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Smoothbore for deer and smale game?

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Another reason from what has already been mentioned why it is not a good idea to load round ball over shot is you will not get the proper velocity for killing cleanly at fifty yards especially with a 28 gauge gun and with standard load of powder. Maybe what will serve you best might be a drilling ..
But what ever you decide on ,remember that it take about 24 inch barrel to ignite fully your powder charge . So unless you are buying the gun for a specific look you will be able to bag your birds and kill your Roe Deer just as cleanly with a shorter barrel than you will with one that will hinder you on birds you’ll be taking on the wing.. Just a thought.

Twice.
 
You need to be familiar with gauges, and what that means in caliber. A 28 gauge gun is roughly .550" caliber. A 20 gauge gun is rounghly .620" caliber.

Also mentioned above are both the 16 gauge( .662" Cal.) The 12 gauge(.729" cal.) and the 24 gauge-.579" cal.)

The reason to not put a Patched Round Ball on top of the load of shot is that it is HARD on both the gunstock, and your shoulder, to shoot, with that much recoil. The combination also slows both loads, so that the PRB is not likely to strike the same Point of Impact as it will being shot Alone out of the same gun.

If you are going to also hunt Waterfowl, you need to consider a gauge/caliber that will allow you to throw enough shot pellets to give a killing pattern out to 25 yards. Here, that generally means using a 20 gauge or Larger shotgun, with the 20 gauge generally being considered marginal.

Remember that you are Not going to get the same kind of velocities using Black Powder in a shotgun( smoothbore) as you can using modern smokeless powder cartridges in breech loading shotguns. That means you need to increased PELLET ENERGY on Target( game) by increase the size of the shot you shoot. The larger pellets carry energy better.

If your hunting is going to involve more waterfowl shooting, than upland game and deer hunting, then consider a 16 gauge smoothbore. The RB weighs almost one ounce- a HUGE ball to hit any animal- including wild boar. The Diameter of the bore is wide enough to allow healthy loads of shot for Duck shooting. If you are allowed to use Lead Shot in Norway, still, for waterfowl,( non-toxic shot is required here in the U.S.A.), lead shot that is #6, #5, or #4 is idea for hunting ducks, and can be used for most all upland game, too.

Flintlock or percussion? My only suggestion is to try to find a club where members have both, and try them both out. Those of us who have crossed over to Flintlocks are very partial to those guns, but we would be the first to tell you that there is a learning curve to climb before you can get the guns to fire reliably, and to shoot them well. With percussion guns, which are a bit closer in mechanics to modern breechloaders, the learning curve is a bit less.

All muzzleloaders require some NEW THINKING compared to shooting modern cartridge rifles and shotguns. Luckily, you are here, and you can get any question you have answered here. We can help you with those learning curves.

The problem for anyone in Europe is local gun laws- and availability of Black powder, and percussion caps. (Gun)Flints are available from both England and France, from different suppliers, so that is no problem. Wads, cards, and cleaning patches can be obtained from here by Mail order, if they are not available locally. I can only assume that lead shot is also available in Norway, as you would have mentioned that as a problem before now. RB molds, to cast your own balls are available from Tanner, in England, or you can buy cast balls from several sources here.

On the index page to this forum, go up to the box marked "member resources". Then, scroll down to "Articles, Charts, and Links." If you click on Links, you eventually got to a list of suppliers. Click on their names, and you get their own websites, with catalogs, and contact information for ordering. While you are at that place on THIS site, check out the articles, and the Charts available to you. They are Tools to educate you, and to help you find out various USEFUL information.

Welcome to the forum. :grin: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :hatsoff:
 
Thanks a lot all.

First, as you say roundball, owning more than one is not a bad thing, and I am sure I will end up there. Did so with the modern guns.
Yes, I know there is no thing like a "one gun to hunt it all".
But, to start with one gun, for target and hunting small game and roe deer, 90% of my time is done hunting hare, birds and roe deer. That is why I started to think of a smoothbore. Lead shots are legal for hunting in norway, unless ducks/water fowl. So, then it will be used only with lead shots, the ducks will be hunted with another gun.

When it comes to style, I like the Jaeger rifles, but not sure they was made as smoothbores. I like to have a gun, made to be as close to the original as possible. But, maybe the aspect with smoothbores are ok to to go around......As long as it is original on the outside.
Also, I like it to be short, the woods where I hunt are thick, had a look in the hunting log from these fall, and the longest deer shot was taken at 48 meters, shortest was a hare at 3 meters. So, I do not need a long rage gun.
 
PB071151.jpg

Vegard,
THis is a .54 roundball shot through our pronghorn antelope. It went through the bone in the near shoulder, and stopped in the skin on the far side, after going through the bone. It was from a rifle, at about 70 yards. I have the confidence that the .54 will take any game other than brown bear on this continent. Have fun.
 
Hi Vegard.

Just what is available in Norway?

Can you get any Military types in smoothbore like we have in Britain like this one?
enfield001.jpg


This gun shoots ball very good and will shoot 28g of shot with good 30yd performance.

Not so good for fast wing shots, stationary or moving slowly yes. I have changed some of my hunting tactics, feeding areas and waiting in blinds etc. Mil types can be heavy though!

I have used sidexsides but they are sometimes hard to get a ball where you want them.

The Berreta over under I had shot ball very well.

Lots of folks do well with a Bess, wing shooting too.

Brits.
 
Thanks for the reply`s.
Well, that round ball did its work. So, a .54 will do for games up to brow bear. Thats good. Just shows what good bullet placement can do.

So, guns in Norway. Yes, we can get hold of smoothbore military guns, but it is so much better to find them abroad and import them, not so many for sale here. How are they to find in the UK?

Brits, what do you hunt with the smoothbore? You also hunt with a round ball? What gun and caliber is it?

Vegard_dino
 
Vegard Dino said:
Thanks for the reply`s.
Well, that round ball did its work. So, a .54 will do for games up to brow bear. Thats good. Just shows what good bullet placement can do.

So, guns in Norway. Yes, we can get hold of smoothbore military guns, but it is so much better to find them abroad and import them, not so many for sale here. How are they to find in the UK?

Brits, what do you hunt with the smoothbore? You also hunt with a round ball? What gun and caliber is it?

Vegard_dino

Not to many on at the moment but worth keeping an eye on it. My old Parker Hale 2 band Navy is on there still, thats a good one!
http://www.guntrader.co.uk/GunsForSale/results.php?fetch=Results&Filter[NewType][]=Shotgun%20(Black%20Powder)&Filter[NewMechanism][]=Flintlock&Filter[NewMechanism][]=Hammer&Filter[NewMechanism][]=Muzzle%20Loading&Filter[NewMechanism][]=Percussion&perPage=30&sortField=Price&sortOrder=asc

In Britain we can only hunt with shot, stupid law :idunno: But,,,,,,,

I am just using a Parker Hale p61 musketoon in .58 smoothbore now. On squirrel to bigger :wink:

I have used numerous Pedersoli 12g and a 10g over the years, shot alot of pheasants with them.
The Pedersoli Mortimer shotgun in 12g and a rear site added did very well with a .690ball to a little over 40yds.

Brits.

Sorry that link does not work!
 
Ah, I see in this post why you are interested in a smoothbore. Check out the guns offered by Caywood. They have some nice short-barreled smoothbores. Though I don't have one of theirs, I wouldn't hesitate in obtaining one from them with your specifications. They would be a good match for you.
 
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