The Fowler, like the modern shotgun, is literally capable of taking game from quail to moose as well as defending yourself. Except for a Civil War Era reproduction Zouave and Remington revolvers all I shoot are flintlocks.
I jumped straight into flintlocks for hunting here in Wisconsin. The state issues me a gun buck tag with my hunting license, so I figured I would give the deer a sporting chance much like with bowhunting. Thank you for doing this video. I hope your channel thrives.
I have watched you in the past and now I am subscribed. Any man that enjoys the black powder tradition is a friend of mine. I'm building a North West Trade fouling flintlock from Sitting Fox. There have been challenges to the build as this is my first time. My hope is that younger people get into the art so it does not vanish in time. And yes, I consider it an art today because of what is necessary to shoot one accurately. I will be watching from now onward. Best regards. . . .
There are always challenges to any build. I do believe that is why I enjoy it so much. Years ago when I first started building a friend of mine said “ you do know you will make mistakes on your builds… it happens…. just learn from them and each build will get better.”Oh by the way even those who have been building for awhile still make mistakes. The difference is they know how to fix or hide their mistakes the person new to building does not…. Yet that’s where experience comes in.
Been shooting Black Powder since the 80's and just in the last 2 years got myself a smoothie in .60 Flint this has been so much fun, even though smoothie's don't usually have a rear sight as they are shot much like a shotgun. Beings a whole new meaning to marksmanship.
The barrel that I used on that build was gifted to me by my son in law who in turn was given to him. Originally it was a percussion but the breech area was in bad shape so the 40”barrel got cut down to 38” and I re breeched it and made a flintlock out of it. The front and back sights were on it. I am assuming to shoot round ball. Which it shoots .522 round balls no patch just paper wadding just fine out to 75 yards. This is a straight octagon barrel 1” across the flats. Holds a decent pattern with shot at 30 yards as well.
I have seen rear sights added to the back smoothbores. They are attached with the tang screw. I have not done so. My smoothbore that I built I cut a dove tail into the barrel and put a rear sight on. The secret to very accurate round ball is to get the ball very close to the bore size and use a thin patch when loading. The patch does not do anything more than creating a gas seal and keeping the ball in place so you do not need an over wad. I still out an over powder wad of felt/wool though. Improves accuracy by quite a bit up too 75 to 100 yards.
Looking to get two smoothbores eventually. One will absolutely be a flintlock and the other a 1842 Springfield since the bayonet I ordered for my 61 turned out to be for the 42.
Here in PA it's mainly flintlocks. Don't know for sure but we might be the only State (Commonwealth) that has a flintlock only deer season. Guess the strange thing is most of us has never shot a percussion muzzleloader.
Several years ago I purchased a 14 gauge fowler I was told that it was a 14 gauge fowler. My guess is that it was made in the mid 1800's as it is a percussion. I have used it to hunt turkeys. It has a bore diameter of .69 inches. If I wanted to shoot round ball what diameter of round ball would work best? I have 14 gauge over the powder wads and would use whatever kind of over the ball material available. The next question is what volume of 2f black powder should I use? I just stumble across your site and clicked on the subscribe button. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos.
I would use a ball slightly smaller than the bore. .670 to .680. You could even use a linen patch just to keep the round ball in placed lightly lubed of course.
I prefer not to use a soaked patch. When I am on the range I am not concerned about a fire risk because we have a well taken care grass shooting lanes and gravel for 10 yards in front of the shooters. Hunting can be a concern but after a shot I usually find my patches. The paper wadding I just have to be more attentive. Most will not go more than 10 to 15 feet. I just try to locate and if still burning extinguish it.
I have a question. If you have a rifled barrel, like Hawken or PA long rifle, you get in a fight, can you load it like a smoothbore? Does it mess up the rifling?
Shooting shot through a rifled barrel is not good on the rifling if done over an extended period of time. But I can tell you that the shot pattern is horrible. It would be good for extremely close range only 10- 15 feet.
@@BlackPowderWorkshop1258 Thanks, I have often wondered. I know that a lot of long hunters carried rifles. The smoothbore was good for everything at close range. That said, in a battle like the one on LOTM, I can see it being hard to reload with the attack going on.
@@outdoorlife5396 the smoothbore is a very underrated gun. It can be effective to 125 yards for in it’s day was all that was necessary. Even muzzleloading rifles are only effective to 150 maybe 175 yards on average. Today people want to try to compare the maximum range and effectiveness with modern rifles. Do not get caught up in such foolishness. Is an apple the same as a banana? No but they are both fruits yes? Well Muzzleloading guns are much different than what most people think they are. Learn the limitations and realize the difference and all will be good.
