tdmoparguy
New member
Could you make a 10ga. Howdah?
Howdah????
- Thread starter tdmoparguy
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tdmoparguy
New member
I was wondering if there was enough material in the barrels that you could bore or ream them from 20 to 10ga. Yes i suppose you could cut down the barrel and stock of a 10ga Db Pedersoli but the Howdah is already ready to go was my thinking. Could you get a replacement barrel for a Pedersoli Db 10ga and cut it down and adapt it to a Howdah? I just thought it would be a neat idea.
How pleasant it would be to shoot would be determined by how bad you need to shoot it. I suggest "Ghost and the Darkness", though fiction. Excellent movie. Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas.
I do believe the movie is based on an actual maneater and the hunt for the same. "Maneater of Tsvaio" I think is the name. Maybe it's Tsavo.
If that lion or tiger was about to take e bite out of your ass and you had a 2 INCH BORE hand cannon, whether it would break both your arms or not, you would shoot that sumbitch. And HOPE you killed that man eating sumbitch.
Kick is objective, anyhow. Your guns almost all kick your ass on the bench. Mine did. When I shot a deer, no recoil at all. Remarkable.
Cheers,
George
Oh, hell NO!!! You ain't gonna make a 12 out of a 20 guage. 20 is about 5/8. 12 is I think .718 for choke, chamber is probably 25/32.
I do believe the movie is based on an actual maneater and the hunt for the same. "Maneater of Tsvaio" I think is the name. Maybe it's Tsavo.
If that lion or tiger was about to take e bite out of your ass and you had a 2 INCH BORE hand cannon, whether it would break both your arms or not, you would shoot that sumbitch. And HOPE you killed that man eating sumbitch.
Kick is objective, anyhow. Your guns almost all kick your ass on the bench. Mine did. When I shot a deer, no recoil at all. Remarkable.
Cheers,
George
Oh, hell NO!!! You ain't gonna make a 12 out of a 20 guage. 20 is about 5/8. 12 is I think .718 for choke, chamber is probably 25/32.
madcratebuilder
New member
The barrels are to thin to ream oversize, you might be able to go up one gauge size. Any muzzle loading shot gun could be cut down and new pistol grip stock fabricated.
The 20ga Howda is a hand full with 50-60gr loads. I would consider a 16 ga to be about the max for reasonable comfort.
FL-Flinter
New member
A 10ga can be built but not from a 20ga because there isn't enough barrel. 20ga ML bore is 0.615" to 0.620" and a 10ga is 0.775" to 0.780" thus the 10ga bore I.D. (Inside Diameter) would roughly equal the 20ga barrel O.D. (Outside Diameter).
Two other pertinent issues are the grip design and recoil. The maximum allowable powder charge for the Pedersoli Howdah is 35gr of black powder and when behind a 342gr 20ga round ball is going to be a handful to control with the long radius grip design. A 0.770" 10ga round ball shows 688gr on the balance or slightly more than double the mass of the 0.610" ball. Grip design is very important when it comes to controlling recoil but no matter the design, there comes a point when the recoil will become excessive and uncontrollable which is what you will find with an extremely large bore handgun.
When I build a gun, or even when replacing the grip panels on a C&B for someone, adjusting the grip style & size to the user makes a huge difference in how well the gun interfaces with the user.
Two other pertinent issues are the grip design and recoil. The maximum allowable powder charge for the Pedersoli Howdah is 35gr of black powder and when behind a 342gr 20ga round ball is going to be a handful to control with the long radius grip design. A 0.770" 10ga round ball shows 688gr on the balance or slightly more than double the mass of the 0.610" ball. Grip design is very important when it comes to controlling recoil but no matter the design, there comes a point when the recoil will become excessive and uncontrollable which is what you will find with an extremely large bore handgun.
When I build a gun, or even when replacing the grip panels on a C&B for someone, adjusting the grip style & size to the user makes a huge difference in how well the gun interfaces with the user.
Early Howdah pistols were approximately 8-10 bore, being cut down from muzzle loading shotguns available in India. As you'd expect, a little experimenting found that extra powder and shot could be added or a single slug because the short barrel (about 7-8") released the pressure rapidly enough. A collector friend had one and it was the only muzzle loader I'd ever seen where black powder was poured in with a soup ladle!
Later versions included cut-down double rifles, such as the .577 Snyder or 577/450 Martini-Henry which would be simply astounding to shoot with one hand atop a bucking elephant. Other variants included 10gauge English double shotguns whether muzzle loaded or breech loaded.
As to why the pistol was needed in the first place, watch this 3 minute clip of a team trying to dart a tiger for relocation in India. You'd think that orange pelt would stand out amongst the green grass. Silly you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LjG7S8aqJg&feature=player_embedded
Yes, the mahout on the elephant was severely mauled, but at least he's alive. The story about the incident is here.
If you're a masochistic recoil junkie, I'd suggest cutting down a 10ga shotgun and using a buckshot load. You'd run afoul of federal AOW laws with a smoothbore though. So converting a rifle to a pistol would be less legally involved, I think. Or just buy a Thompson-Center pistol and fit it with a 12" barrel for .375 H&H. Be sure to wear a catcher's mask when firing it though.
