I am not convinced there is a tremendous advantage to a rifle. Out to 75 yards or so a good smoothbore shooter can come close to matching a rifle shooter. The big advantage of the smoothbore is weight; they weigh anything up to several pounds less that a rifle. I also think at a time when lead and powder were extremely expensive, you would not take a shot that was not guaranteed to bring the animal down. People like Baker in Ceylon in the 1840s did take long shots but they were hunting for sport and travelled with lots of ammunition and were wealthy.
About the only counter point to the powder and shot issue was that a 60 cal smoothbore took a lot more lead and powder per shot than a 40 cal rifle.
cheers Doug
You need to do more research. This was actually done back in the day and I believe was quoted here on the site not too long ago. My average shot at deer last year was about 50-60 yards. But one was 105 and there was no real option other than not filling the tag.
A man was convinced that a smooth rifle would shoot as well as a rifle. Till he had one made. After testing, and chagrined, he took it to the maker to be rifled. When he came back the maker laughed at him.
We need to understand that hunting was not the only use a rifle was put to. Rifle matches were typical forms of recreation and were often weekly events from what I read. If you want to try shooting a smoothbore in a chunk or turkey match its your choice but success will be fleeting at best.
In the Warner-Lowe papers there is an account which I find amusing:
One time there was t be a turkey shoot for smooth bores. Kendall had a gun all ready for rifling. He put it gun in rifling machine and laid the surface with course emery. The gun was almost equal to a rifle for say a hundred shots.
The upshot of it was that Mr. Smith & Kendall shot all the turkeys the man was willing to put up.
The bullets for the above gun ftiited rather tight.Given this when someone tells me of some shooter with a wonderfully accurate smooth bore if its not been scratch rifled. A trick that far predates Kendall's devious little stunt. It could be done very quickly and easily if a rifle barrel were used as a rifling guide.
I would also point out that for the people hunting in hostile areas that the least noisy firearm would be the best choice.
And even a 45 caliber rifle will kill deer sized animals to 120+ yards and men to 200+ if the shooter has the skills. In my experience some SBs require a lot of powder for best accuracy. A 50 caliber 70 twist GM shoots very well with 75 gr of FFF swiss. The same gun with a GM smooth 50 caliber shot best with 110 gr of FF, more powder, more noise, less effective. At this level it was suitable for deer to 60 yards or so and would shoot into 3.5 to 4.5" for 5 shots. But this in RANGE shooting. In my experience field shooting will increase the group size.
A person that cannot hit a deer at 75-100 yards with any firearm, or perhaps cannot see well enough to shoot well has little use for a rifle and probably does not shoot much in any event. Their primary need for a firearm would be MILITIA USE. Here the SB was often REQUIRED. But actual shooting practice often was not.
The "smoothbore is better" simply does not stand any test if removed from the linear tactics battlefield or shooting birds. If it really was better then why are there so many rifles and accounts of rifle use? Why did people spend the money on rifles?
This said smooth bores were often used for heavy game in Africa and India. Couple of valid reasons but its hardly relevant when speaking of use in North America we don't shoot many Elephant here. Most of this was because English/European makers generally used far to fast a twist in large bore rifles and they were useless for HV hunting loads needed for large game.
One other point is that a muzzle heavy gun is easier to keep on target than a light one is.
Dan
