ROCKLOCK OR CAPLOCK, RIFLE OR PISTOL, TELL ME ABOT YOUR SMOOTHBORE!(s) :D

[perldog007]

So for those who haven't suffered my pedantic rambling and nonsensical posts, my story sad but true:
Middle aged busted up Indian fighter ( ex-security/COP/SPO dude ) Who, like the rest of you became more competent at quals when they moved the back line from fifty to twenty five yards. Then they bought it into fifteen yards and WOOT!!! Now I be an EXPERT!
So in my busted up silverback state I longed to replace my Model e25-5 with a single action .45 Colt. Was thinking Vaquero, looked at conversions, and read about Buffalo Bill's 1858, James Butler's Navies, and I got me an 1858. Then an 1851, then an 1860 ( Because Crawdad1 is a bad influence!!! ). Then I got another 1858 and started a two year torture test of yonder revolvers.
Two years later, the 1860 is my favorite for loafing. Loaded with a .454 and forty grains of pyrodex 2f. According to Colt's original instructions. I learned the hard way to only load five. Scared the cat but other safety rules were followed so chagrin aside...

NOW! I have always been mediocre with a scattergun. Except a Browning 20 ga auto 'youth' model when I was in the Navy. Could not miss. But otherwise....

So I'm not ready to throw my Mossy 500 in the trash yet, it has put venison on the table. But I suck at wingshooting. Maybe hit one of four hand thrown clays with a standard pump gun.

I am also infatuated with the idea of a rock lock. Brown Bess looks good. Basic 12 guage. A bit pricey. The Blunderbuss kit looks do-able. Only see one or two pistols in smoothbore.

Tell me about your favorite smoothbores! I like the harper's ferry percussion pistol, and the 1805 Musket ( the Pedersoli .64 rock lock and the caplock conversion )

Am open to caplock or rock lock. What loads to you use? Any success on game? Anybody take big game up close with pumpkin balls?

I did get into it on social media with an "You second amendment types can have all the flintlocks you want!" Type and offered my Marlin 94 and Mossy even up for a NIB Pedersoli Brown Bess, But Alas! Mr. flintlock only was all bluster, no credit card

So now I'm saving up for a smoothbore or two. The Pedersoli doubles look grand, and also the Kodiak double with a fifty and a 12 guage, but is it worth the hassle of loading and unloading a double? I would like to hear from those who have gone and shot, as I think I have memorized the catalog blurbs over the last thirty years.

Thanks!

Doug

Postscript: What essentials for a rock lock should one acquire before the purchase of yonder lock, stock, and barrel? I am thinking flints, cow's knee, primer flask, powder horn, patches, cleaning gear, sling, maybe a bag or case? What else? Good molds? Favorite sources for buck and/or ball?

 

[Ephraim Kibbey]

Don't forget a vent pick for your kit!

 

[Crawdad1]

I owned 2 Pedersoli double barrels, old ones with the completely checkered wrist that were darn near perfect. Unlike the newer Pedersoli offerings these were light as a feather and perfect for upland game. Check on Gunbroker and such because these older Pedersoli shotguns turn up every now and again!!! I liked the Irish head on my shot pouch as you don't have to be standing to load your shotgun as you do with the English head. Strung it on my belt but limited the load as lead does get kind of heavy as you walk through the woods. Good luck!!!.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/100/1/FLASK-IR-L


Don't blame me I was hooked after seeing Bannockburn's and DickyDalton's 1860 Colts!!!

 

[Ironhand54]

For many folks the classic hunting smooth bore is the Northwest trade gun . Most are in 20ga but larger bores are available. Mine has taken everything from tree rats to whitetails , including clay birds . This year I picked up a 75 cal flintlock carbine. That will be my buckshot gun this year .

Ironhand

 

[FiveStrings]

I've had a Pedersoli Brown Bess for about 4 years and I could go on and on about how much I've enjoyed it, shooting both RB's and shot loads. Not an easy gun to hunt with, though, if you have to do a lot of walking.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Buck 'n ball was how New Englanders hunted deer in the flintlock days. Rifled guns were virtually unknown to them. Yes, I'd get a trade gun and go after the king's deer with one.

 

[Stony]

I have taken one buck with my smoothbore....a flintlock .62, using round ball. It was fairly close and made a complete pass through the ribcage and dropped him in a hurry. They are fun firearms to shoot and play with, but some of them can be a challenge to hit things with round balls. I also have a .62 smoothbore pistol and it's REALLY a challenge with round balls.

 

[perldog007]

