Accuracy: Smooth "Rifle" vs "Fowler"

[Snakebite]

A very long time ago I had a NW Trade Rifle that was .72cal smoothbore. The lengh of pull was a bit short and wasn't real fun to shoot to say the least so I didn't keep it long. (That was over 30 years ago)

I got to thinking, is a (example .54cal) smooth rifle more accurate than say a fowler in .54cal? I'm probably wrong but I think .28ga is .54cal? Anyway, say take a smooth rifle and fowler in the same gauge or caliber, is one anymore accurate than the other? (all else being equal)

 

[Treestalker]

Hello, Snakebite. Many 'smooth' rifles in Pennsyltucky style had octagon barrels and rifle sights, both of which, (heavier barrel and sights) I believe would surely give the accuracy prize to the smooth rifle, as compared to a trade gun. That said, I have hit an oil can at 50 yds with a Traditions 12 ga and a PRB with a bead sight. Only once, first shot and in front of friends with unmentionable smoothbores! I believe .54 cal is indeed a .28 ga. Tree.

 

[Snakebite]

Tree, I had the same thought that a full length octogon barrel would be more accurate, especially with a rear sight. But I have no experience other than 30 some years ago with my trade rifle. Thanks for the input.

 

[54ball]

28 bore is around .550-.560. Most will shoot common .530-535 balls out of these. If you want a tighter ball it may be best to mike the bore and then get a mold that throws a tighter ball.

All things being equal...well that depends on the shooter and skill. A rear sighted gun may have the edge but then again maybe not with ball. Really the two are different skill sets.

Now a true fowling piece will have the edge on wing shooting. Most will be a heavier gauge and have light and graceful architecture that makes them good wing guns.

Trade guns and smoothrifles can be decent on winged prey but their bread and butter is upland game and ball shooting.

If you are considering waterfowl, 20 bore is the smallest I would consider with 16 to 10 bore being better choices for a waterfowl fowling piece.

A fowling piece can shoot ball as well.

Much is said about smoothbore accuracy but sometimes that can be an oxymoron, especially if you are expecting precision pinpoint accuracy. A smoothbore can and will throw a flier from time to time so keep that in mind.

Speed is life for smoothbore accuracy and the lighter bores have a reputation for being accurate ball guns. With a long barrel and light gauge, the 28, can really zip a ball downrange.

 

[Snakebite]

Thinking more of patched roundball than shot. Thanks for the input.

 

[54ball]

A tight bare ball on tow or wadding and then covered with wadding can sometimes be as or even more accurate than a PRB, depends on the gun and load.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

A smooth rifle has a few advantages over a fowler for round ball. It is often smaller in caliber, with a heavier barrel, has a rear sight, set triggers, and cheek piece. It is indeed a rifle with an un-rifled barrel and is generally load to a higher velocity.

A fowler is a shot gun. Simple front sight, larger bore, single trigger, and some of the nicer ones are quite lithe in the hand. They are better suited for shot and wing shooting, hence the name fowler. :wink: At closer ranges the large bore ball can be quite devastating.

Trade guns are a sub-group of fowlers usually smaller, in the 20 to 28 gauge range and as the name implies, were traded primarily to the Native Americans who desired a smaller bore size.

Smoothbores, sighted smoothbores and smooth rifles were all contemporary firearms. Each being popular in certain areas.

 

[Treestalker]

Well said. Tree.

 

[Ken Cormier]

With enough practice any gun is accurate. Guns are like ladies no 2 are alike.

 

[Britsmoothy]

With enough practice any gun is accurate. Guns are like ladies no 2 are alike.

:haha: certain aspects are very very alike! :yakyak:

B :wink:

 

[BrownBear]

I had an interesting experience that for me anyway, really demonstrated the difference between the two with RB's. I shot both side by side, but the kicker is, they weren't my guns. Belonged to a buddy of mine who shoots both a lot.

He could shoot both equally well. I was impressed, and that's what started me shooting them. I couldn't hit my proverbial ash with both hands using the fowler. Gun didn't fit me right and I would have had to do a lot more shooting to get consistent in my mounting and hold, etc. Coulda been done I'm sure, but the accuracy just wasn't in my body for casual use. I was doing good to hit the target paper, while he could keep all his shots in the black.

