Gunmaker's thread continued

[pathfinder]

They question came up if putting a ball in a smoothbore would that gun be called a "riflegun". Nope.

A lot of "rifles' have been bored to smoothbore for a variety of reason's. They are often refered to as "Smoothrifles" Rather oxymoronic if you ask me,but readiley accepted. Unless you've been around as long as a lot of us have,it could be confusing.

I just heard somewhere recently the term,"sighted smoothbore" I would assume that would refer to a "buck and Ball" gun. Single trigger,"shotgun" type guard,typical Fowler,with a rear sight,full round or oct/round barrel.

Where as a "SmoothRifle" is stocked as rifle would be,cheek rest,dbl trigger(or not)full octagon barrel,straight or swamped,tapered too,patch box,and typical "School"archetecture.

With all that said,all lines are FUZZY! That's what gives us something to discuss! I personaly like smoothbores of ALL types.

My beloved "Ole Wormy" is finally in need of re-stocking. She was iffy when new. She was built as a project to gain entrance into the AMM a few life times ago by a good freind of mine,Anson Morgan. He needed to build a gun without buying ANY of the part's. The stock was short in a lot of area's,especially the floor under the lock panel's.a piece of wood was added there along with many other area's,and she's comming apart at the seam's.

So,this year she'll be re-born as a Lancaster in the style of Jacob Dickert. I've built 6/7 Dickert's,but none were mine. .40 cal smoothbore,daisey patchbox,ect...,Typical smoothrifle! I have to talk about it,my shop wont be built of 2 month's and I'M GOING  NUT'S!!!

[rollingb]

Pathfinder,... "technically" you are 100% correct.  :rt th

But,.... over the years, I've come to think whenever old timers mentioned their riflegun in their journals,... that they might likely have been referring to almost any long gun, whether it had a "smooth" bore,.... or,.... a "rifled" bore.

Simply put,..... I think some of the old trappers just wrote "riflegun" in their journals, so that it wouldn't be confused with something shorter like a pistol (smooth or rifled).  

Here's another thought,.... today's military teaches us to refer to our rifles AND shotguns,... as our "weapons". (technically a "weapon" can mean almost anything a soldier has been trained to fight with, including his hands)    

[gunmaker]

Gun's have wheels.  So says noted authority the USMC.  Meaning in their eyes "guns" mean cannon.  SmoothRifle, Fowler, buck & ball the list is endless.  Spell chk?  I heard e-mail took weeks or months back in the day.   Pathfinder what wood ?  If you want curly maple let's go see Cecil here in town,  he's got 100's of maple blocks & you could carry it home in friends trk.  Saving some bucks.  Like I've said talking to Cecil is worth the trip. Have a nice day....Tom

[Uncle Russ]

This is all very interesting......

I have used the term riflegun since I was a pup, without ever thinking about what I was "really" saying.
Riflegun was, and still is to many folks, the same as long gun.
If it ain't a short pistol, then it's got to be a long gun.
Just as, if ain't a short pistol it must be a riflegun....does that make sense to anyone but me?

Terminology varies greatly from area to area, even today, and God only knows how things like this get started.
If you're in the deserts of the Southwest, even today, and some skinner shows you his rifle, or shotgun, there is a good change he's going to tell you he has a riflegun.
The term use to be very common throughout West Texas and New Mexico, especially New Mexico near the Mogollon and Gila Mountains, plus around the Los Alamos /  Taos area.....riflegun is the word most often used to describe any kind of long gun.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, it's seldom if ever that I hear the term.

Perhaps it is in recognition, a kind of respect, for the many fur traders that passed through certain areas those many, many winters ago, or perhaps it's just a way of saying I have read a book or three on the subject, and I'm somewhat aware of the terminology used back in the day.

Heck, I'm not sure anyone can offer any real "reason" for this, but I do know it exists.

Technically, I personally believe Pathfinder is spot on in his description.
Still yet, it is what it is in other places and will likely remain so.

The US Army feels much the same as gunmaker about a gun...it's wheel or track mounted and has absolutely nothing to do with anything shoulder fired.
In fact, in the Army, you better never call your rifle a gun, or you'll end up doing strange things that make no sense whatsoever.

Uncle Russ...

[rollingb]

This is all very interesting......

I have used the term riflegun since I was a pup, without ever thinking about what I was "really" saying.
Riflegun was, and still is to many folks, the same as long gun.
If it ain't a short pistol, then it's got to be a long gun.
Just as, if ain't a short pistol it must be a riflegun....does that make sense to anyone but me?

That makes perfect sense to me Russ.  

[Captchee]

In fact, in the Army, you better never call your rifle a gun, or you'll end up doing strange things that make no sense whatsoever.

If your  US Army Infantry   one of the very first things you learn is  the difference between a rifle and a gun
  With rifle in one hand  and the other hand ,,, lets just say , well lets not say LOL
 This is a rifle , this is a gun . This is for shooting , this is for fun ..

 If you confuse the two , your very likly to be  seen standing on the firing line  with your gun in hand . Trying to hit a target at 300 yards ..
 Personally , I have never seen anyone who could do that LOL .
 

 There are smoothbore which were  designed for heavy ball . That are not fowlers . Yet at the same time they do not carry the attributes of a rifle  as in cheek pieces .
At the same time though , they carry the heavy mountings . Thus showing IMO they were clearly meant for  heavy loads .

[shootrj2003]

I can't help even after all these years I call a rifle a rifle,a shotgun a shotgun(sometimes scatter gun)a self-loading handgun is a pistol ,a revolver a revolver(or wheel gun) if I slip and call one a gun I 'm nervous and jumpy all day and feel like I did something wrong ( I did ,and it is very,very wrong -that was planted in me at Parris Island)I know that...uh...Er..r.i.f..l..e..g...g.u.n is kind of back woodsy cool but my brain gets jammed by the paradox of those two words and my training that was so very complete ,I mean I could say  it if I wanted too ,but I really shouldn't..I mean I just don't want to,I made up my own mind about this!I DID! Funny I can say smoothrifle,it even kind of feels good off the tongue,I think that other word is a bad,bad word.