cayugad

I was asked the following questions by a friend who watched some program on Discovery Channel and fell in love with a Brown Bess smooth bore .75 caliber he saw there. He wanted to know how accurate a smooth bore was compared to a " black powder rifle." He did not say whether it should have a 1-48 or say 1-66 twist. I have only shot a .69 caliber (I think it was, and it was awsome) smooth bore once, and we were having fun, not shooting for any groups, etc. He also wanted to know the effective range of a smooth bore. I told him I was sure if a load was worked up in a .75 caliber it would be fine for the ranges we have here in Northern Wisconsin, but I really could not tell him how accurate they really are, or what kind of load a person would uses in something as large bore as a .75 caliber. I am sure they would shoot a good group, but what range they effective to.. maybe you fellows can help me out here. How accurate and what range do they really have? Thanks. I hope he gets the thing, I would love to shoot that big cannon..

charlie brown

Buy it and find out. At least it will be fun to shoot.

trac209

I saw that show too and those guys were missing the targets at 50 feet and these were supposed to be seasoned shooters.But it didn' t look like it.I think the gun is probley capable of pie plate accuracy at 100 feet or more.Better if shot from a rest.

Mark whiz

The Brown Bess definitely is not the world' s most accurate gun .
Being a smooth bore - makes it the equivalent of a low-powered shotgun ----------- which is why many a Brit fired compound charges out of them (2 bullets) to help in getting hits.

cayugad

WOW.. well I will tell my friend that. I think it will change his mind about that rifle. Perhaps he can get something like a .54 or .58 caliber rifle with a good barrel. He would still have a large bore. I never knew the smooth bore was that bad.

eldeguello

A contemporary British officer had this to say about the accuracy of the Brown Bess.
" A common soldier' s musket, if not too ill-bored, might strike the figure of a man at 50 yards, but if fired at a person at 100 yards, one might as well be shooting at the moon, and have an equal chance of hitting it."

However, if you used a patched tight-fitting ball, accuracy would be much improved!!

Brown Bess ammo was issued in a series paper cartridges with balls of decreasing diameter, and so placed in the aammo box, so the soldier could continue firing despite the tremendous buildup of fouling during combat! You can imagine what effect this had on accuracy. Note the Brown Bess has no rear sight! The British fire commands were " MAKE READY" (cock) " PRESENT!!" (point in the general direction of the enemy) " FIRE!!" The Brits did not AIM. at an individual enemy, they just pointed at the enemy front rank!! But the Continental Army did aim at individual enemy soldiers! As well as one can, with no rear sight![X(]

The balls were loaded naked, and held in place by putting the cartridge paper down on top as a wad when rammed. Often no patch was used at all.[] If nothing was holding the ball in place, it could roll away from the powder charge, causing a dangerous situation indeed. Another load used in smoothbore muskets was " buck and ball" , consisting of a full-size ball, and three 00 or 000 size buckshot. Now this load was a real killer at ranges up to 50 yards or so, making it much more likely that SOMWETHING would hit the group of enemy soldiers you were pointing at.

THE BRITISH BAKER RIFLE OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS