Post by: Steven Goselin on June 11, 2014, 09:34:07 AM
Post by: gunmaker on June 11, 2014, 03:21:22 PM
Post by: Stormrider51 on June 11, 2014, 04:46:30 PM
Ever seen a modern Perazzi shotgun? They are works of art and way out of my price range but I had a customer who owned three. Another customer owned a collection of upper-end Beretta O/U's. The wealthy people of earlier times who could afford ornate muzzleloading rifles could also afford ornate smoothbores.
I've been shooting BP rifles for a long time. Smoothbores never interested me until recently. Now I'm wondering why I didn't pay attention sooner. Rather than point out all the things a smoothie will do, let me simply point out the one thing a rifle does better. It's more accurate a longer ranges. If accuracy floats your boat like it did mine for so many years then you definitely need a rifle. If you want a do-anything gun then a smoothbore might just be for you.
Storm
Post by: Captchee on June 11, 2014, 05:03:35 PM
Case in point a Military musket is a smooth bore . But it wasn’t really designed to fire shot other then possibly buck and ball loads
Then you have fowlers which basically are just what their name implies . While they can shoot a RB , they were predominantly designed for hunting birds
Then you have the trade guns which were kinda a balance between the two .
Then you have whats come to be known as the smooth rifle . Which basically is a rifle type stock , with a smooth barrel . Sometimes these were simply rifles whose barrels had been shot out . RCA has a J Baum which is a very good example of that .
Most likely IMO the higher end smoothbores you see , were probably ones used for fowling . The other possibility is that the owner felt no real need for a rifled bore as the range they normally took game did not require the longer range accuracy of a rifle .
The reality of it may in fact come down to much the same reasoning as those who today own a shotgun , but don’t own a rifle or chose to own both .
Post by: Hanshi on June 11, 2014, 06:02:07 PM
Post by: Kermit on June 12, 2014, 02:25:44 PM
Post by: Hanshi on June 12, 2014, 04:37:34 PM
Post by: Stormrider51 on June 12, 2014, 05:17:17 PM
Storm
Post by: mario on June 12, 2014, 08:47:42 PM
Quote from: "The Goose"
As a relative newcomer I have been trying to figure this out. Why a smoothbore? What is the rationale?
Versatility plays a huge part, as you mentioned. But even more-so, heritage. The 18th century New Englander is descended from Englishmen. England (to include Scotland, Wales, etc) was not rifle country.
In Europe, rifles came from a fairly small area of Germany/Switzerland. When immigrants from those areas came here (mostly to PA) they brought the rifle with them and it simply grew from there.
Then there is also the fact that colonial militia laws REQUIRED a smoothbore firelock. At least one (NJ) actually fined you for showing up with a rifle.
Quote from: "The Goose"
So I get why the poor or frugal farmer probably owned some type of fowler, but then I open up Rifles of Colonial America and I see many beautiful, elaborate and even ornate smoothbores. At that level why were they so popular? Again, I can understand that a more well heeled individual might want a fancier fowling piece. but if, as an example, I look at the Hermann Rupp rifle in Volume 1. It is not a fowler it is a rifle, with a smooth bore? Why was that? As usual I guess I don't know what I don't know. Maybe I should get a smoothbore and find out what I don't know.
I can be argued that many "smoothrifles" were originally rifles, as stated.
Although they did exist in some areas/times:
"The Smooth Bore Rifle you mention would not answer for our trade...When the Indians use a rifle, it must be a real one, and they will not carry a Smooth bore of such weight so long as they can get a North West Gun."
President of the American Fur Co. to James Henry, 1840.
Mario
Post by: Steven Goselin on June 14, 2014, 11:05:06 AM
Post by: Feltwad on June 17, 2014, 05:29:50 AM
Feltwad
A Flint Lock will not secure a chicken house door
A Stand of English Sporting Guns
(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j152/Ramrod_2006/100_0479.jpg) (http://http)
Post by: Kermit on June 17, 2014, 01:35:15 PM
Post by: hankaye on July 13, 2014, 10:12:53 AM
Several years ago I stumbled across this book;
"A Danvis Pioneer a story of one of Ethen Allen's
Green Mountain Boys" by Rowland E. Robinson
A Danvis pioneer; a story of one of Ethan Allen's Green mountain boys : Robinson, Rowland Evans, 1833-1900 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/danvispioneersto00robiuoft)
It's free and can be downloaded as a PDF or for your kindle...
