8 gauge & 4 bore ?

S

Solitar

New member
Anyone here have any experience or knowledge of shotguns larger than 10 gauge? Uses, pros, cons, availability of guns & ammo, reloading, etc.?
 
I've read that a four bore (I believe that this is blackpowder only) is the most brutal shooting experience you can imagine (certainly not helped by crescent metal buttplates) and that some notable shooters of this era found their nerves seriously afflicted by the experience, some to the extent they were never as good again. These guns would probably be classed as artillery by the ATF today.
 
Solitar, laws were passed back in 1918 preventing the sporting use of 8 gauge or larger shotguns in the USA. Firearms chambered for 1-4 gauge were used as punt guns or against dangerous game in Africa.

Steve Mace

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After today, its all historical

[This message has been edited by Steven Mace (edited April 11, 2000).]
 
Believe it or not, punt guns are still legal for duck hunting in England! The guns are mounted on the front of a boat and the boat is aimed at a raft of ducks, at night, real sporting isnt it!

Shooting Sportsman Magazine had an article on punt guns in england several years ago, got a lot of anti mail from duck hunters over it.

Geoff Ross
 
In the latter part of the 1800s, these large bore firearms were used mainly, in the USA, by commercial market hunters.
 
Here around the Chesapeake, market hunters tended to use the 8 ga for wing shots and larger punt guns for shooting at rafted ducks and geese. Some ran into 2 inch bores, more like cannon than shoulder arms.Common loads for the 8s were 1 1/2-2 1/4 oz of shot.

Lots of families on the Eastern Shore still have old 8 ga Parkers,LC Smiths,Ithacas,etc, oft in rough shape as heirlooms and wall hangers. Waterfowling guns, especially during black powder days, took a beating internally and externally.
 
I don't know how it would be for waterfowl, but my comments were predicated on the experiences of those who used them for African game.
 
I wonder what gauge the old M79 was, as I recall they did make buckshot loads for it during the Vietnam war!

A 4 gauge pump shotgun, OUCH!


Geoff Ross

[This message has been edited by K80Geoff (edited April 12, 2000).]
 
I think grenade launchers are 40mm, so you need to determine how many lead balls of this diameter will comprise a pound to get the gauge.
 
Punt guns are extremely large shotguns used while fastened to boats(punts) and fired at flocks of waterfowl while they rested on the water. With bores measured in inches more than gauge, they were not meant to be fired from the shoulder.Almost all were muzzleloaders.

Think of small, smoothbore cannon firing loads of a half lb of birdshot or so.
 
Do they make an "onsides-kick" gun too?
biggrin.gif
 
Gentlemen,

It looks like that I am the only one on this thread that have fired a 4 gage shotgun.

As mentioned in some of the previous posts, this was a punt gun. It was a double barrel side-by-side, the two triggers both had a ring each so that a lanyard can be tied to it, and the stock had a 2" diameter hole in it for a cross member to be installed with in the punt.

The ammo I fired was loaded by Eley, and had #1 shot. I cannot remember the exact weight of that shotgun, but I would think it was around 20-25 pounds. The recoil was not as bad as from a Ruger #1 we had re-chambered to 460 Weatherby magnum.

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