Sighting in the smoothbore

[Tim Ault]

Hopefully on Sunday I’ll get to sight in my newly completed 24 ga . My question is if I sight in with round ball at say 25-50 yds will my pattern with shot be pretty my centered with the same sight regulation at usable ranges ?

[Daryl]

Might be, might not be. The shot charge with wads is almost double what your round ball will weigh & the powder charge will likely not be the same either.
1 ounce of shot weighs 437.5gr. add whatever wads on top of that.
A ball for that gun will likely be in the .565 to .570" range. A .564" pure lead ball weighs 269gr. + the weight of the other ejecta.
On top of that, the shot charge produces different pressure and friction in it's travel.
If they shot identically, I'd be surprised.
With the ball you will be aiming, quite likely down the top surface of the barrel. With the shot, your eye will be above the breech and you will be pointing it, not aiming per se'.

[Tim Ault]

Thank you Sir if it ever stops raining here in Pa I’ll put some lead down range and go from there .

[Daryl]

Trial and success and/or failure, is the only way to discover the answers to many questions.

[Prairie dog shooter]

My 20 gauge 62 cal Chief's gun from NorthStar West is right on for roundball and one and one eighth ounce shot loads with 80 grains of 2-f Goex.

[Tim Ault]

That’s about what I’m getting since I’ve sighted in  I use 65 gr 3F with ball and same measure of 2F with shot and that works out pretty well

[Hungry Horse]

 I commend you on your choice of a .24 gauge, for starters. I have found that the larger the bore, the harder it is to get a tight pattern at range. You will find smaller bore smoothies tend to string shot due to the small bore, that naturally starts the shot column out quite long. But it is much tighter from a smaller bore.
 Don’t be afraid to try the patchless balls. Native Americans didn’t patch the round ball loads in their trade guns. The trick is velocity, big powder charges, and no patch, teamed with an undersized ball (about 20 to as much as 40 thousandths). These loads will shoot pretty flat, and straight, until the velocity bleeds off.
 The other fringe benefit is if you get ahold of .58 Mini’s they shoot pretty well, and they are great for dangerous game, and big hard to kill game as well. Good luck.

 Hungry Horse

[Daryl]

Not sure about the .58 Minnies. According to the Surgeon General after the Crimean war, noted that "the pointed conicals tended to shirk the bones and course through the soft parts of the body, creating the most neat of wounds while on the contrary, the spherical ball smashed the bones asunder and created the most grievous of wounds". I might have the odd word, incorrectly remembered, but that was the gist of his statement concerning the "Accursed Picket (bullet)". That description was of wounding upon people. I assume the results on "hard to kill" game would be similar, due to their typically heavier bone structure.

[Bob Roller]

I would think the"Picket"bullet would be hard to load without a false muzzle and if it hit a man it might tumble and
inflict a very bad injury.

Edited tobremove modern gun references

Bob Roller

[Daryl]

The "accursed picket" was a metaphor for conical projectiles.

[bob in the woods]

Referring to Mr Hungry Horse's comments re larger bore's and minnie bullets. , my own observations have been the exact opposite.  My 10 bore will shoot great patterns at ranges , which is why it beats my 20 bore for water fowl . 

[Daryl]

The larger bores were used for water-fowling, for a reason.

[Robby]

The shot group will be slightly lower. I just did one in the a caliber, using that method.
Robby

[Hungry Horse]

 Bob in the boonies; big bores shoot big shot better, thats why they use them for waterfowl. But they don’t shoot small shot well. Thats why the jug choke was invented. Conversely, small bores shoot small shot well ( though they do have a tendency to string the shot). For upland game its hard to beat a .24 gauge, but its hard to make one punch hard enough for waterfowl.

Hungry Horse

[Daryl]

The first choke, seems to me, was designed by an American (I think) gun maker named Roper.
It was screwed onto the end of the barrel & was the same type of system as a swaged muzzle, short, but worked.
There is really nothing new in firearms concepts.
I think the Roper version of a choke was presented in about the mid 1800's - 1840's maybe and not really perfected until W.W. Greener's "work" on them
in the 1880's-on. I don't know when jug chokes came about. Would have to re-read "THE GUN & it's Development" 9th edition. i seem to recall that information
is in there.