Smoothbore for all seasons

[PGTMG]

Planning to use a smoothbore flintlock as my only hunting tool for all seasons.

I intended to take squirrel, rabbit, upland, waterfowl, turkey, and deer.

Up until now I have been a cap lock rifle user.

I was hoping to hear from people who have already done this and any encourgement or wisdom to offer.

 

[torn moc]

My thoughts exactly !!! I havent totally made the switch yet,,but my trade gun is schedualed to arrive soon. Its gonna be a very sweet transition.
I believe TG will step in here shortly...
he will give ya an earful.

 

[dodgecity]

I shoot a variety of flinters, but, my smooth rifle is my main hunting arm. No problem taking deer, etc. within 75 yards with a patched ball, and the equivalent 20 gauge loads do well on small game and turkey. Occasionally I carry a modern firearm afield, but, mostly I hunt with my flint smooth gun.

 

[paulvallandigham]

May I recommend a 20 gauge fowler, as your all around hunting arm? It handles shot loads, well, and shoots a 3/4 oz RB that is all you need on any deer. If you can find a T/C NewEnglander with a smoothbore barrel, they are also fairly versatile, althought the stock is intended to be used like a rifle stock, and crossing over to shotgun use is not always an easy thing to do with the gun. Your choice of guns depends on how much of each kind of game you intend to hunt. If you mostly hunt upland game, but want to use the same gun for turkey and deer, a 20 ga. fowler fills the bill admirably. But, if you intend to hunt waterfowl a lot, then go up to a 10 or 12 gauge smoothbore for that kind of hunting.

One way or another, You are not going to feel handicapped hunting game East of the Mississippi, using a smoothbore.

 

[rabjr]

You may do well to talk to Homesteader who seems to have a gun that does it all quite well. http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showuser.php?uid/1238/

 

[roundball]

I've recently started that journey myself...as I've used .54 and .62cal Flint smoothbores more and more the past 3-4 years I've come to appreciate their versatility.

Winding down the 'inventory' in preparation for retirement, I've bought the barrel and lock to have a .62cal Virginia smoothbore built this winter...already had Caywood Jug Choke it 'Full'...just waiting on the wood and my turn in line.

 

[PGTMG]

I should have mentioned it is a 42" barrel 20 guage/62 caliber.

 

[rich pierce]

Any all-rounder will be a compromise. A 20 ga unchoked barrel is not going to be a good turkey or waterfowl gun. It's going to be hard to be successful on waterfowl without a big bore and a choke as most of the time where I've hunted, 30 yards is a decent "in range" duck. And if you go to 12 ga (my recommendation for turkey and waterfowl) then the round ball for deer will punish you and drop a lot, fast. Limit your shots on deer to 40-50 yards and you'll be happy with a 12-bore and loads with acceptable recoil.

 

[tg]

This is what I have done the last several seasons, I mostly use a .58 as I have not hunted Turkeys or waterfowl, I do have a .62 smoothrifle should I need a bigger gun, if I were hunting the larger birds on a regular basis I think I would go with the .69 cal, this still gives a good Deer/ Elk gun without having to use a bowling ball for ammo,I have found the smoothbore to be quite adequate out to 50 yds with ball and a fairly snug choke pattern can be achieved with load tweaking as many have testified to on this forum, others are much more experienced with this than I am, I would make a list of all the game you hunt, the ranges you feel will be in play for big game and for fowling and small critters and build the gun around what bore size is needed to cover all the bases,you may have some weak spots (pass shooting Honkers at 50 yds or 150 yd shots at Deer/Elk) that a ML will not be the best weapon to use but overall you should find a smoothie bore size that will suffice, then it is a matter a builder, what style you prefer and handles to your satisfaction.Many choose the .62 and live with its occasional limitations, this may be something that will work in your situation, there are a lot of .62s available and the components are easily had as well and there are a lot of people with load data to share from Deer to Turkey and likley beyound, the fit is the key, just like finding a shotgun for serious competition.Good luck and enjoy the journey. Smoothbores have a way of getting under your skin in a good way :thumbsup:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I'm having a ten bore fowler built with the idea of using it for everything. It will have a 4'barrel and weigh 8 pounds or so.