Switched to the smooth rifle. Felt like I was shooting a rifled tube, the results were so good. You couldn't tell the difference between his target and mine.

Bottom line for me, the accuracy potential is there in both guns, but the burden is going to be on you and you alone to find it with the fowler. Not so the smooth rifle. Any old fool (such as me :wink: ) can pick it up and point it right.

The flip side comes when you ask the fowler to live up to its potential by pouring shot rather than pushing balls down the bore. I hit well "wingshooting" clays with the fowler. Just couldn't get around the sights to shoot the smooth rifle with shot. My poor score was on par with the owner's poor score with shot and sights.

If you really don't want to put in the time to learn to shoot ball in the fowler and probably won't launch shot, the smooth rifle is probably the better choice. If you're willing to invest the time and components to train yourself to shoot ball and will in fact use shot for wingshooting, then bonus points for the fowler.

 

[Spikebuck]

For me, personally, my smoothrifle is more accurate for round ball and I believe I even do better with shot patterns. I don't have the 20 GA fowling gun anymore, but I couldn't come close to being as accurate with that as I am with my smoothrifle, even though I had installed a rear sight on the fowling gun.

My smoothrifle is 62 cal with a 42" swamped octagon barrel and in an early Virginia style. My fowler was 20ga with an oct to round barrel also 42".

 

[Stumpkiller]

The smooth rifle would likely do better with a patched ball on a deer, while the fowler would likely do better with a load of shot on a raising grouse or pheasant. Either could get by in the other's strong-suit . . . just not as well.

A lot of the deer I've taken were moving and within 40 yards in dense cover. A fowler doesn't give up anything to a rifle with those opportunities. It's the 75 yarders I just sit and watch . . . and wait, hopefully.

 

[spudnut]

A tight bare ball on tow or wadding and then covered with wadding can sometimes be as or even more accurate than a PRB, depends on the gun and load.

:thumbsup:

 

[hanshi]

Yeah, me too.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

An interesting aspect of the tradegun and why it was so popular with the Indian culture was it versatility.

The Native Americans came from a bow and arrow culture where game was called in or stalked to shoot at close range.

Compared to the bow, the use of shot in the tradegun improved the odds for squirrel, rabbits, and ducks sitting on the pond; yet a round ball was deadly on larger animals.

While I cannot speak for the smooth rifle; historically, the use of a powder/wad/ball combination was the typical tradegun and fowler load. It eliminated the need for a specific size ball and patch; an important consideration in the old days. A ball .015” to .060” under bore size was considered proper for the gauge.

I like to tinker and was pleased at how accurate a ball .050” under bore size ball riding on wadding was in my 28 ga. and I believe those who claim good accuracy with the historic power/wad/ball combination.

Still, a PRB is in my opinion easier to load, and is also in common use today with good results.

Fowler or smooth rifle? Take your choice, as shown in these discussions, each has its plusses and minuses.

 

[Lonegun1894]

I have a 32" .54 GM smoothbore barrel on a Lyman GPR flinter, and have both front and rear sights on it, so it is a smoothrifle for this discussion. While I have used it with #6 birdshot, and #4 buckshot (very close to the old "swan shot"), my main use for it is with PRB. I trust it to give me 5" groups out to 75yds, which is good enough for deer and hogs, my main use for it. With loose shot, it works fine, but is much more useful for sitting game such as a turkey than it is for, say, flying doves, because the gun swings and handles more like a modern heavy slug gun than a light and responsive upland gun, which is the modern version of the fowler. My other smoothbore is a 13ga SxS caplock, and I can shoot the same 5" groups out to 45yds with the front bead and no rear sight, but that is just me and I am sure others could do better. I hope that helps give you an idea, but just remember that each person and each gun is an individual, so one persons preference may or may not translate to you. Try as many different ones as you can before spending your money cause you just have to make you happy, and not any of us.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Although most all "fowler" barrels are much thicker than their historical relatives, including the lightest configurations, I believe a full octagon with sights to be best for patched round ball. Now since accuracy is the primary concern I would recommend rifling as well.
For short range versatility of the smoothe gun, I would go with the smoothe rifle if pot shots are the only intended use with shot. If shooting flying is put into thr equation, a fowling piece with the lightest configuration within bore size along with the heaviest breech is recommended.