Shooting my new long Fowler

[Bob Gerard]

I had a great day with my buddy Charles today shooting our smoothbores. Charlie shot his original Civil War . 69 caliber Macon (he wins competitions with it!) and I tested out my newly finished long Fowler.
I was able to get a pretty good idea where it was shooting and aligning up the front and rear sights.
It will take more work, but I was able to get a decent group (for me) at 26 yards, off-hand.
I shot the long gun with 90 grains of both 2f and then 3f (which seemed better) and an unpatched round ball of .662 caliber. It was my first go at it, so more experimentation to come.
I think the mainspring might be a bit light. Though it sparks pretty well, it feel so easy to draw into full cock. A stiffer spring might increase the lock speed. I will contact L&R and see if they can send/sell me a stiffer main spring. Cant hurt to try.

Here is a short video of me shooting the Fowler:

[Jerry]

Nice ignition!

[Robby]

Very cool!!!!
Robby

[TDM]

Good shooting Bob! You'll have fun dialing it in.

[Bob Gerard]

Thanks- going to be shooting some flying clays soon!

[Daryl]

Clays are fun. With my 20 bore flinter, I find I have to pass the "bird" by a foot before slapping the trigger.  That gives me the needed lead due to the slower
ignition from caps or modern trap guns. I shoot that way when shooting feathers as well, no matter the range. I guess you could call it pass shooting. I swing past
and the speed of the swing automatically gives the needed lead for all ranges of shooting. With a cap gun I slap the trigger when the muzzle 'touches' the bird. I don't
even see the bead. The angle is not important, either. The result is a dead bird, clay or feathered. Can't remember where I read about this method, but it works for me
and one of my riot squad lads who couldn't hit flying, until practicing this method. Now, he's deadly on birds.