Fowler expectations with round ball

Realizing Fowler is a shotgun first… what can you expect with round ball in accuracy?
I’m thinking of getting one…. A local gun shop has a nice .62 for sale.

Go get it, figure it out later

Yeah, I agree with DBrevit. Just do it. You'll have fun figuring it all out, believe me.

How thick/heavy is the barrel?
With careful and thorough load development 3 to 4 inch groups at 50 yards can be developed. Sometimes better, but I think that is about the average "good group." I do know someone who has been known to hit a piece of hanging rebar at 80 yards with consistency,,,,, I don't think that's average though, lol. I can barely see it until it moves

6” groups at 50 yards is achievable with most any fowler. Some of the drawback is no rear sight. A lot depends on the shooter. If the best you can do off the bench with a rifle is 3” because of eyesight or lack of practice or not enough experience and patience in developing loads, 6” would be good with a smoothbore. If you regularly shoot 2” groups with a rifle with a simple trigger at 50 yards off the bench then 4” is possible with a smoothbore.

Thanks for all the replies! I am torn on getting it only because I’ve been a rifled shooter all my life and the unknown. But life is too short…. Right? I think I may get it.
and to answer @Brokennock question…. The barrel seems to be normal for a Fowler? It’s about the thickness of a shotgun barrel. Maybe a bit thicker.

kh0456 said:

Realizing Fowler is a shotgun first… what can you expect with round ball in accuracy?
I’m thinking of getting one…. A local gun shop has a nice .62 for sale.

Click to expand...

I think it depends on your definition of accuracy.
I like under 3" at 50yds off a bench. But some guys are happy with deer lung size accuracy.

2-3” at fifty yards with my TFC. Might be a little heavier than a true Fowling gun but not like a smooth rifle.
However I added a rear sight as I couldn’t do well without it.

Yeah , get it if you like it . They are great hunting weapons , very versatile .

They can be just as finicky, if not more so, than a rifle--but that is part of the fun. My FDC will do a 3-4 inch group at 50 yards with 80 grains of 2f, a 1/8 hard card, .610 ball, and a thin card on top to keep the ball in place. This gun likes bare balls, patched balls

It takes a bit of experimentation to find both round ball and shot loads your gun likes. Sights help if you are primarily shooting ball. If not, a groove filed into the high spot on the tang/breech area will give you a sighting reference. That and maybe some kentucky windage will keep you on target. It's period correct, and will keep you out of trouble with smoothbore competitions that don't allow sights

Ive see guys hit a beer can at 50 yards with a smooth bore. It depends on what the gun shoots well and if you can shoot it well. You have to work on different loading techniques and try different materials. Once you get it diald in, you should be able to get good accuracy. Watch Mike Beliveau's videos. He can hit a clay pidgeon at 50 with a smooth bore

I like to add a mid bead. Using it as a shotgun, its the same ol' procedure. When "aiming" with a ball, make a figure 8 out of the beads and use the top of the 8 for your point of impact.

I like an unpatched ball that is close to the muzzle diameter. The biggest one that will slide past the muzzle with almost no pressure, and certainly no scraping. Others use a patched ball in smoothbore and have experimented enough to get good results. My best smoothbore ball gun shoots one ragged group at 35-yards. When I move to 50-yards the group opens to as much as 5-inches. A few yards can make a big difference, so you really have to shoot several ranges repeatedly to learn what it can do.

RIP Mr.Tip….

I’ve been reluctant to try the bare ball method though it gives many good results. I’m wondering how much velocity is lost and like to use the same loads for targets and hunting. I’ve got a .600 mold for my 20 gauge. Might look for a .610 and give it a try with the bare ball. It shoots a 6” group with paper cartridges at 50 yards and does better with thin linen patch and lube with the .600 ball. I’d not be able to use a .610 ball in paper cartridges and get the load down the barrel.

Rich, with a clean bore there maybe some velocity loss..
But if using a ball that’s close too bore size, after a shot or two I don’t think there’s that much loss..

I’ve shot .642 & .648 outta my .653 bore..
But I have found that a .625/6 ball and .016 patching works well too..

I'm not sure how there's velocity loss if you use an over-powder card and even a fibre wad under the ball.

I've chronographed bare and patched ball in my 20 ga. There was significant loss of velocity with a .606" ball. It even shot well going under 3" at times. Prb on the other hand had good velocity and better accuracy. Since I generally fire 3-shot groups with smoothbores it likely affects the results a bit. But I did fire a group of 8-12 shots (once) that went under 3" at 50. What amazed me was the consistency of group after group showing maybe 1/3" difference among them. I expect to get "bare ball" 3-shot groups at 50 of 4" to 5" which will certainly take deer. I don't chronograph much but 70 grains of 3F and a .600" prb gave a bit over 1300 fps. Bare ball went about 150 fps loss in velocity. I highly recommend a rear sight.

True, I was shooting bare ball on the powder and I’ve used wasp nest , wads or op cards on top just so the ball didn’t move forward..

I played around with pre made paper cartridge’s… but with shot only.
Sometimes even those will make one hole at 20-25 yards if they don’t open up..

At smoothbore ranges of 60 yards or less I’m not too concerned with the loss of velocity…as long as it shoots consistently.

My 58 cal smoothbore shoots amazingly well out to 50 yds. I'm using 90 yrs 1 1/2Fg Old Eynsford plus a buffer of grits or cream of wheat over the powder then a greased fiber wad and 562 ball in a .oo9 patch. 2-3" groups at 50 yds. Lower velocity loads were much worse.

Levine, a HBC official, wrote in 1847 to tell men joining HBC to not bother with a rifle, since a patched ball he said shoots as well as a rifle to sixty yards and most game is taken in that range