Really basic.... and stupid question. But we all have our moments right?
Anyway... In general terms
I know what a rifle is. Its got that long tube thing with grooves cut in it (or its been smashed around a twisted hexagon or other twisted polygonal shape). It takes a bullet and puts some spin on it and sends it out, using the spin to stabilize. How much it twists depends on what type of projectiles and their velocity in relation to length, weight, diameter, etc and so on, but that is a whole 'nuther discussion.
And I know what a shotgun is. They have that long tube thing or perhaps a pair of them, and the tube gets a little bit more narrow at the end furthest away from the shooter (choke). It shoots a column of shot that spreads out as it travels away though the smaller it is at the far end of the tube the less it will spread. There are slugs available that stabilize and mostly fly in a straight line by acting like a badmitton birdie - they are hollow at the rear, and the weight forward balance does the rest (and yes, I know this is modern-ish (1900s) Foster style slugs).
So a muzzle loading rifle is a no brainer, and a muzzle loading shotgun is also easy, though I think the only thing close to a "slug" for a muzzle loading shotgun would be a single ball of not quite bore diameter at smallest point (choke constriction) and it would need a lot of patch to get a bore fit down near the powder but that could still cause issues at the choke....
But what defines a "smoothbore" and what makes it different from a shotgun? Is it the presence of rifle like sights and no choke to the barrel? Assume they shoot a basic patched round ball, no real stabilization so nothing to provide spin, so not as accurate as rifle w/ same PRB esp at longer distances? Also from discussions I see they tend to run much larger bore diameters than rifles, hovering around common shotgun gauge sizes (.62, .68, .72, .74)?
So... tell me how wrong I am and give me the straight dope.