I had been sweating the rate of one of my favorite rifled pieces, the caplock Hawken by various manufacturers. The local pawn shoppe is rife with Hawkens. A rifle or two will be easy. But smoothbores seem outlandishly expensive. When we consider that they are supposedly cheaper than rifles to produce we have to ask, "How is this even possible?".
So I've written my good friend Allesandro ( or his assigns who run the English to Italian translation bot over yonder ). Pedersoli seems to make everything smooth, they deserve to pay their rent, but damn! You can get a plastic battle rifle and a 'hundred clip' for less than a trade gun?
Nay, gentlemen and ladies, nay. We must impress upon one of these sodden moneychangers the wisdom and good karma involved with bringing back a popular sporting gun to great nation. That and saving up are my plan. Track sells components, but it's a grand everywhere I look. For that money I might hold out for a Pedersoli Double 20 caplock.
The bright side is that my model 25 appears to be pricey itself. A lovely gun I really have not much use for anymore. I don't target shoot much, don't work anymore, and I much prefer a BP for hunting. The .45 Colt is considered 'marginal' by most experts for white tail, and we've got those big Canadian deer imported here for some reason. They are like twice the size of the white tails of my native blue ridge.
So I'd much rather have that round ball at top speed for the quartering shot if it comes down to a six shooter. I already know what a .490 patched ball with a good nudge from the folks at pyrodex will do out of rifle, same same with the new sabots and pellets.
Now what is needed in my arsenal for me to 'play guns' in the woods 'right', is a smoothbore that don't take plastic and brass cartridges. Love my mossy 500, it owes me NOTHING. Carried it to work, put venison on the table. Very versatile. I have carried it slide open for tactical loading when seasons and opportunities dictated. I've also carried with one pumpkin ball chambered and empty mag so the round could be changed by racking the slide.
Still the simple shooting stick has allure to me. Loading my own shot, and having one longarm that can handle ANYTHING in the hills. The single that has my attention right now is the Pedersoli Harper's Ferry Colt Conversion and/or the 1815.
My "flinchlock" might end up being a Kentucky rifle in .45. So maybe caplock for the musket. Maybe... hmm...
With what passes for my mind solving this manufactured dillema the mossy can count on being dragged out next season at least...

 

[perldog007]

I owned 2 Pedersoli double barrels, old ones with the completely checkered wrist that were darn near perfect. Unlike the newer Pedersoli offerings these were light as a feather and perfect for upland game. Check on Gunbroker and such because these older Pedersoli shotguns turn up every now and again!!! I liked the Irish head on my shot pouch as you don't have to be standing to load your shotgun as you do with the English head. Strung it on my belt but limited the load as lead does get kind of heavy as you walk through the woods. Good luck!!!.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/100/1/FLASK-IR-L


Don't blame me I was hooked after seeing Bannockburn's and DickyDalton's 1860 Colts!!!

Thanks for weighing in. I totally blame you for the 1860 ( well used and assay proven true by now! ) on my belt while my wonderful 1858 languishes! The 1858 is wonderful! Everything the old model 10 service revolver was supposed to be in my mind. I love it! But there's something about that Colt, finicky, slow to reload, have to mind the spent caps, but dang! Look at my avatar! That was my first cylinder with those Colt moving sights! Called flyer! ( one of the cylinders were a bit compressed perhaps due to my first loading attempt and junk, and there was a big boom, almost what I would call 'recoil' and I had to whang on the little pin to get the arbor to stop being 'flippy' ) So I'm more than confident in my 1860.
I don't keep a gun on my nightstand. But I do keep my belt with a razor sharp Kukri and Jennifer Sue ( the 1860 ) in her full flap hoslter where I can get to it once I rise. Now with general firearms season about to open here, I'll have deer on my residential property. Most avoid humans but we do get the odd buck who wants to scrap. Last one demurred when the hammer on the 1860 was sprung back.
Haven't taken any game with it yet. The 1851 accounted for a tree rat and a whistle pig at a friend's farm.
My 'thought' is that a smooth bore long arm is the perfect companion gun for the 1860, 1851, or other competent BP sidearm. Even a single shot. That is woods loafing! In some states something is always in season. Striped skunk in VA ferinstance.... In the places I'm looking at relocating most muzzle loaders are legal methods of take.
If you get to Texas I hear tell they'll let you kill wild pigs with a squirt bottle full of lye and your squad of homies if you prefer. I'll be 65 in another decade, and long to spend my 'golden years' loafing in the woods, taking the odd shot when circumstances warrant.
The blade is settled more of less. I love all kinds of knives, own many, but the Bud K Kukri from Amazon, sharpened by the local wizard ( came with no edge at all ) has out done everything I've been able to get my hands on including a bag of Randalls I sharpened up for a friend who was hunting Ottowa.
I know I'll have a caplock Hawken in .50, prolly a Thompson Center. I'll likely get a long rifle in flintlock and .45. This musket or scattergun acquisition is looking to be a program type of deal thing. Who could imagine that muskets would be as pricey as doubles? Apparently I'm not the only 'unique' thinker in this pursuit.

 

[Crawdad1]

I totally agree Perldog!! That 1860 Army is one beautiful revolver!!

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Regarding traditional firearms, many folks can only afford one rifle and accessories. Buying a good smoothbore is going to cost about $600-$800, plus accessories. I'd guess maybe only 15 to 20 people in a hundred have both a decent rifle and smoothbore. Pedersoli is about the only manufacturer of double barrel shotguns. Pietta used to make fine double barrel 12 gauge shotguns for Navy Arms Company. I had one.

When you have the "only game in town" like Pedersoli has in the world market, you can name your price. Some folks find it hard to buy American-made smoothbores because the cost of materials and the cost of labor is beyond their reach, but they are a better buy, because of their individuality and keeping their retained value. If you want a half-way decent factory smoothbore, buy a Pedersoli flint fowler. If you want a flint smoothbore that you can sell for more than you paid for it, buy an American-made Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading Flint Fowler, or a nice "poor-boy" flint fowler from Jackie Brown, both made in Mississippi.

In the Classified section of Muzzleloadingforum @ http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/pp-classifieds/showcat.php/cat/9, there is a used Pedersoli flint smoothbore for $850, and a Caywood Brothers of Mississippi, flint smoothbore fowler with a companion rifle barrel just sold for $2,800.00.

For my money, I'd buy American, knowing I'll get more for it down the road when its time to let go.
My American-made double barrel flint 12 gauge smoothbore bought used, cost me about $2,000. I have turned down $3,000.

When I first started buying 25 lbs of a case of DuPont black powder, it was $20.00/case in 1961. Now, its $465.00/case. It doesn't bother me in the least.