Smoothbore recommendations???

[fw707]

Well, I been shootin' ML rifles for a long time, but I ain't never owned a smoothbore. I'm about to sell one of my nicer modern guns and I'm gonna have some cash to get another ML, probably from Mr. Tip Curtis, so I was wondering what kinda gun y'all would recommend.
My deer hunting is pretty limited just cause I'm kinda burnt out on deer hunting and I just hunt deer anymore for meat in the freezer, but I dearly love to turkey hunt. I'd sure like to have a nice smoothbore flinter next spring when turkey season comes in.
What would y'all recommend for a nice turkey hunting gun that would shoot a PRB pretty good if I wanted to take it deer hunting??

 

[Rebel]

Well, i've taken two turkeys so far with my Jackie Brown .20 ga smoothbore and it shoots rd balls good too. I used 70 grs of Goex 3f and 1 1/8 oz of shot for the last one. Still haven't been able to deer hunt with it, but i know it will do the job on them too. So i reccomend a good .20 ga.

 

[mike alexandre]

IMO The Officers Bess from NSW is a nicely balanced accurate smoothbore that would be more than capable of the job.

 

[DrTimboone]

Tip makes some nice fowlers. Cylinder bore is supposed to work well out to 25-30 yards.

 

[Alberta Black]

I have a 20 gauge fowler for general smoothbore shooting but turkeys are not a big thing in Alberta. We only get to hunt them once every six years or so.

If I were to get a gun with turkey hunting in mind I would look for a fowler in sixteen or twelve gauge. I think that most of the gunmakers will work with you on this if the dod not list it in their catalogue.

AB

 

[B.Habermehl]

20 guage minimum would by my suggestion. You will need to cast your own balls any how as 20 ga balls are way too expensive to play with if bought between shipping etc. 16 or 12 would make a better dedecated shot gun, especially if jug choked by the fellow Mike Brooks uses. All bets are off accuracy wise with a rb. shot out of a jug choked barrel. Intuitavely I would not expect a patched round ball to shoot well through a recessed(jug)choke barrel. Colerain offers a full choked barrel in 20 ga. but it will not work with a round ball. BJH

 

[paulvallandigham]

I have to recommend you stay with the 20 gauge, if you are looking for a dual purpose gun. A 20 ga. RB is 3/4 oz in weight, plenty heavy enough for deer out to 100 yds, and even beyond. In shot loads, it is more than adequate for turkey, and other game birds out to 30 yds. If you have the barrel jug choked, you can extend the range depending on how much choke you put in it. BP hunting is not long range shooting- ITS HUNTING! You are suppose to get in close. That is part of the experience, particularly with a flintlock, smoothbore gun. The 20 ga. will do all you need to do without rattling your brains. Unlike using cartridge guns, the secret to tight patterns is not more powder, or more shot. It is less powder for the same amount of shot. When you talk about round ball shooting, and get to the 16 and 12 gauges, and larger, recoil does become a factor, even shooting Black Powder. I would not argue that the guns produce better patterns shooting more shot, but when it comes to shooting round ball, it takes a lot of powder to get those large balls going the same velocity as the lighter 3/4 oz. slug. Even going slower, the 1 oz. and 1 1/8 oz RBs produce noticably more recoil.

RB don't kill by producing massive SECONDARY cavities in tissue like high speed cartridge bullets do, with their trailing vacuums and air turbulance. They kill by making a large PRIMARY wound channel in tissue and organs, flatting out on impact to expand and make the wound channel even larger. All this causes death by hemorrhage, much like a modern arrow does, if the ball does not hit nerves and kill instantly by shock. A .62 caliber hole through a deer that expands into a larger primary wound channel causes a lot of tissue destruction, and makes it much more likely that some nerves will be struck stunning or killing the animal outright.

You can load non-toxic shot to shoot Migratory waterfowl in these guns, but you will work to get the birds inside 30 yds for a clean kill. That is probably better, as too many hunters shooting breechloading shotguns don't have a clue about the effective range of their guns, and are trying to kill birds at 80 yds. and beyond. At least when you know the limitation of your gun, you discipline your choice of shots, and actually will kill more game.

 

[Ridge]

I have a 20 but wish I'd bought a 12.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I have a 20 but wish I'd bought a 12.

