smoothbore sight picture?

[sonny]

went to a shoot on sunday an did ok with my smoothbore 54 cal but it seemed the gun was shooting lower then i remembered it had.I gave the front sight  a full front blade over the back barrel flat an it still shot 2" low at 25yds........Is it raise the front blade to raise p.o.i???or lower front blade to raise the p.o.I...?....sonny

[Harnic]

The front sight is always moved in the opposite direction of intended bullet impact, lower the sight to raise the impact & move the front sight left to move the impact point right.  Have fun! 

[hanshi]

Sonny, with any gun possessing  only a front sight, shotguns included, your eye is the rear sight.  You move this rear sight by adjusting where you place your cheek on the butt stock.  Before you take metal off the front sight, try raising your head position by adjusting where you let your cheek rest on the stock.  As soon as you get the gun to hit where you want, mark the spot where you rest your cheek.  You can do this with tape, and inlay, carving...any kind of mark.  Use this mark as a reference point when you shoot.  Just be sure to hold your head the same, too.

[northmn]

Sonny, with any gun possessing  only a front sight, shotguns included, your eye is the rear sight.  You move this rear sight by adjusting where you place your cheek on the butt stock.  Before you take metal off the front sight, try raising your head position by adjusting where you let your cheek rest on the stock.  As soon as you get the gun to hit where you want, mark the spot where you rest your cheek.  You can do this with tape, and inlay, carving...any kind of mark.  Use this mark as a reference point when you shoot.  Just be sure to hold your head the same, too.

Sounds like a very good reason to practice with hunting clothes on if the gun is used for deer hunting.  I have had to shorten my stocks a bit (on new builds) for that use.

DP

[James Rogers]

Sonny, with any gun possessing  only a front sight, shotguns included, your eye is the rear sight.  You move this rear sight by adjusting where you place your cheek on the butt stock.  Before you take metal off the front sight, try raising your head position by adjusting where you let your cheek rest on the stock.  As soon as you get the gun to hit where you want, mark the spot where you rest your cheek.  You can do this with tape, and inlay, carving...any kind of mark.  Use this mark as a reference point when you shoot.  Just be sure to hold your head the same, too.

True, the eye becomes the rear sight and by moving it up or down or from side to side can change impact as needed. There is a problem though with holding your head a certain way to shoot if your head is not attached to the stock in a solid manner. To do this one needs to have a solid, firm contact with the cheekbone to the stock. If the stock is not built up or planed down to allow solid contact, the shooter will not see his best capabilities at the target.

[hanshi]

   And I would definitely do that before taking measures such as....well...putting a bolt through my cheek and attaching it to the stock.  The reason being that you'd never be able to lay the gun down; not in the shower, not in the airport, not when you're sleeping...uh, sleeping with it's okay. 

[sonny]

so let me get this straight............i should hunker down an just barely see a front sight tip on the barrel flat by the breechplug to get my rifle to shoot heigher at 25 an 50 yards.I thought that by raising the front sight to full height over the barrel flat by breechplug it would shoot heigher.If my regular rifle was to hit low i would file some off the front sight to raise my p.o.i.??With my smoothbore i should lower the entire front blade until just a nick sticks up at the barrel breech end to raise p.o.i......just the opposite?/huh........why is it that it seem like the front sight should be the same to raise the p.o.i...............sonny

[hanshi]

Sonny, always move the front sight in the OPPOSITE direction you want the ball to hit; i.e. file it down to raise the poi, move it right to poi left, etc.  The rear sight (your eye, on a smoothbore) always moves in the SAME direction you want the ball to strike.   

[Leatherbelly]

    Roger F gave me an excellent instruction. See the whole site all the time.Adjust on the target. So if your maximum range is 75 yards with a full site picture, just hold under for twenty five and fifty yards.
  Sonny,your in for a fun time! Smoothies are just a blast to shoot. You really have to practice lots to get good. Get intimate with that new girl,swear at her some too.Practice your stance,hold, sight picture and trigger squeeze/follow through. Do it the same every time. easy!!
  Being far sighted, I've got used to a center reference at the rear,be it a tang screw or a witness mark on the rear flat/breach. Vision too fuzzy at the back of the gun.

[Daryl]

 
At close range, most guys like to hold straight down the top flat of the oct/round barrels, seeing just the tip of the blade and putting that shiny spot on the target for zero.  For 50 to 60 yards with the slow loads shot today, they see a bit more sight above the flat and maybe even part of the base, but still put the tip of the sight in the centre of the target. This 'sighting' is actually lowering the butt, which angles the barrel higher - same as raising your face does, as long as you put the blade on the target.

 Now, if the gun is hitting high, low, one side or the other, bending the barrel to get it shooting 'to the sights', is the answer for many (if they want repeatable accuracy). You bend the barrel to get the ball travelling to where the sights are looking.  Before doing anything like this, you have to be consistently shooting in the same place using exactly the same hold - comfortable & repeatable - a good group in other words. The barrel is then bent to put the group in the centre.

