoot (but I was popular in the team stump shoot where we had to shoot thru a 2x4). That short stock and heavy ball about beat me to death. If the gun had fit me better, it may have been different. If you get one, make sure it fits you.

 

[smoothshooter]

There are variations from maker to maker in Tulle stock architecture just like any other stock design. I have had two CenterMark Tulle .62's and I didn't get smacked in the face at all. But the CenterMarks do have a little straighter comb than most Tulles while retaining the smooth, sweeping buttstock architecture that many of us love. The versions having the more pronounced drop at the comb may be unpleasant for more shooters, depending on how a person's face is shaped
By looking closely at as many photographs of Tulles as possible, you will see the variations I am talking about.

 

[Knapper51]

I love the way a Tulle looks. I've owned two, both 20 gauge, and both had a tendency to smack me under the cheekbone with heavier loads. Both were sold. I was a rifle shooter and since that time I've learned a bit more about shooting smoothbores. With my Tulle's I would press my face into the stock like I would a rifle in an attempt to align a non-existent rear sight with the front one. If you look at how far below the bore axis the contact point on your shoulder is on the drooping butt of a Tulle it's obvious that recoil has a lot of leverage to cause muzzle rise. The muzzle comes up and the stock smacks your cheek bone when it's pressed against the stock. But that's not the way a smoothbore is sighted. Although many of us tend to shoot mostly single ball loads and therefore think of it as a rifle, it's really a shotgun. Your eye is the rear sight and you move your head up or down to compensate for distance just as you would with a modern shotgun loaded with slugs. Your cheek bone isn't pressed into the stock and therefore doesn't get smacked.

I learned this from shooting my current smoothbore, a Dutch Club Butt. I'll attach a photo. The bore axis vs stock contact point on my shoulder is probably greater than it was on my Tulle but the design of the "Dutch Girl" doesn't allow me to press my face into the stock. I'm forced to rely on a visual "sight picture" using my eye rather than a cheek weld on the stock. I hardly notice the recoil. I've gotten pretty darned accurate with her once I learned to quit looking for a rear sight that isn't there.

Like I said, I love the way a Tulle looks. Given my new way of thinking about a smoothbore, I've ordered an in-the-white Tulle from Jackie Brown. I think this one will be a keeper.

Knapper

 

[heck]

Hello John, how you been doing?

 

[spudnut]

I had a 1717 French musket with the same sweeping buttstock as the tulle ,it did smack me when I layed my head on it like a rifle.I shoot a bess and have a very strange way of holding it ,but its dead on and my head isn't on the stock so no smack

 

[Knapper51]

Heck,
Sent you a PM.