Smoothbore Styles

[frenchfusil]

What style smooth bore is your favorite? (not one you necessarily own but just your favorite style) Do you prefer a fine lines of a French fuzze? Perhaps a slender English fowler? Or maybe you prefer the club butt styling of of the Dutch? Of course lets not forget the Virgina smooth rifle. Maybe your favorite style is something totally American with influences from the French, English and Dutch? Personally its a toss up between the lines an architecture of a fine French fuzze and the long barrel and club butt of the French buccaneer. Thats what I like now lets hear what you like!

 

Early French or English- no particular favourites. Both had beautiful lines, with the English guns perhaps a bit nicer in the butt section. The Tulle' butt was a very comfortable shooter, if a bit odd looking.

 

[dodgecity]

I have a Charleyville, a Bess, and a Tulle. My favorite is the Tulle. The drop in the buttstock makes it the best for shooting as it positions my eye to sight right down the barrel. I also prefer the .62 cal, and for hunting, the Tulle carries a lot easier than the others. With it's slender barrel, no bands, and brass furniture, it has the lines more of a rifle than a musket. Mine has a Davis lock, which I also like. Yep, they're all fun, but I'm definitely a Tulle man.

 

i think i am with daryl.
nothing like the grace of the french and english guns

 

[Stumpkiller]

A light 'sporting' smoothbore is nice for hunting, but there's just something about a Bess musket. I like the early 1st Models with the banana lockplate and the wooden ramrod. Just feels like a proper, solid firearm.

I'd like to spend a dozen years of so shooting some of the fine flint fowlers Daryl posts images of. I've never shot a flint double . . . probably a good thing as I'd never be able to afford one and still own a house. ::

 

[Rebel]

For hunting, a side x side caplock .12 ga. For looks and having fun, an Early English Fowler is nice.

 

[Doc Arroyo]

I really prefer the English fowler style...which became the "Chief's Grade" trade gun.

I got mine second hand, and it may have been one of the last assembled by Curley Gomstonski before he toally transferred to Northstar West. Mounts perfect and shoots ball and shot equally well.

 

[tg]

I have shot/owned several, at present my favorite is my Chambers Virginia .62 smoothrifle my next project will be a cows foot stocked French hunting gun circa 1730 in a .58 bore.I fell in love with the one I shot some time back, some of the English guns were strongly influenced by those made by the French as the Indians were rather fond of them, Hamilton shows a Wilson chiefs gun that except for the furniture is a wringer for a French hunting gun.

 

[musketman]

I like the extra long barrel on a musket, that's what carches my eye, 42 inches or more just does it for me...

Wood is wood, but a long sight picture is what works for these tired old eyes...

 

[Teleoceras]

FF:

My preference is for the fantail style musket of the 16th to early 17th Century. Matchlock, Wheellock, or Snaphaunce preferred in either .72, .75, or .83 (8 bore)! ::

 

I have not decided what the perfect fowler would be for me. I'am trying the 12bore now in a Colonail early Fowler stocked in nice maple. So far mounts good,wide buttplate spreads kick to comfortable recoil. Balance right in the middle of the forearm. 44" barrel is light and fast pointing. I will try some clays soon and shoot more ball and turkey loads too. Then the long wait to this fall season and winter. I like the early English Wilson tradeguns too and the Mod.D french also. There all nice!!

 

[B.Habermehl]

I fond of the classic lines o a English fowler. But then I finished a Allentown style Shimmel for myself in 28 guage. Go figure :hmm: BJH

 

I like the styling of the 1/2 stock English or French gun. This single would do. It's kind of a toss-up between the standard double-gun and the single. The double would, of course be better for hunting.

 

[54JNoll]

I am kind of fond of my original SXS 24 ga Double Flint fowler. :: ::

More pictures in the flintlock page... under my first "real" flintlock.

 

Very nice- Oct-Round-long tubes, too must be quite light though, in .58 cal. Now, if one tube was only rifled, it would have been a perfect all-round hunting gun. Even as-is, it's pretty close. .58 makes good sense for all-round hunting, smooth or rifled.
: Nice- thanks fo sharing.