  A 20 smoothie will shoot a 1" to 1 1/2" round hole for 5 shots at 25 yards - if you hold it the same each shot.  In other works, they will shoot as well at 25 yards as most guys shoot their rifles.  It is only past 25 yards, that the better shots with rifles have the advantage. Some shootbore shooters push rifle shooters even to 100 yards when shooting gongs targets. Shooting paper targets at 50 yards and beyond with 10-rings is another matter.

[Leatherbelly]

  I feel kinda hypocritical after posting my last post here. With my "new' Fowler I can't seem to hit the broad side of a barn if I was standing in it! As I write,I'm having the lock and trigger "re-tuned" but that ain't the problem.The problem I'm having is thus,centering the blade in the center of the barrel flat/tang. Having shot Tradeguns for over ten years with minimal issues,the new Fowler is giving me fits! Can't really find what's happening. Maybe it's the castoff or the smooth transition from barrel flat to tang? ...or both. Others shoot this gun great,me,humbug! Fair to mediocre.Any advice appreciated. Sorry,my intent was not to hijack this thread.

[Roger Fisher]

  I feel kinda hypocritical after posting my last post here. With my "new' Fowler I can't seem to hit the broad side of a barn if I was standing in it! As I write,I'm having the lock and trigger "re-tuned" but that ain't the problem.The problem I'm having is thus,centering the blade in the center of the barrel flat/tang. Having shot Tradeguns for over ten years with minimal issues,the new Fowler is giving me fits! Can't really find what's happening. Maybe it's the castoff or the smooth transition from barrel flat to tang? ...or both. Others shoot this gun great,me,humbug! Fair to mediocre.Any advice appreciated. Sorry,my intent was not to hijack this thread.

When playing with this new gal are you loose against the cheek?  Meaning and asking - are you holding her too loose or can you lock your cheek against the cheek area of the butt ???When shooting the old piece are you tight against the cheek area of the stock compared with the fit of the new girl   This just may be the problem.  Are you all over the target or constantly high low right left wot?

[Leatherbelly]

Roger,
   I was hoping you would respond. Yes, I do cheek my new girl but lightly.I seem to be throwing them left. I pay attention to holding her straight up and down. I get half decent groups, 2 inches  left at 25yds, but they are vertically stinging a bit. She sits in the closet more these days and I've been paying more attention to my rifle which I can shoot quite well.Pity.
 BTW, I've let others shoot her and they seem to shoot one hole ,3 shot groups.
                                                                                    ...frustrating

[Roger Fisher]

Roger,
   I was hoping you would respond. Yes, I do cheek my new girl but lightly.I seem to be throwing them left. I pay attention to holding her straight up and down. I get half decent groups, 2 inches  left at 25yds, but they are vertically stinging a bit. She sits in the closet more these days and I've been paying more attention to my rifle which I can shoot quite well.Pity.
 BTW, I've let others shoot her and they seem to shoot one hole ,3 shot groups.
                                                                                    ...frustrating

Have you benched the b    ?  I'd try that to see if she shoots center then...!
I'd back that tang screw up just so it is not higher than the plane of the barrel (so you don't get tarred and feathered at a shoot) Lay a bit of white paint (or a sliver of ivory in the slot) Your eye can use that as an aide to the right or left although fuzzy.

Some folks file a groove across the breech and tang joint to do much the same.

Interesting to see the answer to this. 

[T*O*F]

Put a piece of masking tape on the top barrel flat.  Draw a line down the center of it.  Make cross marks every half inch.  Start by place one of those cross marks on the top of your sight blade at 25 yards and see where it hits.  Then move either up or down to the corresponding mark that lets you hit the bullseye.  Peck that spot with a small punch.

Move to 50 yards and repeat.  Move to 100 yards and repeat.

Now inlay a strip of silver wire down the center of the barrel and an arrow /\ at each punch mark.  Viola........you have a set of smoothbore express sights which are below the plane of the barrel.

[Daryl]

Leatherbelly - there's only one thing to do with that fowler - I'll give you $600.00  CASH money for it - any bill size you want.

[Leatherbelly]

Leatherbelly - there's only one thing to do with that fowler - I'll give you $600.00  CASH money for it - any bill size you want.

Ok,Let's see, $3200-$600= -$2600.  Tempting offer.Lemme think on it awhile.

[Roger Fisher]

Put a piece of masking tape on the top barrel flat.  Draw a line down the center of it.  Make cross marks every half inch.  Start by place one of those cross marks on the top of your sight blade at 25 yards and see where it hits.  Then move either up or down to the corresponding mark that lets you hit the bullseye.  Peck that spot with a small punch.

Move to 50 yards and repeat.  Move to 100 yards and repeat.

Now inlay a strip of silver wire down the center of the barrel and an arrow /\ at each punch mark.  Viola........you have a set of smoothbore express sights which are below the plane of the barrel.

Now that is a darn fine idea.  I do wonder if my old eyes could pick those marks up    So much to do and so little time

[Daryl]

That's amazing Roger - way to go.