Sighting in

[Eric Krewson]

Last year I wanted to hunt with my English fowler that had been shooting great but all of the sudden it started having way too many fliers so I put it up and used my .54.

Yesterday I tried it out again looking for the error in my ways that caused it to shoot poorly.

I realized I had switched from a weighed charge of 1F to a measured charge that really weighed 85 gr(senior moment).

I also think I had too much lube on my patches when the balls started spraying.

I was shooting at 35yds as this is about as far as any of my shots will be where I hunt.

I ended up with 100gr of 1F, a wool wad and 486 gr .690 ball patched with .025 denim. I lubed with mink oil but used a heat gun to melt the lube into the patch so there was less on the surface. I swabbed with a wet and dry patch after every shot.

The gun I built, it does have a rear sight and is jug choked. The gun has a 38" D weight, Colerain 72 cal swamped barrel. The gun is primarily my turkey gun.

The target with a 2" bull; the first shot is the high left one before I started melting the lube into the patch.

 

[rdstrain49]

Looks like your'e on the right track. Not that it matters, but I started using Dutch's system on my Penn. rifle. the results were so good I'm going to try it on my 54 smoothie.

 

[Maven]

Nice gun and excellent shooting, Eric!

 

[ZUG]

Nice going Eric and a very nice gun there :wink: . You are lucky to have the land to do your gun testing on without all the "YaHoos" at a public range. How does that boomer kick with the patched round ball :hmm: ?

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

I’ve seen TOO much lube ruin a group more times than I care to count, even on a rifle!

FWIW it was a recent post here that prompted me to try 1Fg powdah in my larger caliber (65 to 75) and longer barreled (54” to 60”) flint smoothies ... and while I’ve yet to do dedicated ”˜load development’ tests yet, the preliminary results are VERY encouraging!

 

[hanshi]

That's quite good accuracy! :thumbsup:

 

[Eric Krewson]

With this load my fowler has punishing recoil. I even get a pretty good thump through a 1" PAST recoil pad.

I have killed one deer with this gun and never felt the recoil, thank goodness.

 

[Maven]

"I ended up with 100gr of 1F, a wool wad and 486 gr .690 ball patched with .025 denim."

Not surprised that combination recoiled vigorously, Eric: Saw it right off! :wink:

 

[wattlebuster]

Good shootin Eric. Thats sure a purty gun you built :bow: My 12 does good with 100 Fg too an the 690 is like a sledge hammer on a deer

 

[Dr5x]

RDStrain49,
From what I'm told applying my System to a smoothbore requires getting your patch thickness as correct as possible.

Dutch

 

[md2020]

That gun looks good. What are your reasons for choosing 12 gauge?

 

[BillinOregon]

Love your fowler, Eric. Did you do your own jug choke? I have a Mike Brooks .75 fowler I need to dial in one of these days. I'd be mighty pleased to shoot a target as nice as yours.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Caywood did the choke, I had two barrels done, one will blow a turkey's head to jello at 40 yards, I sold this barrel to a friend. The one on this gun not so much, 25 yards max, I don't know why they came out so different.

I picked 12ga because I made this gun for turkeys, the fact that it shoots a round ball well is a plus.

 

[Rifleman1776]

"I ended up with 100gr of 1F, a wool wad and 486 gr .690 ball patched with .025 denim."

Not surprised that combination recoiled vigorously, Eric: Saw it right off! :wink:

I once had a CW rifled musket in .72 cal. with 100-120 gr. charges it recoiled painfully. Personally, for murdering Bambi at 35 yards, methinks charges in the 50-70 gr. range are plenty enuf. That nearly one ounce ball will drop most North American critters, fer sure.