Smoothbore vs. rifled

[The Baron]

I hope this question hasn't been answered a million times... I am curious about PRB accuracy potential from a smoothbore vs. rifled, with all other factors being equal. What I am wondering is if a smoothbore with sights might be comparable to accuracy with a rifle, to 100 yards?

 

[paulvallandigham]

Depending on caliber, the answer is usually NO. At 100 yards, the RB has dropped down through the sound barrier for both smoothbore, and rifled guns. If it retains velocity, it will be in the rifled barrel that causes the ball to spin, which helps it cut through the air it is hitting on the way to the 100 yard target, but the margin of improvment is small.

A round ball fired out of a smootbore barrel is basically a ' knuckle ball " throw by a major league pitcher. It has no " spin ", It flys only so far and then starts doing different things, just like a knuckle ball will drop suddenly out of the the flightpath so that the hitter swings over the top of it and either misses the ball all together, or tips it down into the dirt in front of home plate, for an infield " OUT ". After about 80 yards the Round ball loses velocity fast, and groups sizes open dramatically. That does not mean that some guns, in some calibers don't shoot fairly respectable groups at 100 yards. Not at all. That is the fun part about working up loads for smoothbores. You can get better groups at 100 yards. We are not, however comparing those groups with what you should normally expect from a rifled barrel shooting the same sized ball.

 

[Tkendrick]

I have two smoothbores, a tulle 20 guage and a 1816 Musket in 69 cal.

Firing on a mansize silhoutte at fifty yards with either one is a less than fifty/fifty proposition. Hits at 100 yards are pure luck.

Most of the Armies of the times of the smoothbore lined up shoulder to shoulder and fired in volleys (at less than 50 yards!!!) for that reason, and even then the hits were incredibly rare when considering the number of men engaged. Google the casualty reports for Cowpens for example.

Two totally different guns, much like comparing a 30-30 to a 12 guage pump today, except nowadays you can buy rifled slugs for the 12 guage..... :hmm:

That gives me an idea :grin:

 

[roundball]

I need to try that and see...I do know that my GM .54 and .62cal shoot like rifles to the 50yds I've zeroed/tested them...need to stretch that out to 100 one day this spring just to see what happens in that next 50yds...

 

[gsptarget]

In my experience the answer is no

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I agree with Paul that the answer is usually no but with some rifles it could be a toss up. Most people consider 50 yards to be the max reliable range for smoothbores. If you have a good one and work up good loads you may stretch that to 75 but for 100 yards you need a rifle. There is good reason why rifles were produced long, long ago.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I have two smoothbores, a tulle 20 guage and a 1816 Musket in 69 cal.

Firing on a mansize silhoutte at fifty yards with either one is a less than fifty/fifty proposition. Hits at 100 yards are pure luck.

Most of the Armies of the times of the smoothbore lined up shoulder to shoulder and fired in volleys (at less than 50 yards!!!) for that reason, and even then the hits were incredibly rare when considering the number of men engaged. Google the casualty reports for Cowpens for example.

Two totally different guns, much like comparing a 30-30 to a 12 guage pump today, except nowadays you can buy rifled slugs for the 12 guage..... :hmm:

That gives me an idea :grin:

WOW! You need to work up some good loads. If I couldn't get a smoothbored gun to hit a 6" pie plate at 50 yards all day long with out a miss I'd get rid of it.
All of my smooth bored guns have kept up with rifles out to about 75 yards.

 

[bart_anastasi]

Unless you have a exceptional smooth bore and are a exceptional shot and work up a exceptional load.

And then the wind changes temperature is different or you get a different batch of Round balls.

Rifleing takes a lot of the guess work and chance out of shooting a smoothbore.
Did I say that right.

I have a smoothie at 50 yards no problem at all but beyond that it seems a Hail Mary play.
Did I say that right.

 

[Many Klatch]

Smoothbores are reasonably accurate to 60 or 75 yards, after that it's luck. Smoothbores also seem to take more fiddling before they zero in. It just seems to be a lot more ingredients to accuracy in a smoothbore than in a rifle.

I personally think smoothbores are more fun, and winning or placing well in a rifle match is a lot of fun.

Many Klatch

 

[rabjr]

I know I can kill a deer with mine at 60 yards and I believe if I do my part she'll do it at 75 but I just don't trust these eyes beyond that. A 50 to 60 yard gun is just fine to me. :thumbsup:

 

[J.D.]

I have two smoothbores, a tulle 20 guage and a 1816 Musket in 69 cal.

Firing on a mansize silhoutte at fifty yards with either one is a less than fifty/fifty proposition. Hits at 100 yards are pure luck.

Most of the Armies of the times of the smoothbore lined up shoulder to shoulder and fired in volleys (at less than 50 yards!!!) for that reason, and even then the hits were incredibly rare when considering the number of men engaged. Google the casualty reports for Cowpens for example.

Two totally different guns, much like comparing a 30-30 to a 12 guage pump today, except nowadays you can buy rifled slugs for the 12 guage..... :hmm:

That gives me an idea :grin:

WOW! You need to work up some good loads. If I couldn't get a smoothbored gun to hit a 6" pie plate at 50 yards all day long with out a miss I'd get rid of it.
All of my smooth bored guns have kept up with rifles out to about 75 yards.

While my bess won't quite keep up with a rifle at 75 yards, I can consistently hit a 8 x 12 inch kill zone target at 65 yards, volley fire.

Volley fire is firing on command while standing in line with other "troops." Trigger control is little more than a controlled jerk, so accuracy is't always what it could be.

IMHO, a smooth rifle, with decent front and rear sights should shoot well enough to kill a deer every shot at 75 yards, and probably farther.

Like Mike says, anyone who can't consistently hit a 6" target at 50 yards needs to work up better loads or practice...A LOT
J.D.

 

[roundball]

IMO, I think one of the components that affect PRB/smoothbore accuracy at distance is the velocity.

For example, we know that a pitcher's knuckleball starts getting erratic as it starts slowing down...I think some of that same result can be seen with a PRB out of a smoothbore.

Assuming all other elements such as bore condition/patch/ball/lube combo, etc, have been optimized, leaving only velocity as a variable, as the PRB is driven harder so the ball stays under a higher head of steam for a longer distance, I believe accuracy holds up better at longer distances as well.

 

[tg]

Ditto to what most have said, if you get a good smoothbore with rearsights you should do well somewhere between 50-75 yds,often the smaller bores .54-.58 will group a bit tighter than the bigger ones in my experience.

 

[flintlock75]

I've been shooting smoothbores for 20 years and have found some are accurate and some are not,
My trade gun has a rear sight and will easly keep all shots on a paper plate at 75 yards. it is .62 caliber and i use 70gr of 3F with PRB.
At 100 yards it will keep its shots in a 12" circle. My brown bess also is fitted with a rear sight and does well out to 75 yards. I took a moose last year with it at 50 yrds, I used a PRB and 80 grs of 3F. the ball went compleatly through breaking ribs along the way.I also have a CVA double barrel shotgun that did not shoot shot very well. I fitted rifle sights on it and found that the barrels shot round ball very accurately with the point of impact at 50 yards only 1 1/2" apart. I shot a small caribou at 80 yards broadside, used 90 grs of 2F and PRB ,the rb went in just behind the shoulder and hit the leg bone on the off side, it just about tore off the leg.Conclusion- to much gun for caribou. While not as accurate as a rifle, in a practiced hand it will kill game very well, dont underestimate the power of a smoothbore.