Hey, Crazyfarmer ...
Love to hunt with smokepoles!
Here's my current baby:
It's a 1760 period fowling piece in .62 caliber (20 gauge) smoothbore. It is the type of gun that was most commonly found in the hands of early settlers in this area, and in yours. Contrary to popular notions, relatively few common folk carried rifled arms, because they were expensive, slow to load, and not as versatile as smoothbores. Besides, many men didn't have the vision to use a rifle, or simply weren't good enough shots to justify ownership. Fowling pieces of this type were versatile enough to hunt small game, waterfowl, and deer and bear ... and were good for home defense too. They were the working man's gun of the era, and could be loaded with shot, buckshot, patched ball, and buck and ball. Think of it as the Remington 870 of it's day.
This one is a handmade piece built by a gunmaker in Texas, with a Getz swamped barrel, a Chambers lock, and absolutely authentic construction. There are no maker's marks of any kind on it, save a date on the bottom of the barrel (hidden) to prevent it being offered as an original.
She is sweet to shoot ... mounts smooth, points naturally, and is light. 41" barrel. A real joy.
Deer load is 80 grains of FFg black behind a patched .610" pure lead ball.
Groups of three inches and less at 70 yards are possible (remember, it's a shotgun!).
Grizz
