Virginia smooth rifle

[tenngun]

Very good observation on eyesight.
I have been saying the same thing for years.
A smooth rifle had a lot going for it in the old days.
Another point to consider is a smoothbore does not require patching material.
There is no reason to believe rifle shooters had access to the variety of patching material that we do now.
What would they do if the bullet diameter out of their only bullet mold and bore dimension required cotton or linen patch material of .010” to .020” and the only cotton material to be found for 50 or 100 miles in any direction was .025” to .035” ?

They seem to have been picky about patching. Audobon records Boone as buying the best Irish 200 thread count Irish linen

 

[Dutch7]

I built a .54 smooth rifle several years ago in a Dickert style - it is versatile and accurate and with older eyes -
easy to sight.
From what I have read smooth rifles were common, we have all just used modern thinking in this hobby and have kept the “Longrifle” lore alive to the point it is hard to think of these guns as ever being smoothies.
To the OP - they were common and mentioned early in America, just purchase or make one and then use it.