@@BlackPowderWorkshop1258 Thanks, what has always made me wonder was DB had his daughter kidnapped by Indians, along with 2 other girls. I heard he send back for some regular clothes, because his Sunday clothes couldn't take the damage the woods could do. A couple of them said, he also wanted to trade his rifle for a smoothbore, because he knew there was going to be a fight. Thanks, I am seriously thinking about reenacting now that I have retired.
@@outdoorlife5396 yes I have heard that story as well. Boone would have used his smoothbore as it would be a faster reload. The smoothbore could be loaded with powder then an undersized ball or two or three and fired must faster than a rifled gun with a single ball. Plus he figured that the fight would be up close and very personal. Quite a bit of fighting on the frontier was close quarters. Knife and Hawk plus war clubs were well used in the early 18th to early 19th century on the frontier east of the Mississippi River all along the Ohio River valley.
Unfortunately, real flint is impossible to find in my area. I have to use chert instead of flint when I practice lighting fires with flint/steel. Have you tried chert or other rocks in a flintlock?
Like the old mountain man said, “long as ye got rocks, ye got far”. I picked up a rock one time , knocked it into rough shape, and installed it in my flinter. It worked, but only for a couple of shots. Bottom line,,it worked.
Back in 1960's ( Back when Turner Kirkland was running the Show) Dixie Gun Works Sold The " Plinker Flint of Percussion " Kit's You got a Smooth Bore Barrel, Lock , Trigger guard & Buttplate, A stock Blank , And other small parts- These kits were Very Reasonable, I think around $ 50.00 + - , Turner Tryed to " Promote " The Sport, And make it Affordable for Average Folks - Now? It's MONEY , MONEY , MONEY - Everything Costs Too much, And there's a lot of Rip-Off's Out There ---
I’m a big fan of smoothbores. They’re extremely versatile and much more accurate than people give them credit for.
That is very true. I love mine.
Great advice and promo video for getting started in black powder!
The Fowler, like the modern shotgun, is literally capable of taking game from quail to moose as well as defending yourself. Except for a Civil War Era reproduction Zouave and Remington revolvers all I shoot are flintlocks.
Thank you for your reply
I jumped straight into flintlocks for hunting here in Wisconsin. The state issues me a gun buck tag with my hunting license, so I figured I would give the deer a sporting chance much like with bowhunting. Thank you for doing this video. I hope your channel thrives.
Thank you
I have watched you in the past and now I am subscribed. Any man that enjoys the black powder tradition is a friend of mine. I'm building a North West Trade fouling flintlock from Sitting Fox. There have been challenges to the build as this is my first time. My hope is that younger people get into the art so it does not vanish in time. And yes, I consider it an art today because of what is necessary to shoot one accurately. I will be watching from now onward. Best regards. . . .
There are always challenges to any build. I do believe that is why I enjoy it so much. Years ago when I first started building a friend of mine said “ you do know you will make mistakes on your builds… it happens…. just learn from them and each build will get better.”Oh by the way even those who have been building for awhile still make mistakes. The difference is they know how to fix or hide their mistakes the person new to building does not…. Yet that’s where experience comes in.
You made yourself a nice smooth rifle. Bore like a Fowler, sights like a rifle. Nice combo.
Thank You
Been shooting Black Powder since the 80's and just in the last 2 years got myself a smoothie in .60 Flint this has been so much fun, even though smoothie's don't usually have a rear sight as they are shot much like a shotgun. Beings a whole new meaning to marksmanship.
The barrel that I used on that build was gifted to me by my son in law who in turn was given to him. Originally it was a percussion but the breech area was in bad shape so the 40”barrel got cut down to 38” and I re breeched it and made a flintlock out of it. The front and back sights were on it. I am assuming to shoot round ball. Which it shoots .522 round balls no patch just paper wadding just fine out to 75 yards. This is a straight octagon barrel 1” across the flats. Holds a decent pattern with shot at 30 yards as well.
I have seen rear sights added to the back smoothbores. They are attached with the tang screw. I have not done so. My smoothbore that I built I cut a dove tail into the barrel and put a rear sight on. The secret to very accurate round ball is to get the ball very close to the bore size and use a thin patch when loading. The patch does not do anything more than creating a gas seal and keeping the ball in place so you do not need an over wad. I still out an over powder wad of felt/wool though. Improves accuracy by quite a bit up too 75 to 100 yards.
Thanks for the very informative, accurate, and enjoyable presentation! You said it ALL in a nutshell
My pleasure!
Great video thank you.
Your welcome. Thank you for commenting.
You said it all in a nutshell!!! Thanks.
Thank you
This was neat. It piqued my interest.
Good video!
Thank you
Looking to get two smoothbores eventually. One will absolutely be a flintlock and the other a 1842 Springfield since the bayonet I ordered for my 61 turned out to be for the 42.
