Shooting "miscleaneous" projectiles?

[Loxahatchee]

Theoretically, a smoothbore will fire anything you ram down the barrel. That being said, has anyone here actually tried that? Im sure there are accounts of people doing such a thing back in the day when ammo ran out and they needed something in a pinch. Who has tried such a thing, and how did it turn out?

 

[tenngun]

If its 'shoot pieces of nail or gravel vs dieing' in a fight i would load what i could get.Never been in that situation so i stick to stuff i know is safe on the barrel.I'll bet some of the cannon folks have tried bags of langrage(spelled right?)at some time

 

[bpd303]

When we were kids my brother and I would shoot just about anything that would fit down the bore, marbles, rocks, BB's, etc. Killed a chicken once at over 50 yards with gravel (boy was that farmer ******). We even used firecracker powder to shoot that old Springfield and used the wick to ignite it. Lucky we survived.

 

[Rifleman1776]

That would be the advantage of a smooth bore, military musket or sporting fowler. Whether in war or woods survival. If you have the powder anything down that bore will come out when ignited.

 

[Billnpatti]

Don't attempt to shoot anything but lead projectiles from a smoothbore. It will shoot lead round balls and shot with no problem but you try shooting bits of junk (steel, rocks, gravel, etc. and you will ruin your barrel very quickly. However, if you happen to be in the woods and have an Indian chasing you and you have no lead balls or shot to put in your smoothbore, go ahead and grab that handful of river gravel and blast away. If you don't have time to stop and grab a handful of gravel, you can always shoot him with your ramrod. After that, your smoothbore becomes a club. Other than that, stick to lead balls and shot.

 

[George]

"THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE
September 22, 1774

LONDON, July 13 We hear from Haltwistle, that on Thursday last, a Collection of wild Beasts being in a Barn, a large Russian Bear broke loose, and instantly devoured two of the other Animals of the Collection; then made an Attempt upon one of the Keepers, who narrowly escaped with his Life. Upon this Alarm, the whole Town assembled together around the Barn, and fired several Times at the Beast, but to little Purpose, as they could not readily procure Balls, but at last a young Gentleman shot it dead with a small Marble."

John Audubon wrote in his journal:

“ ... both hunters went after the Buffalo, slowly at first, to rest Owen’s steed, but soon, when getting within running distance, they gave whip, overhauled the Bison and shot it twice with balls; this halted the animal; the hunters had no more balls and now loaded with pebbles, with which the poor beast was killed.“

Spence

 

[Oudoceus]

If I were to experiment with this I would want some sort of shot cup to protect the bore. I'm sure rocks and nails would damage the steel bore. In Billnpatti's scenario I doubt I would be worried about the bore so much.

 

[cynthialee]

The only thing besides lead I am comfortable putting down my smoothbore is the occasional marble. Because I can...

 

[hanshi]

In my case since redcoats and wild boar are little threat nowadays, I won't shoot anything harder than lead alloy out of my smoothbore. Rock salt is okay as long as the gun is cleaned immediately but why, even that? I value my flinters too much to even think about abusing them in this way. In fact, if I even dream about doing that, I wake up, go get my gun and apologize profusely to it until the wee hours of the morning. :grin:

 

[Loxahatchee]

Thanks for the replies fellas :hatsoff:

My main reason for asking was because I was wondering how such projectiles would fly once fired. I guess a bunch of small pebbles would behave similar to regular lead shot. Is it practical to experiment with random objects loaded in a rifle? Probably not, since 99% of people wouldnt be in a situation where they had to resort to such measures. But for that 1% out there, it could work in a pinch :wink:

 

[BrownBear]

Bud of mine is experimental by inclination, Darwin Award prospect by results. He pushed a fiber wad down his 20 gauge followed by an arrow. Couldn't even see the arrow in flight, and it exploded when it hit the backstop. Cool!

Did it again with a little more powder, looking for even better results. Got a shower of wood chips out the bore, and decided to leave well enough alone. :rotf:

 

[spudnut]

Don't even try.Guns already get a bad rap everywhere and if it explodes they wont bother saying some nut crammed rocks down the bore.(not calling you a nut brother)

 

[George]

I have a reference somewhere to an incident where a fellow got lost, ran out of balls, survived by shooting something to eat with a stick loaded in the bore. Thought it was Lewis and Clark, know it was a western, early 19th-century thing, but can't find it.

Spence

 

[BrownBear]

I recall that account too, and I'm sure it was a member of the L&C party. I also recall him going real hungry, but I don't recall him claiming he ever hit anything with the sticks.

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

For grins I have shot dried pinto beans out of a blunderbuss and a smoothbore musket. Very deadly on feral balloons at 15 yards. So when I set this up as a side match at a rendezvous I always set the balloons at 20 yards. :grin:

 

[Rifleman1776]

When ye gotta do whatcha gotta do ye do whatcha gotta do.

 

[nkbj]

Bud of mine is experimental by inclination, Darwin Award prospect by results. He pushed a fiber wad down his 20 gauge followed by an arrow. Couldn't even see the arrow in flight, and it exploded when it hit the backstop. Cool!

Did it again with a little more powder, looking for even better results. Got a shower of wood chips out the bore, and decided to leave well enough alone. :rotf:

:haha: Ever wonder how many arrows got musketed back at the bowman?

 

[nkbj]

Will a double twelve serve as a harpoon gun?
Good thing we never had smoothies when we were kids.

 

[BrownBear]

Good thing we never had smoothies when we were kids.

Ah, but we did. They were made by Daisy! And did we ever zoink a lot of weird stuff out the bores. Probably a good thing we were working with air most of the time and could only get powder now and then. :rotf:

 

[Billnpatti]

Shooting a harpoon with a double bore could possibly work but I think of it as being in the same class as the statement that a parachute is not necessary to skydive. It's only necessary if you want to skydive twice. So, yeah, a harpoon could possibly be shot from a double barrel......but maybe not twice.