Having used a 20 bore for years, the minimum I would consider is a 16 gauge for a do it all gun. The 20 is just a bit on the small side for some things.

 

[tg]

"I'm having a ten bore fowler built with the idea of using it for everything.'


No one can accuse you of using an unethicaly light cal. what does a ball for that gun weigh?

 

[MikeC]

If you can only afford one gun I agree a smoothbore is the way to go.
With that in mind and not being the case why limit yourself to one gun unless you plan to hunt it all in the same outing.

Half the fun in this sport is the variety of weapons our minds can imagine and either build or have built, and then take to the fields, woods and swamps and use them as they were intended to be used.

 

[torn moc]

how true how true...But, having the large variety to choose from in your cabin cost Bucks! $$$$$$$

 

[dbutch]

Wisdom- go with the largest bore you would feel comfortable shooting Roundballs..This would be a plus when using shot loads.I'm thinking 12-13-14 bore.

Encouragement- it sounds like the ultimate in muzzle loading Ideals- keeping it simple!

I would have a hard time limiting my self to one gun, guess I like them all.
for geese-ducks 10 ga.
turkey 10-12-13-14-16-20 ga. all well choked
deer 20 ga.
small game 20-28 ga.

You have a big decision to make think it through.
Enjoy your quest!

"I missed your post stating it was a 62 cal."

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

The ball will weigh just over 600 grains and I'll probably go with an .018" linen patch. Shots will be limited to less than 70 yards, easy to do in this neck of the woods.

 

[PGTMG]

I have enjoyed that as well. I was given a 40 caliber percussion by a friend who is a builder.That brought me back to BP.

We then designed my 54 Hawken together and that was rewarding as well.

I understand I will probably get a lot less game than I am used to using a flintlock smoothbore.

But, this is less about the perfect tool for the job and more about mastering the tasks at hand with a single tool.

And hopefully an appreciation of what it takes to put the "hunt back in hunting".

Please keep the wisdom and input coming!

Thanks
Paul

 

[roundball]

"...put the "hunt back in hunting"..."

That's been it for me...its not about the "how many", but the "how"...for example, a couple turkeys with a .62cal Flint smoothbore are worth more to me than 100 with a super duper modern Remington .12ga magnum whatever

:thumbsup:

 

[Coot]

Personally, if limited to one gun that had to do a bit of everything, I would go with a 20 bore fowler. As with any "all round" gun, it is not the optimum gun for every situation but is remarkable for doing a reasonable job in many situations. I have absolutely no regrets about getting mine. Try one - you will like it :wink:

 

[blueshadows]

While a 20ga seems to be the most popular (for good reason) I just want to chime in that I have been shooting a .54 (28ga) smoothie primarily for whitetail and squirrels, but I did take my first black powder beauty of a turkey this spring at 25 yards. I dont quite understand how a smoothbore can shoot such uniform patterns but they are wonderfully universal. Once you find what your gun likes to eat, you will be truly impressed. I get 2-3" groups at 50 yards with a .527 roundball,(but I'm sure my gun can do better, I just cant!)and dense enough patterns to 25-30 yards for squirrels and turkey. That's good enough for me.

 

[Tinker2]

Planning to use a smoothbore flintlock as my only hunting tool for all seasons.

I intended to take squirrel, rabbit, upland, waterfowl, turkey, and deer.

Up until now I have been a cap lock rifle user.

I was hoping to hear from people who have already done this and any encourgement or wisdom to offer.

This is what I did for a smoothbore flintlock as my only hunting tool for
all seasons.

It is like potato chips, I can’t have just one, but this is my all around gun.

Flintlock 20 gage/.62 caliber 16” Lop 28” barrel. Short by this forum’s
standards, not uncommon were I live.

Tinker2