Hands Up For Smoothbore PRB Hunters

[rodwha]

Quite curious about hunting with a patched ball from a smoothbore (28 ga/.550").

Seems the average range is about 50 yds + with a few who excel with theirs and can go a bit further (6" groups).

So what say you?

[triggerhappy243]

If i had one..... It would be on my list of things to do to prove someone wrong.

[DIRT Farmer]

There was the day when all of the stars aligned the breezes was perfect and I was shooting way over my head. 4 inches 100 yards offhand in a match with several witnesses.
At 125 to 150 all bets are off. This was with a 28 ga Colrain medium weight barrel

[DIRT Farmer]

Also my brown bess would hold the 7 ring black at 100 if I could keep from flinching from the recoil

[Maven]

Yes, 50 yd. is practically a cakewalk if you practice; double that if your smoothbore has a rear sight. Btw, I say this because I know a smoothbore (20ga.) shooter who routinely hits gongs at 50 - 100 yd. using a patched RB. Two Sundays ago I witnessed a hit on a 6' tall oxygen tank @ 125 yd. Hunting with a smoothbore isn't the main problem, but finding the proper RB diameter and patch thickness which -> repeatably accurate results may take some time and effort.

[rodwha]

If i had one..... It would be on my list of things to do to prove someone wrong.

Maybe you need one too then.

Funny that you raised your hand but haven't done so...

[triggerhappy243]

no, i do not need one. it is of no interest. some guys like jets, some like egg beaters, some like trucks........ and some like to walk.

[rfd]

hand up, can i get a witness?

20ga jackie smoothie, 42" OTR w/front sight only, .595 ball in a .015 greased patch, 70 grains of swiss 3f, DRT @ 50 yards if the operator does the right thing. a 7lb lightweight that's joy to hold offhand and packs a wallop on any kinda north american critter.





before she got colored and coated ...


a custom akton boot i stitched up, to tame her recoil ...

[rodwha]

Very nice rfd!

Is there padding in the boot or is it just leather?

[rfd]

1/2" akton gel pad (from kick killer). all my bpcr guns use kick killer akton powdered butt pads. i can fire off a hundred 80+ grain .45-70 528 grain bullet loads all day long and no shoulder issues (and i do have a bad gun shoulder to begin with).

[Beerd]

not sure I'd be brave enough to whack off the stock to get the right length of pull.
but ya do what ya gotta do.
..

[rfd]

in my case for the above smoothie, the butt's shape wasn't to my liking and so i took off about 1/4" to flatten the curve. the akton filled butt boot added about 3/8" back. works fine for me. yep, to each their own.

[rodwha]

Funny as that's what I figured I'd do were I to get a GPH. Not sure about that curved butt plate.

[rfd]

fill in the butt plate with a "half moon" piece of wood, buy or make a butt pad.

[rodwha]

I'm a rather small guy (5'8") and figured whacking the curve flush and adding some sort of pad would likely do me fine. Of course I'd try it as is first. May just find I like a crescent butt. And if not I'd certainly figure out what needs to be done to fit me well.

[rfd]

crescent butts are ok for me until the load starts punching instead of pushing. that usually happens too quick as the load escalates. this is why most bpcr rifles have shotgun butt stocks. a .45-70 ppb cartridge with 80.5 grains of 1-1/2f under a 528 grain patched slick can do more than punch, and hurt more than "ouch!". so, lots depends on the gun and the load. my trad ml 50's and 54's don't get more than 60 grains of 3f, so their crescent butts are of no concern. 70 grains and up are another story - then, they'd get booted. the 20ga/.62 smoothie is about 2lbs lighter than the half stock rifles, and near 100 grains more of patched ball, so the recoil is more, lots more. hence the akton leather boot i made for it. ya do what ya gotta do. getting beat up, as i see happen to more than a few folks, is like - why???

[Good Cheer]

Got a Pedersoli 1816 to get straight with. Have to figure out how properly to do a rear sight.

[hc18flyer]

Need to get my 20 trade fused out again. When I was shooting it weekly, 60 yards was my self imposed deer limit. I did take a 70 yards shot on a nice 4x4 (plus brow tines) buck, but I had a good light, steady rest situation. So far that is my best ml Deer! My eyes are 14 years older, so my range would be much closer. Many very fond memories of shooting the fusil! Oh HELL, NEED TO HUNT WITH IT AGAIN THIS YEAR! hc18flyer

[Maven]

hc18flyer, If a bit of competition interests you, "Ohio Joe" will be sponsoring a SB postal match in October. Here's a link to the site & post: http://tradmla.org/tmaf/index.php?topic=22308.0

[RBak]

Quite curious about hunting with a patched ball from a smoothbore (28 ga/.550").

Seems the average range is about 50 yds + with a few who excel with theirs and can go a bit further (6" groups).

So what say you?

Rodwha, just because it's a "smooth bore" don't let that hold you back on distance.
My experience tells me that distance is established as much by the shooter as the type of gun being used, and only the shooter himself, shooting the gun in question, can establish that distance......don't be afraid to push a PRB in a smooth bore, quite often faster is better, much better.

Russ...