Smoothbore
Four to six inches left at 25 yards. The gun is a smoothbore. It is similar in many ways to my fowler.
Forgive these questions but... for clarity...how much have you used this gun? What size ball are you loading? What thickness patch? What is the powder charge? How consistent is elevation?
Before you go to the trouble of bending the barrel, perhaps there are other courses of action. Experimenting with the ball/patch/charge is one. One other course is to file one side of the muzzle. This does not take much filing and is correctable if you are careful.
From the "Traditional Muzzleloading" website:
"I know bending smoothbore barrels has been a common practice for adjusting POI (point of impact) ever since people first started shooting smoothies,... but I ran across some information that I wasn't aware of, that was also used to change a smoothbore's POI to a lesser degree.
quote:..... "First, I am all in favor of bending barrels to correct larger errors in POINT OF IMPACT(POI).
Filing the muzzle is to make the changes:
a. If you can't bend the barrel for some reason( as in DBL shotguns- where you are concerned with breaking the solder between the barrels, or where one barrel is more off- or off in a different direction than the other); and
b. For small deviations for the POI from the POA (point of aim).
For my purpose, I am treating this subject as if we are using a DB shotgun, so that the bead is held at the 12 o'clock( clock dial) position to the target.
Now, lets assume the LEFT barrel( Your left as you look down the barrels from the butt stock) is shooting LEFT- to 9 o'clock, and the center of the pattern is 12+ inches off from the POA.
You want to move that shot so that it more closely impacts the center of the pattern at the POA.
WHAT TO DO:
FILE THE LEFT BARREL MUZZLE AT 9 o'CLOCK. It sounds counter intuitive, until you think about what is going to push that shot one way or another. Its the Gases pushing the shot, and wads or cards behind the gas out of the muzzle that will move the shot in one direction or another. By filing the muzzle at 9 O'clock, GAS will Escape out the muzzle at 9 o'clock FIRST, and push the wad and shot towards 3 o'clock, moving it in that direction to get closer to the POA. The more you file the muzzle, the more the load of shot will move in the OPPOSITE direction."
Of course, the Springfield has only one barrel. The procedure is the same.
Note: I have not done this. I have read about it on a number of websites.
What I did to my fowler when I wanted to shoot round balls was to fashion a rear sight from some brass stock. I was careful about fitting the base of the sight to the barrel. I attached it with Loctite 380....marvelous stuff....and it has stayed put. Then I filed the sight so that the balls were on at 50 yards.