There you go. I would recomend a 20 in your situation, but it doesn't shot round ball or shot as well as other guages do. A 28ga shoots RB far better and a 10 bore shoots shot far better.
My recomendation is get teo guns......can't have enough guns.... :haha:

 

[JWP]

Personally I prefer the 62 cal. - 20 guage as a good all around gun from squirrel to deer.
As for what builder to recommend - that's a call your going to have to make as everyone has their own opinion - you know what they say about opinions :haha:

 

[fw707]

Thanks everybody for the replies!
It looks like the majority of the votes are for the 20ga.-.62 caliber. When I talked to Tip about the fowlers he said the same thing y'all did about the jug chokes--much better patterns, but forget the round ball shooting, so if I decide to go full time shotgun I'll probably go up to a 16ga. and get it choked for sure.
If I could get a good tight pattern at 25-30 yards with at least 1 1/8 ounce of #5's that would be just fine.
One other question:
Has anybody had any problems with their barrels not patterning exactly to point of aim? That's pretty important when you're shooting at the head/neck of a turkey.
I've killed a bunch of turkeys in the 25 years I been hunting them, but never one with a ML.

Thanks again everybody! :hatsoff:

 

[paulvallandigham]

The traditional way to move the pattern to the POA is to file the muzzle on the opposite side of where you want to pattern to go. That " releases" that side of the pattern and wad behind it, and moves it over in the direction you desire. Other ways to do it involve bending the barrel, and of course, changing or moving the front site in the opposite direction. Since the comb of the stock where you cheek rests becomes your " back " sight, raising and lowering the comb, or using cast on and cast off on the stock can change POI, too, just as they do on modern shotguns.

Finally, change the load you use. That often changes the poi for the pattern. If your looking to shoot an ounce and 1/8 of #5 shot, you first should understand that this is a very heavy load for a 20 ga. gun. Read V.M. Starr's article on ML shotguns in Bob Spenser's BlackPowder Notebook,
[url] http://members.aye.net/~bspen/index.html[/url]

about loads for Black Powder shotguns. I think you will be surprised to fine how little powder he recommends, compared with the " dr. equivalent" loads being put in modern shotgun shells. His lighter loads produce much better groups at the distances you shoot open cylinder bore ML shotguns.

 

[paulvallandigham]

The traditional way to move the pattern to the POA is to file the muzzle on the opposite side of where you want to pattern to go. That " releases" that side of the pattern and wad behind it, and moves it over in the direction you desire. Other ways to do it involve bending the barrel, and of course, changing or moving the front site in the opposite direction. Since the comb of the stock where you cheek rests becomes your " back " sight, raising and lowering the comb, or using cast on and cast off on the stock can change POI, too, just as they do on modern shotguns.

Finally, change the load you use. That often changes the poi for the pattern. If your looking to shoot an ounce and 1/8 of #5 shot, you first should understand that this is a very heavy load for a 20 ga. gun. Read V.M. Starr's article on ML shotguns in Bob Spenser's BlackPowder Notebook,
[url] http://members.aye.net/~bspen/index.html[/url]

about loads for Black Powder shotguns. I think you will be surprised to fine how little powder he recommends, compared with the " dr. equivalent" loads being put in modern shotgun shells. His lighter loads produce much better groups at the distances you shoot open cylinder bore ML shotguns.

 

[ffffg]

hmmmm :hmm: no vent rib,, no rear sight, comb is way too low,, sounds like somebodys got alot of powder to burn before turkey season.. :v youll never regret it, but it will certanly cut down on the number of kills... ive never shot a turkey but if its like duck hunting one black powder duck is worth about 30 with smokeless in my way of thinking .. by the way, i use 16 guage chambers smoothbore mark silver for close shooting, and a 12 guage full jug choke mortimer for longer situations, and a .62 chambers rifle mark silver (that makes a matched pair with my 16) for deer and elk.... youll have to start somewhere.. but i doubt its your last smoothbore once you get bit.. have fun.... dave..

 

[hawk]

ffffg , I would say in my experience there is very little reduction in kills or harvest of wild turkeys with the use of black powder.
I would say that all the birds that I have bagged could have all been shot with a black powder load .
the use of black powder when hunting would not handicap anyone taught to hunt effectively(ethicaly).
I agree that it reenforces "the get as close as you can " concept ,ignoered by a few magnum minded hunters .
Mike

 

[fw707]

hawk 2, I won't say that all of the birds I've killed could've been killed with a blackpowder load, but most of 'em could have.
I hope to get a good smoothbore, figure out how it patterns, and limit my shots to the gun's effective range. :winking: