shooting my fowler/smoothbore while totally ignorant

OK. what i know about smooth bores probably could be said in one long sentence.
i have kind of finished my fowler. still a few things i need to do, like maybe sights.
have been shooting it with prb today just for giggles.
now i will tell my process and ya'all can tell me what you think, and what all i am doing wrong.
i dump in 70g of fff and then a .015 patch with a .600 ball on top of that. drive it home.
pick the vent and dump about 3g ffff in the Kibler colonial pan.
this is the results at 25 yards. off a rest but no sights, three shots. the patch and ball i found beyond my 60 yard gong , both laying on the snow at 75 yards. thought it kind of interesting that the ball was still dressed in the patch!
so what do you think made the ball hold on to the patch?

Maybe I'm not seeing things correctly in your picture. Looks like a group with 3 shots touching and one low and right flyer.
Is that correct? If so, what makes you think you are doing something wrong?

If that isn't what I'm seeing.....
What are you using for patch lube?
I might try a looser combo. Both of my smoothbores shoot looser prb combos better than tight ones and often no patch, just wadding, shoots even better.

the one on the right was first shot. i thought i needed to hold low and it put it right at poa.
the upper left is the following two shots.
i don't know thing one about shooting ball from a smooth bore. that is why i figured i was doing it wrong. that and today was one of those days where even waking up, i did everything wrong.
my patch lube is 50/50 bear fat and bees wax.
i will cut some thinner patches and try those. i was really startled finding the patch and patched ball at 75 yards. never have had rifled prb carry a patch beyond about 20 yards max.
i am impressed that it shoots so good at 25 without sights. i may just leave it bald headed. i still need to learn how to shoot it with shot.
shot, tor grouse hunting was my main idea in building it.

Wait... the ball only went 75 yards and fell to the ground? With a 70 grain load?

PathfinderNC said:

Wait... the ball only went 75 yards and fell to the ground? With a 70 grain load?

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no, it traveled 20 yards through snow and just exited the bank to roll onto the plowed track. it is the patch that puzzled me. then my poor old lonely brain cells got to thinking and the patch had to have been carried there by a previous ball. told you it was a bad day. confusion reigns in my skull more often than i like anymore.

I get the best accuracy out of mine with powder, over powder card, pre lubed wad, .10 patch and .600 ball. With 80 grains of 2f I can shoot it accurately at 75 yards. Never hurts to experiment though and find what your gun likes.........................

victor#0 said:

I get the best accuracy out of mine with powder, over powder card, pre lubed wad, .10 patch and .600 ball. With 80 grains of 2f I can shoot it accurately at 75 yards. Never hurts to experiment though and find what your gun likes.........................

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i need to try a thinner patch. And maybe a different lube.
tomorrow if it isn't heathen cold i will try some shot loads too.
wonder if your 80g ff are close to my 70g of fff ?
will try with the card and wad too.
this is going to be fun. until i built this gun i had never shot a round ball from a smooth bore.

I'll offer a little help here;

deerstalkert said:

then my poor old lonely brain cells got to thinking,,

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That,, always leads too trouble, trust the collective history, individual thought with-in 400yr old technology and provenance at this point is mute.
Your an experienced shooter. Trust your instincts, it's not complicated. Find your chi, use the force within you,, whatever edge you call it.
Don't obsess with minor detail to "improve" the rifle,, the improvement is understanding the gun and your use of it.
Honest.
Look's to me ya made a shot,, then "peeked" the next two shot's just to see where they landed.
Either make the first shot and repeat it, or keep "peeking" each time for a better group.

p.s. don't put sights on a fowler,, doing so will hold you back.

p.p.s. is bear fat and bee's wax somehow supposed to be magic? Who said that?

#1 - fowlers don't have sights. Just a front bead, rib or blade. If it has a rear sight it is a smooth rifle.

#2 - fowers are pointed, not aimed. Ignore the sights except for horizontal alignment. The "windage" is based on stock fitment and looking down the barrel with both eyes open. Like pointing a shotgun at a bird.

#3 - give up all hope past 60 yards with a patched round ball or 30 yards with shot in a smooth cylinder bore. Just not going to happen without supernatural involvement.

#4 - have fun. And be satisfied in faster reloads and easier cleaning.

Personally, I shoot a paper wound cartridge rather then a cloth patch. In my 16 bore I hunt deer with a paper cartridge with a 0.648" ball and 84 gr FFg load.

necchi said:

I'll offer a little help here;

That,, always leads too trouble, trust the collective history, individual thought with-in 400yr old technology and provenance at this point is mute.
Your an experienced shooter. Trust your instincts, it's not complicated. Find your chi, use the force within you,, whatever edge you call it.
Don't obsess with minor detail to "improve" the rifle,, the improvement is understanding the gun and your use of it.
Honest.
Look's to me ya made a shot,, then "peeked" the next two shot's just to see where they landed.
Either make the first shot and repeat it, or keep "peeking" each time for a better group.

p.s. don't put sights on a fowler,, doing so will hold you back.

p.p.s. is bear fat and bee's wax somehow supposed to be magic? Who said that?

Click to expand...

no idea if it is supposed to be magic or not, it is just what i have patches lubed with currently, besides spit! never know if it is magic unless tried. i like it in my rifles. it really keeps fouling soft and seems to make cleanup easier.
i fired the first shot, observed that it hit right at point of aim, then sighted the next two shots on the little fluidmaster decal. would have fired more but got interrupted by a neighbor with a broken mdl 11 shotgun. by the time that was fixed it was dark.
tomorrow i am really going to work with it.

Sweet gun!!

thank you! had fun building it. the stock had a natural cast that makes it come up perfect for me.

"OM MANI PADME HUM",,
"OM MANI PADME HUM",,
,,

Necchi, you understand what I believe is Sanskrit? I'm not sure I remember what that means. "The flower is a jewel"?

I'm sure my memory is bad, but pray tell what you mean! Please!

OK! I looked it up on my pocket computer. My translation was wrong! Big surprise!! "The jewel is in the lotus"!!

Pretty cool!

I don't know how others shoot their smoothbore but I look at it the same as shooting traditional archery without sights. Consistent form and solid anchor, and of course lots of practice till it becomes instinctive.

D.Summers said:

"The jewel is in the lotus"!!

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I can not help you friend, you must find the lotus flower for yourself,, then you will understand.

I have found them before! I will look carefully!! Interesting, with a dash of beauty!!