Thoughts on long-barreled smoothbores

[Rifleman1776]

Yeah but one can look at early American long rifles, that were just as beefy as jaegers and had that long barrel.

Agree. And that has always been a puzzlement for me. I have handled a number of originals that were very heavy. Almost all were small calibers (e.g. 32-40) and heavy barrels. I wonder how men even held these for shooting. I have been told they always rested on a branch or against a tree. Dunno if I buy that story. Tis still a puzzlement for me. But, rifles did slenderize and get more manageable.

 

[Fitzhugh Williams]

Obviously, you have never loaded a long barreled gun. You set the butt on the ground, grasp the gun around 6" from the muzzle and then step away from where the buttstock is grounded until the muzzle is at the level you want to load at. I can also load a gun with a 48" barrel sitting down in a canoe.

Works just like in the matchlock drill when loading from chargers.

 

[tenngun]

Agree. And that has always been a puzzlement for me. I have handled a number of originals that were very heavy. Almost all were small calibers (e.g. 32-40) and heavy barrels. I wonder how men even held these for shooting. I have been told they always rested on a branch or against a tree. Dunno if I buy that story. Tis still a puzzlement for me. But, rifles did slenderize and get more manageable.

I would hazzard the average guy was pound for pound a lot stronger then a woos like me.
Just watched a you tube video today on equipment for a North Carolina colonial regimental soldier during F and I, about sixty five to seventy five pounds. And these boys took shanks mare to Pennsylvania to fight.
My treking kit weighs half that and I would like to dump some
Voyagers were expected to carry ninety pounds on portage and many carried twice that for a bonus
Even on a float trip we aim to go down river and not up, back in the day they expected to go both ways.
Just routine daily chores is more physical work then a body builder does in daily training

 

[user 48702]

On the contrary my 44" barrel guns are good at laying the briars down so I can walk over em

That's good to know, I'll have to try that with my 44". The saw briars and mock orange bushes around here in middle Alabama have thorns so long that you could frame a house with them, they will definitely eat your fanny up. Got plenty of scars on arms and legs to prove it. Can you imagine the Indians running through the woods half nekkid, they would be shouting "SON OF A &%@#H!!!", I've heard my Dad say similar words when he ran over some of the old dried thorns with the lawn mower, another flat tire.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Agree. And that has always been a puzzlement for me. I have handled a number of originals that were very heavy. Almost all were small calibers (e.g. 32-40) and heavy barrels. I wonder how men even held these for shooting. I have been told they always rested on a branch or against a tree. Dunno if I buy that story. Tis still a puzzlement for me. But, rifles did slenderize and get more manageable.

Around here, south of St. Louis and along the Mississippi River and among the German Shooting Clubs, the heavy, long barreled rifles with small bores were built for the chunk gun, over-the-log, plank or table matches. These were used for the X matches where extreme accuracy was important and the heavy, long barrels with the small caliber bore delivered.