Chapter XII is titled "The Smoothbore. It describes the main
character's decision and why he made the choice he did.
The whole book is a good read.
hankaye
Post by: Detached on July 13, 2014, 10:48:40 AM
Post by: snake eyes on July 13, 2014, 05:54:44 PM
:shake [/color]
Post by: mario on July 14, 2014, 11:21:57 AM
Quote from: "hankaye"
Howdy All;
Several years ago I stumbled across this book;
"A Danvis Pioneer a story of one of Ethen Allen's
Green Mountain Boys" by Rowland E. Robinson
A Danvis pioneer; a story of one of Ethan Allen's Green mountain boys : Robinson, Rowland Evans, 1833-1900 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/danvispioneersto00robiuoft)
It's free and can be downloaded as a PDF or for your kindle...
Chapter XII is titled "The Smoothbore. It describes the main
character's decision and why he made the choice he did.
The whole book is a good read.
hankaye
At first glance, it's written by someone who was born 60 years after the fact, and it's more of a historical novel rather than history.
Mario
Post by: sse on July 14, 2014, 05:12:01 PM
Post by: Kermit on July 14, 2014, 08:39:48 PM
Post by: Detached on July 14, 2014, 09:58:16 PM
Post by: Stormrider51 on July 14, 2014, 10:01:34 PM
Storm
Post by: sse on July 14, 2014, 10:42:13 PM
Post by: Geezer in NH on September 19, 2014, 07:33:48 PM
Quote from: "The Goose"
As a relative newcomer I have been trying to figure this out. Why a smoothbore? What is the rationale? I understand why the military in the 18th and early 19th century preferred a smoothbore. As a life long New Englander I understand that if you could only own one gun then a smoothbore had to be king in terms of putting meat on the table. Good for small game up to the largest and more then adequate for home defense. So I get why the poor or frugal farmer probably owned some type of fowler, but then I open up Rifles of Colonial America and I see many beautiful, elaborate and even ornate smoothbores. At that level why were they so popular? Again, I can understand that a more well heeled individual might want a fancier fowling piece. but if, as an example, I look at the Hermann Rupp rifle in Volume 1. It is not a fowler it is a rifle, with a smooth bore? Why was that? As usual I guess I don't know what I don't know. Maybe I should get a smoothbore and find out what I don't know.From a former MA resident, What can you hunt deer with?? Note Smoothbore no rifling that was the modern law before I escaped from there.
Sounds bad but IMHO that is all needed for the ranges I hunt in NH & other NE states. The longest shot I have taken a Whitetail at is 65 yards.
That means a shotgun, works for ALL game therefore all you need by the laws there. However I like my 32 FL for small game, my 40 or 54 for big game, I like my other unmentionable firearms for fun and protection. Most are rifled.
Post by: cyotewa on December 29, 2014, 09:30:20 PM
Post by: Ironhand on December 30, 2014, 05:34:34 PM
With a simple load adjustment you can bag anything from a mouse to a moose. No matter what the season you have a gun that will work.
While a smooth bore will work it demands more of the hunter. You have to get closer and do more load development than with most other types of BP guns. This is especially true if your gun is cylinder bored.
For myself, using a smooth bore is just more fun. The best fitting gun I own is my trade gun and I enjoy the challenge.
Ironhand
Post by: RobD on December 31, 2014, 09:07:37 AM
other than that, it's all good and most any flinter, with or without rifling, will do just fine for any specific task at hand, hunting or target accuracy, pick yer weapon appropriately. it's good to have choices. some of us are poor choosers, so we have both flavors of long guns.
Post by: Mad Irish Jack on July 31, 2015, 03:41:13 PM