Good job
👌.у нас с таким проблемы,в отличии от обычных,современных образцов. А в этих есть харизма.
Yes I agree that muzzleloader rifles are very beautiful and artistic items.
Here in PA it's mainly flintlocks. Don't know for sure but we might be the only State (Commonwealth) that has a flintlock only deer season. Guess the strange thing is most of us has never shot a percussion muzzleloader.
Here in Illinois most people don’t hunt or even own a smoothbore flintlock. They just do not know what fun they are missing.
Good video! The novice shooters can learn a lot from this.
Thank you
You sir know. A rarity for sure.
Thanks
Several years ago I purchased a 14 gauge fowler I was told that it was a 14 gauge fowler. My guess is that it was made in the mid 1800's as it is a percussion. I have used it to hunt turkeys. It has a bore diameter of .69 inches. If I wanted to shoot round ball what diameter of round ball would work best? I have 14 gauge over the powder wads and would use whatever kind of over the ball material available. The next question is what volume of 2f black powder should I use?
I just stumble across your site and clicked on the subscribe button. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos.
I would use a ball slightly smaller than the bore. .670 to .680. You could even use a linen patch just to keep the round ball in placed lightly lubed of course.
Good video...but does anyone else think that the volume is too low?
I will work on the volume issue. Thank you for your input.
Between using fabric and paper, what are the fire risks downrange? I know a moose milk soaked patch is nearly zero
I prefer not to use a soaked patch. When I am on the range I am not concerned about a fire risk because we have a well taken care grass shooting lanes and gravel for 10 yards in front of the shooters. Hunting can be a concern but after a shot I usually find my patches. The paper wadding I just have to be more attentive. Most will not go more than 10 to 15 feet. I just try to locate and if still burning extinguish it.
I have a flint pistol, how can I find out its value
I have a question. If you have a rifled barrel, like Hawken or PA long rifle, you get in a fight, can you load it like a smoothbore? Does it mess up the rifling?
Shooting shot through a rifled barrel is not good on the rifling if done over an extended period of time. But I can tell you that the shot pattern is horrible. It would be good for extremely close range only 10- 15 feet.
@@BlackPowderWorkshop1258 Thanks, I have often wondered. I know that a lot of long hunters carried rifles. The smoothbore was good for everything at close range. That said, in a battle like the one on LOTM, I can see it being hard to reload with the attack going on.
@@outdoorlife5396 the smoothbore is a very underrated gun. It can be effective to 125 yards for in it’s day was all that was necessary. Even muzzleloading rifles are only effective to 150 maybe 175 yards on average. Today people want to try to compare the maximum range and effectiveness with modern rifles. Do not get caught up in such foolishness. Is an apple the same as a banana? No but they are both fruits yes? Well Muzzleloading guns are much different than what most people think they are. Learn the limitations and realize the difference and all will be good.
@@BlackPowderWorkshop1258 Thanks, what has always made me wonder was DB had his daughter kidnapped by Indians, along with 2 other girls. I heard he send back for some regular clothes, because his Sunday clothes couldn't take the damage the woods could do. A couple of them said, he also wanted to trade his rifle for a smoothbore, because he knew there was going to be a fight. Thanks, I am seriously thinking about reenacting now that I have retired.
@@outdoorlife5396 yes I have heard that story as well. Boone would have used his smoothbore as it would be a faster reload. The smoothbore could be loaded with powder then an undersized ball or two or three and fired must faster than a rifled gun with a single ball. Plus he figured that the fight would be up close and very personal. Quite a bit of fighting on the frontier was close quarters. Knife and Hawk plus war clubs were well used in the early 18th to early 19th century on the frontier east of the Mississippi River all along the Ohio River valley.
Unfortunately, real flint is impossible to find in my area. I have to use chert instead of flint when I practice lighting fires with flint/steel. Have you tried chert or other rocks in a flintlock?
Yes I have used chert it may not keep an edge as long but it can work
Like the old mountain man said, “long as ye got rocks, ye got far”. I picked up a rock one time , knocked it into rough shape, and installed it in my flinter. It worked, but only for a couple of shots. Bottom line,,it worked.
@@murphy4yt yup. As soon as the river goes down I will be flint hunting.
Back in 1960's ( Back when Turner Kirkland was running the Show) Dixie Gun Works Sold The " Plinker Flint of Percussion " Kit's You got a Smooth Bore Barrel, Lock , Trigger guard & Buttplate, A stock Blank , And other small parts- These kits were Very Reasonable, I think around $ 50.00 + - , Turner Tryed to " Promote " The Sport, And make it Affordable for Average Folks - Now? It's MONEY , MONEY , MONEY - Everything Costs Too much, And there's a lot of Rip-Off's Out There ---
Yes today many kits are very expensive and a custom made one is really out of sight.