 

[54JNoll]

I have not shot it with round ball yet. Although I do have some .570 balls and .010 patches.

Only thing I have shot in it is 60 grains 2f under 1 oz #7 shot. Has worked great on skeet and squirrel thus far. Get real strange looks at the skeet range too.

As far as weight. She weighs only 6.5 pounds so she is very easy to carry in the field.

 

Looks and sounds as if an extremely pleasing gun to shoot. We're all jealous. Way to go! Your shot charge looks to be good also- I can only speculate why some people use horendous charges of shot, just as my bro did in his Bess's. After getting the wadding down correctly, same as in paper shotshell loads, using over-owder wad, then fibre cushion wads, then shot, then thin card "B" wad, he found 1 1/4 ouce and 3 drams patterned better then his previous 2 to 3 ounce loads had, and killed better as well.
: He also found that shooting at small targets or "At the Water" looked impressive until he shot the same loads on paper or the greased steel patterning board at the club. He found those previously thought-to-be gret patterns had HUGE holes in them, enough to miss a duck at 30yds, even one well centred in the pattern & weren't at all consistant. One would be great and the next two terrible.
: Once shooting good normal range (1 1/4 ounces and 3 to 3 1/2 drams of powder) loads, he ran 27 straight on 16 yd trap with the Bess. That's not so easy to do for a non-trap shooter- or one who is, for that matter. BTW- his Bess is a true 10 bore.
:

; BTW- the 'plug' bayonette resides with me now - for my "short" Bess. I must get out shooting it again soon, but haven't any wads - yet or .725 balls cast form the new mould.
Daryl

 

[Donny]

Nice photos. Most shots are flat side pics. this shows the transition from lock, to forearm, to the nose. how much of a step is there above the rear thimble?? Don

 

[Slowpoke]

I have a Chamber's Virginia Smoothrifle. I like it because it has a 46 inch barrel and a round face lock.

I'm in the process of getting the parts together to build a Bullard rifle, I really like the wrist in this rifle.

S'Poke

 

I'm not exactly certain what you are after- "step above the rear thimble"?- The rod is a 7/16" Hickory, non-tapered, with a tapered rod end for the Bess from Track. There is only enough wood below the rod to maintain integrity- no more than absolutely necessary- perhaps 1/8" between the hole and the outside. I suppose from the wood of the rod channel to the bottom of the thimble, there's 1/2" depth? I haven't the musket here to measure. The swell is slightly smaller than on my Sea Service, although the Sea Service is supposed to be smaller, I think as this area was slimmed by the 1780's. I do think the swell is slightly large on mine, but only measures .440" depth so perhaps Taylor's is only 4/10" or .400" not 1/2". Or, perhaps you mean from the forewood, ahead of the swell, to the forewood behind the swell(thickness?) - that's about 1.4" just ahead of the swell to 1.550" just behind the swell.(measurements from my Sea Service musket, which I might add is becoming nicer looking, the longer I have it.) I can't get over how well it handles. As the original Sea services weren't as nicley made as the earlier Bess's, & I assume this model is the same, I'd also assume a "sporterized" 1756 would handle as nicely and look nicer to boot. I do believe the 1728 French musket to come this fall (to me) will be a very nice looking musket - especially for the price & make a nice sporterized, slghtly heavy, Tulle' as issued in Lower Canada in the very early 1700's, along with the '28's.
: I have a low sight on the Sea Service now, that points very well. As I was able to solder it on a bit to the right of the lug's previous position, I might not have to bend the barrel, and it still points and AIMS well. It was shooting about 8" right of the bayonette lug at 100 meters, and I assume the change I made might be all that's necessary. For charging critters, I have the plug bayonete that is in the picture.(& a .44 :I do like the plug bayonete as it has an 11 1/8" cutting length and is 1.8" wide ahead of the hilt. It would make a nasty wound.