smoothbore full octagon barrels

[amccall]

I just finished my first long rifle and now my eye is on a smoothbore kit. What I have been seeing is octagon to round barrels, but are there smoothbore octagon barrel guns and what style of gun would they be on?

I am looking for a small game gun with the lightest barrel in 42 inch. A turkey is the largest game that I would be using it for. If the octagon barrel smoothbore was used could it be put on a poorboy style gun.

 

[No Deer]

Don't really know the answer to your question but just an observation: you want the lightest barrel. A full octagon barrel will be considerable heavier than an octagon to round due to the extra steel/thickness in the barrel.

NoDeer

 

[Rat]

You can have any barrel smooth-bored, so indeed you could smoothbore a Poor-Boy and have a small caliber smoothie.

As mentioned, this would not be the light way to go. But how light do you mean by light? If you smooth bore a rifle barrel, AND increase the bore size it will be lighter than a rifle, or the rifle it started out as.

Having said all that, what you will find mostly on the market as far as smoothbores go will be round barrels and octagon to round.

Rat

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

You would be more apt to find a full octagon smooth bore barrel on a smooth rifle than on a fowler style gun. But that's just esthetics. There's no reason why you shouldn't stick whatever barrel you like the looks of on your gun. The
only consideration would be if you plan to use it for re-enactments where authenticity counts--then you have to be historically accurate appearence-wise.

 

[TwoShadows]

As you delve deeper into the flintlock world you will find many many many originals that are and were smooth. I recently finished Eats-More-Moose a 54(28 guage) smooth that he seems pleased with. FRONTIER Gun Shop has many octogon barrels that are smooth.....all ya gotta do is give him a call, and ask questions.

 

[musketman]

FRONTIER Gun Shop has many octogon barrels that are smooth.....all ya gotta do is give him a call, and ask questions.

FRONTIER GUN SHOP
Specializing in Antique & Used Guns
3156 E Grant Rd
Tucson, AZ
520-325-9880

 

[TwoShadows]

NOPE.......Tip Curtis FRontier Shop.....1-615-654-4445 or [email protected] know nuthin bout the place Musketman mentions.

 

[musketman]

Well, I tried... :haha:

 

[amccall]

The reason for my madness is that I like the poorboy style flintlock. I was looking at a 36 cal squirrel rifle but then the smoothbore gun seems more versatile for hunting.
So I was wondering if a smoothbore poorboy style gun was accurate historically in an octagon barrel, or should I stay with a octagon to round barrel.

A poorboy style that I am talking about is a higher grade maple stock, steel furniture and a banana style patch box.
( I know it is more like a middle income boy style but what can I say.)

 

[tg]

I would think that the style of gun you describe is of a period (post 1800)that straight barrels were the norm and of a small cal. (sub .50) in earlier guns one might find either swamped oct or oct to round in smooth bore guns usually of a larger bore. I have never seen a pic of a large bore smoothbore late flint period "poorboy" I think this might be mixing time periods, styles and general traits.

 

[Rat]

Many rifles were later smooth-bored when the bigger game like deer ran out, I believe during many periods of history/westward expansion. Since the technology always exisited to ream a barrel out smooth, any rifle could be made into a smooth-rifle and still be "correct".

Does not matter if pictures or even examples exist. However, there are many examples of "smooth rifles", and not all were originally made that way. Many started out with rifled bores.

My main concern would be whether you can get your bore out to something reasonable...at least to 20 guage. 28 gauge would be kind of small for a smoothie in my opinion, but if that's acceptable to you, and you have enough barrel thickness to do that, I'd say more power to ya and go ahead and make a middle-income-boy smoothie. With the sights it will shoot ball very well at least, and even a 28 will do ok on wabbit, small game birds like grouse, etc. And as discussed before, on stationary targets like Turkey a long shot collum will work ok too.

The other side of the coin, to me would be if you went with a "real" fowler, you could have more caliber/bigger gauge and the gun would be more useful for a larger variety of game.

Rat

 

[amccall]

Thanks for the help. I think from the response that a 20 gauge is the smallest that I will go. In Ohio we have the Log Cabin and I bought the parts from them for the first long rifle that I built and will probably use them again for the next gun. Right now I am trying to get an idea of cost, weight, style of gun and if it is historically accurate. Maybe when I go up to the Log Cabin they can show me some examples and help me make up my mind.

If I could only stop drooling when I go there and look around, it would make things so much better.

 

[tg]

The main point I was making is that the gun style in question may not be suitable for a swamped or oct to round barrel due to the time period... One would most likely find a straight oct barrel even if it was a worn out,once rifled barrel, and one might also consider whether the standard cals. of the time would allow a reaming or wearing out to a 20 gauge and have any wall thickness left.... this is just from a historical perspective based on the norms of the time period such a gun would have come from.

 

[Rat]

Ok I gotcha now. Sorry.

Rat

 

www.trackofthewolf.com also sells octagonal smoothbored barrels made by Green Mountain.