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Smooth rifle
- Thread starter wayne1967
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the shape of the barrel (i.e. round, octagon, some combination of the two, or any one of a number of variations) doesn't really control what happens on the inside of the barrel.
rifled barrels have grooves in them which impart spin to the projectile when the gun is fired. this spin is what stabilized the bullet (or roundball) as it goes down range. smoothbore barrels do not have the lands and grooves- they're smooth all the way down the bore.
here's where the terminology gets tricky: sometimes the gun is referred to as a 'rifle' when it actually has a smooth bore. most smoothbores have only a front sight, like a modern shotgun. a 'smooth rifle ' also has a rear sight, so it will look like a rifle, but it actually has no rifling in the barrel. the two most common calibres are .54 (smooth) and 20 guage (which is very nearly .62 calibre). other smoothbore barrels can be had, so you could make a 'smooth rifle' in just about any calibre you want.
even though they do not have rifling, smooth rifles are fairly accurate. the accuracy of a smooth rifle will be about the same as that of a rifled barrel (all else being equal) out to about seventy five yards. the advantage of having a smoooth barrel is that you need not use roundball- you can put birdshot or buckshot in there and go after a wider variety of game.
hope this helps. (by the way- if you're looking at a 20 guage smooth rifle, i'd say go for it, but that's free advice and worth every penny).
rifled barrels have grooves in them which impart spin to the projectile when the gun is fired. this spin is what stabilized the bullet (or roundball) as it goes down range. smoothbore barrels do not have the lands and grooves- they're smooth all the way down the bore.
here's where the terminology gets tricky: sometimes the gun is referred to as a 'rifle' when it actually has a smooth bore. most smoothbores have only a front sight, like a modern shotgun. a 'smooth rifle ' also has a rear sight, so it will look like a rifle, but it actually has no rifling in the barrel. the two most common calibres are .54 (smooth) and 20 guage (which is very nearly .62 calibre). other smoothbore barrels can be had, so you could make a 'smooth rifle' in just about any calibre you want.
even though they do not have rifling, smooth rifles are fairly accurate. the accuracy of a smooth rifle will be about the same as that of a rifled barrel (all else being equal) out to about seventy five yards. the advantage of having a smoooth barrel is that you need not use roundball- you can put birdshot or buckshot in there and go after a wider variety of game.
hope this helps. (by the way- if you're looking at a 20 guage smooth rifle, i'd say go for it, but that's free advice and worth every penny).
Stophel
75 Cal.
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It's a sort of colloquialism for a smoothbore gun that is built like a rifle (cheekpiece, sights, triggerguard with grip rail, etc.).
Never cared for the term much myself, but it DOES appear to have been used in the period. :wink:
Never cared for the term much myself, but it DOES appear to have been used in the period. :wink:
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I've got one that qualifies. It's a 62 cal smoothbore GM barrel complete with rifle sights. At a glance it looks like a standard TC Hawken.
MSW and others are right about accuracy with PRB. When you find a combo that works, they are surprisingly accurate with a tight patch and good balls. I've never tried mine past 50 yards, but groups aren't all that much larger than with rifled bores.
The downside, if there is one, is using it as a shotgun with those rifle sights. It sure slows me down. I can make it work, but it would be a grunt with fast movers with wings. That's specific to the rifle sights and not the pattern. With a happy load of 1 1/8 oz of #6 or smaller shot mine puts out a really smooth even pattern at 30 yards.
There isn't a snowshoe hare on the planet that could slip through the pattern, so I'm betting I could stretch it to something along the lines of 35 yards with success. I was downright amazed when I first patterned it. It actually throws a better killing pattern than my Brown Bess (11 gauge) with 1 5/8 oz of shot and its best load. But the Bess will probably do much better for me simply because its simple sight (actually the bayonet lug) is better suited to wing shooting.
MSW and others are right about accuracy with PRB. When you find a combo that works, they are surprisingly accurate with a tight patch and good balls. I've never tried mine past 50 yards, but groups aren't all that much larger than with rifled bores.
The downside, if there is one, is using it as a shotgun with those rifle sights. It sure slows me down. I can make it work, but it would be a grunt with fast movers with wings. That's specific to the rifle sights and not the pattern. With a happy load of 1 1/8 oz of #6 or smaller shot mine puts out a really smooth even pattern at 30 yards.
There isn't a snowshoe hare on the planet that could slip through the pattern, so I'm betting I could stretch it to something along the lines of 35 yards with success. I was downright amazed when I first patterned it. It actually throws a better killing pattern than my Brown Bess (11 gauge) with 1 5/8 oz of shot and its best load. But the Bess will probably do much better for me simply because its simple sight (actually the bayonet lug) is better suited to wing shooting.
Thank you.... I'll try to get a few better pictures of it. It has a 44" oct to round, swamped Colerain barrel (16ga), Chambers Lock, Davis triggers, front and rear sights. It's build roughly on an early Virginia with a step wrist. Kinda a do it all gun....round ball and shot.
Chris
Chris
