Suprised by a Smoothbore...

[engravertom]

Hello again all.

I had a Pedersoli Brown Bess just about fall out of the sky last week right into my hands. One of my co workers has been into muzzleloading for many years, and knew of my interest in a flint smoothbore. I had tried a Lyman Deerstalker last summer, hoping to get a smoothbore barrel for it, but I had problems getting it to fire, and finally sold it this fall with the appropriate disclaimers. I lost some on it, but oh well...

I still had my Traditions Pennsylvania rifle you guys helped me get going, but the smoothbore seemed out of reach. My co worker decided he wanted some engraving done on a couple of his breechloaders, and offered his Bess in trade for the work. It will be a good deal for both of us, so I accepted gladly.

I got to put three rounds through it today, just before supper.

Sorry for the hasty pics!

It has a rear sight brazed on the barrel. The trigger has been worked over, and is pretty smooth. he set me up with some .735 and .739 balls, and some 11 gauge wads.

Here is the target showing the 3 shots from today. I wish I could say it was three different aiming points! The target was 50 yards from the bench.

The first shot was taken sitting at a bench, elbows on the table, no other support. 80 grains Goex FFG, primed with FFG, .735 ball patched out of a clean barrel. I really surprised myself by how badly I reacted to the pan flash. It has been a while, and I don't think I have ever fired a gun with a lock this big before. I raised my head up early, but don't know if I moved the gun at all or not. Of course, it was the best shot, right near the center of the middle bull, where I was holding 6 O'clock. maybe I flinched it in there!

I tend to crawl the stock, and trying to get my cheek down on th gun to align the sights, my cheekbone really got whacked. I'm not particularly recoil sensitive, but this was really uncomfortable. When I owned a Ruger #1 in 375 H&H it was no where near this tough to shoot. The Bess didn't seem to hit in the shoulder hard at all, but it did tenderize my cheek for sure.

I held better for the second shot, and it went high and to the left of the center target, which was again my aiming point. The stocked whacked me even harder, in the same spot on my cheek bone. It was very hard getting the ball down the bore with the patch.

I didn't have any smaller round balls with me, so I decided to make the last shot without a patch. This time, I put a fiber wad over the powder, and then another over the ball to keep it in place. I also decided to shoot off hand, to see how that affected the hits I was taking in the cheek.

I thought I had a pretty good hold, and the shot ended up low and to the right. Same POA still, 6 O'clock on the center bull.

It didn't whack as hard, but still too much.

The previous owner has taken Deer with this musket, and several Squirrels when loaded with shot.

When I got home, I played around with my hold, and it seems if I keep my head further back on the stock, it may be more comfortable to shoot in the future. Any other ideas? I am barely 5'8", and somewhat short of arm.

I am very happy to say the least! I look forward to working up some shot loads, as well as finding the right round ball load for it. It seems like a great musket to me, and is a keeper. I hope to add to its story this next hunting season, and maybe get out and shoot in a match or two down the road. I know the sight would be a problem in the smoothbore matches.

A great way to de-stress after the work week!

take care,

Tom

 

[Bob Miller]

I have a Bess, and in my experience, they are not designed
stock wise , for that rear site. That's why you are getting whacked so bad in the cheek. In order to see the sight, you have to get your head right down onto the stock.
I shoot mine without a rear sight, and once you get the right sight picture , you should get better accuracy than what you've got now. The smoothbore matches don't allow rear sights anyway. With my head up, and not squished into the stock, my Bess is a great shooter. A patched .735 ball ahead of 120 grains of FFG works wonders on deer. Bears too. :wink:

 

[KHickam]

Don't feel like the lone stranger - I owned a Bess once too - it whacked the snot out of me too. Needless to say I haven't owned another one yet. Mine was a Pedersoli also - something about that sharp comb worked me over :hmm:

 

[Britsmoothy]

Let me come clean, I ain't never shot a Bess of any make but what I do know is, bearing down on a stock will ruin shot to shot consistancy period.
What about bending the stock or slimming down the comb if you wish to use the sights?
I am happy for you that you have such a fine looking Bess and please keep me imformed of your progress.
Britsmoothy.

 

[hawk]

when shooting my bess I have a heads up hold more like a shotgun than a rifle ,try to hold your head up alittle more and just use the rear sight as a refence point ,once you get used to the hold you can remove the rear sight for it won't be necessary.

hope it all works out .

 

[mazo kid]

Can we see photos of your engraving work too? Thanks.

 

[engravertom]

Thanks for all the input!

I will keep at it, as this will be my only smoothbore for some time to come, in all likelihood.

Here are a few links that show some pics of my work-
Thread in photo section

Post in pistol section

Link to photo albums on my little web site

I would like to hear any more suggestions out there that anyone else may have.

take care,

Tom

 

[Roy]

Bob is right about the Second Models not designed for a rear sight... the 1st model has a bit more drop than the 2nd and is more comfortable. The 2nd model was designed as a volley gun not for aiming.

Nice work btw :thumbsup:

 

[Many Klatch]

Not bad shooting for a Bess at 50 yards. I don't see any need to apologize for the first three shots with a smoothbore. Keep up the good work.

Many Klatch

 

[trent/OH]

I'm 5'7" and short of arm also. My Bess is Japanese-made, so it's dimensions may not be quite like yours. I have a hard time trying to manage the trigger with my index finger, so I pulled an old Krag Rifle trick out of the closet, and pull the trigger with my middle finger. Works much better, give it a try.

Keep her clean and shiny, because people seem to be attracted to Brown Bess like magnets, and want to see it up close. They often DON'T want to shoot it though because it is a big weapon (especially with bayonet fixed). And the lock is probably as big as any you will ever see.
A magnificent piece of history.

 

[dlpowell]

It's been my experience that if the gun isn't fun to shoot. You won't shoot it. No matter how much you want it, pass it on and get a gun that fits. I had a NA 12g mag and the english stock didn't work for me. Passed it on. Building a colonial fowler and this stock fits like a glove. I know it'll get a lot of use.

 

[The Baron]

A very nice new toy indeed. Gotta love the barter system - no tax either. :thumbsup:

Smoothbores are a lot of fun, you'll enjoy that gun for sure.

 

[flintlock75]

I have been shooting my Brown Bess for 15 years, I also installed a rear site. This combo works great, I have not had any problem with the stock hitting my face. The level of accuracy using the rear site cant be beat. It will run 4" groups at 50 yards offhand. I have taken Moose as well as small game with this gun. Just practice alot with it and your shooting will improve. Be sure to mike the bore, there is a big varriation on bore size, My Brown Bess is a pedersoli and the bore measures .722 inch. I use a patched .705 ball in mine with 80 gr of 3F. I have also used .715 balls with no patch, useing a 1/2" fiber wad over powder and ball.

 

[engravertom]

Thanks for all the input folks. I am going to shoot it again this week, just focusing on how I hold the gun up to my face, and see if I can deal with that situation. Then I will decide about the sights, alterations to the stock, etc.

Thanks again!

Tom

 

[Many Klatch]

On my Bess I engraved (used a Dremel really) a deep notch in the middle of the tang for a rear reference point. For the front sight I filed about half of the bayonet lug off and using the same narrow Dremel bit I cut a groove in the middle of the lug almost to the barrel. Then I soldered a bit of a penny in the slot and filed it down to act as a front sight. That really made a difference.

Undertaker posted a picture of an original Bess from the 1770's with a modified front sight so I figured that if it was good enough for them, it was good enough for me.

Many Klatch.