Sighting in the smoothie

[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.



2" bull at 35 yards, the fliers were before I started using less lube and melting it into the patch with a heat gun.

[Danzn Bar]

Beautiful gun Eric

[Morgan]

Very nice gun and deadly group out of a smooth bore, even with the two fliers

[mullet]

You've dialed that gun in, Eric. Excellent. I'm going to borrow your heating in the lube Tip. I'm still dialing in that W. Large barrel.

[Eric Krewson]

Have you read Doug Schoultz's papers on black powder accuracy? Last time I shot my fowler I had the patches as slick as a greased pig. In Mr Schoultz's material he stresses how inconsistent or too much lube kills accuracy. In his method he mixes Balistol with water, saturated the patching material and lets it dry flat so the lube is very evenly distributed. I tried it with my rifle but didn't follow his patch thickness and working up a load procedure exactly so my results were no better than I had before.

I hear that smoothbores needed just enough lube to get the ball down the barrel so I backed off on my lube and heated it in. My patches barely feel lubed but the ball went down as easily as it did with a saturated patch and my accuracy went way up.

What kind of Bill Large barrel do you have? I have a .44 and it is a tack driver with 70gr of 3F, a .015 ticking patch lubed with mink oil and a .445 ball. The rifle has been shot so much since the 70s that the bore size as increased to closer to .45 than .44.

[chamookman]

My .62 cal Trade Gun, likes 75gns of 2f/.015 litely lubed daisy patch and a .600 ball. Shoots great out to 45 - 50 yds  . Bob

[mullet]

I'll look up Mr. Shoultz's material. my barrel is a .47cal. and a real tack driver some of the time. I'm using 73 fgrs of 3f with .015 ticking and a lot of lube. I haven't used ay certain kind of lube and was presently using a spit lube which i've had better results.You have pretty much convinced me that could be where I'm having the problem with the odd ball shot that is way off from the other tight group.

[Hawkdancer]

At 35 yards, any of those shots would make meat, and the .490 gr RB is a big " galena pill".  I hit a running mule deer doe with my .58 at about 15 yards, moved her about 3 feet sideways, and she continued about 75 yards.  Hit a rib going in and passed out between ribs.  Shrapnel fron the rib destroyed the lungs and heart.  I use the prelubed  .015 Ox-yoke patches, and 90 gr. 2F.  Plan to make up some pillow ticking this winter.  Will have to play with lube, and patch thickness since I have 3 .58 cal. rifles, and a.58 Harper's Ferry pistol to dial in.
Good shooting ab good luck on the hunt!
Hawkdancer