Best Smoothbore Gauge?

[Carolina_Skinner]

You know you can have more than one right? :wink:



I still want a .45 smooth bore like Britsmoothy and another 9 mm smooth bore.


Good Luck to you.

William Alexander

Of course! But you gotta start somewhere right? :haha: :haha:

 

[Ray-Vigo]

For shooting ball, I like a 24 or 28 gauge. For shooting shot, I like the 12 gauge. But for 'all purpose', I like the 20 gauge.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Looks like 20 ga is the most popular. Out of curiosity, if I wanted to go after bigger game like elk, would I be able to humanely hunt them with a .62 smoothbore?

Yes the ball is plenty big enough, as elk are taken with .54 patched round ball, and a .600 ball will take a moose.

The 20 gauge was a very very popular flinter in Canada, while in The States (and territories) rifles were popular. You will need a good powder load, AND you will need to be close (compared to a rifle that is).

LD

 

[Grandpa Ron]

It all depends on what and how much you are going to shoot.

I use my 20 ga for Turkey and my 28 ga for target. I shoot a lot and 22 balls per pound vs 33 balls per pound makes a big difference.

If you are only shooting a couple hundred round a year gauge makes little difference. The 20 ga is the most popular for most of today's trade guns.