8 gauge shotgun?
- Thread starter HLG
- Start date
Danindetroit
New member
I am not sure, but I think that since a lot of them were English they refered to them as 8 bore, or 4 bore. After Jack Lott died, just after getting Hornady to produce his .458 Lott, I think G&A showed him shooting an 12 bore. 
8 gauge guns were fairly common in waterfowling areas in the 1800s. Market hunters used them along with bigger ones up to about 1 1/2" bore. These last were called punt guns and were fastened to boats and punts.
The 8 gauge was banned from hunting around 1910, IIRC. !0 gauge was as big as anyone can go legally.
Industrial 8 gauges shooting slugs are used in steel making to knock slag out of the Bessemer Kettles. These are carriage mounted.
Ballistic Products carries 8 gauge hulls and components..
Briley will make adapters so folks can use 12 gauge shells in these, but it's not cheap.
The 8 gauge was banned from hunting around 1910, IIRC. !0 gauge was as big as anyone can go legally.
Industrial 8 gauges shooting slugs are used in steel making to knock slag out of the Bessemer Kettles. These are carriage mounted.
Ballistic Products carries 8 gauge hulls and components..
Briley will make adapters so folks can use 12 gauge shells in these, but it's not cheap.
Danindetroit
New member
So does a 12 bore mean a rifle that is sized like a shotgun instead of by caliber, and was usually an african game gun? I heard those punt guns had killed something like 100 or more ducks in 1 shot in the netherlands.
OK, it's tangential, but...
Take a look at
http://www.cybertorpedo.com/africanhunter/firearms/4bore_part01_01.htm
Take a look at
http://www.cybertorpedo.com/africanhunter/firearms/4bore_part01_01.htm
the possum
New member
Bit of a story here-
My great grandpa was a market waterfowler in the early 1900s, and Dad would often talk about how they'd duck hunt.
They'd select whatever slough would flood along the river and brush up a blind area. They would set up their blind right in front of a sapling tree, which they'd cut off a foot or two above the ground.
When they headed out to hunt in the morning, they'd grab a couple live hen ducks from the pen, and tie/anchor them in the slough so they'd lure in the ducks. If they got shot, no problem.
Well, Grandpa's double barreled 8 guage had some kind of metal loop (sling swivel?) somewhere on the forend or barrels, and he'd attach a small chain to his gun there, and the other end he'd attach to the small tree in front of the blind. Once a bunch of ducks landed in front of the blind, he'd pull the chain tight so the tree would act like the limb of a bow and soak up some of the recoil when he pulled both triggers. He also kept his Winchester 1911 handy (one of the first automatic shotguns) to clean up any cripples immediately after the initial blast.
Dad didn't get to buy all Grandpa's guns at his estate auction. He did get Grandpa's Winchester pump action .22 short, which accounted for scores of geese, and his Springfield trapdoor 45-70 carbine. Still, I would love to see that 8 guage.
My great grandpa was a market waterfowler in the early 1900s, and Dad would often talk about how they'd duck hunt.
They'd select whatever slough would flood along the river and brush up a blind area. They would set up their blind right in front of a sapling tree, which they'd cut off a foot or two above the ground.
When they headed out to hunt in the morning, they'd grab a couple live hen ducks from the pen, and tie/anchor them in the slough so they'd lure in the ducks. If they got shot, no problem.
Well, Grandpa's double barreled 8 guage had some kind of metal loop (sling swivel?) somewhere on the forend or barrels, and he'd attach a small chain to his gun there, and the other end he'd attach to the small tree in front of the blind. Once a bunch of ducks landed in front of the blind, he'd pull the chain tight so the tree would act like the limb of a bow and soak up some of the recoil when he pulled both triggers. He also kept his Winchester 1911 handy (one of the first automatic shotguns) to clean up any cripples immediately after the initial blast.
Dad didn't get to buy all Grandpa's guns at his estate auction. He did get Grandpa's Winchester pump action .22 short, which accounted for scores of geese, and his Springfield trapdoor 45-70 carbine. Still, I would love to see that 8 guage.