Any handgun that can, in the words of Peter Capstick, "scrape a 500 pound tiger off an elephant's back" is going to have some really unpleasant recoil. I'd rather fire a 4-inch .500 S&W Magnum barehanded.
Re: The Ghost & the Darkness:
Based on The Man-eaters of Tsavo and other East African Adventures, the memoirs of Col. John Henry Patterson, during the building of the Tsavo rail bridge, Kenya in 1898. The lions took approximately 135 victims before Patterson killed them. IIRC, no American was present as in the 1996 film, but as beautiful as that movie was, it doesn't quite capture the terror like the written words. You can find the story, along with several others, in Peter Capstick's excellent Death in the Silent Places.
Later versions included cut-down double rifles, such as the .577 Snyder or 577/450 Martini-Henry which would be simply astounding to shoot with one hand atop a bucking elephant. Other variants included 10gauge English double shotguns whether muzzle loaded or breech loaded.
As to why the pistol was needed in the first place, watch this 3 minute clip of a team trying to dart a tiger for relocation in India. You'd think that orange pelt would stand out amongst the green grass. Silly you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LjG7S8aqJg&feature=player_embedded
Yes, the mahout on the elephant was severely mauled, but at least he's alive. The story about the incident is here.
If you're a masochistic recoil junkie, I'd suggest cutting down a 10ga shotgun and using a buckshot load. You'd run afoul of federal AOW laws with a smoothbore though. So converting a rifle to a pistol would be less legally involved, I think. Or just buy a Thompson-Center pistol and fit it with a 12" barrel for .375 H&H. Be sure to wear a catcher's mask when firing it though.
Any handgun that can, in the words of Peter Capstick, "scrape a 500 pound tiger off an elephant's back" is going to have some really unpleasant recoil. I'd rather fire a 4-inch .500 S&W Magnum barehanded.
Re: The Ghost & the Darkness:
Based on The Man-eaters of Tsavo and other East African Adventures, the memoirs of Col. John Henry Patterson, during the building of the Tsavo rail bridge, Kenya in 1898. The lions took approximately 135 victims before Patterson killed them. IIRC, no American was present as in the 1996 film, but as beautiful as that movie was, it doesn't quite capture the terror like the written words. You can find the story, along with several others, in Peter Capstick's excellent Death in the Silent Places.
howdah
Question:
Have read the story as well as seen the film. I like your comment about the effect of the written word; how very true.
Pete
Question:
Is that really so? I'd been, still am, under the impression that the restrictions regarding barrel length, etc. do not apply to muzzleloaders. Am I incorrect in that?
Have read the story as well as seen the film. I like your comment about the effect of the written word; how very true.
Pete
madcratebuilder
New member
A muzzle loader is a non firearm, NFA laws do not apply.
tdmoparguy
New member
Thanks for info so far. Could you get a replacement barrel for a Pedersoli Db 10ga and cut it down and adapt it to a Howdah? Or would it just be easier and alot less of a headache to cut down a 10ga Db?
No, you are correct in that muzzle loaders are exempt.
I was addressing the notion of taking a 10-gauge cartridge shotgun and cutting it down. That would be, as the feds say, a no-no.
The Ghost and the Darkness would have benefited from a good dramatic reading from Patterson's book or Capstick's version. I think Kilmer has a good enough voice to pull that off. Especially when he's in the tree and the clouds sweep in to cover the moon, making the night as black as an ink well. In Capstick's version, Col.JHP hears the lions roaring off to his right for an hour. Then he says, there's only one thing worse than hearing a lion's roar in the night. And that's not hearing it,
for that means they're on the hunt.Craig,
I don't know how that thing, whatever it is, kicks, but the Tower I made into a shooter for a client, and had to test, with his specs ( I had never shot a .69 cal. RB, had no idea how to load.) THAT SOB wrung it's way out of my grip and took a chunk out of my knuckle from that bigassed screw on the hammer.
Bill,
There is not a book that has ever been turned into a movie that was any where near as good as the book.
Problem. 12 to 40 hours of reading will not condense to 2 hours of movie without losing most OF the gist of the book.
I have not read "Maneaters of Tsavo". I have picked it up at Borders and contemplated it. Thin paper, I think about 500 pages.
So, 2 hour movie.. Ain't nothing of the book but the highlights.
Anybody read Harry Potter books? 800 pages and 2 hour movie. You KNOW that lots is left out.
Hell, They didn't even know there WERE 2 lions eating people, per the movie.
Cheers,
George
I don't know how that thing, whatever it is, kicks, but the Tower I made into a shooter for a client, and had to test, with his specs ( I had never shot a .69 cal. RB, had no idea how to load.) THAT SOB wrung it's way out of my grip and took a chunk out of my knuckle from that bigassed screw on the hammer.
Bill,
There is not a book that has ever been turned into a movie that was any where near as good as the book.
Problem. 12 to 40 hours of reading will not condense to 2 hours of movie without losing most OF the gist of the book.
I have not read "Maneaters of Tsavo". I have picked it up at Borders and contemplated it. Thin paper, I think about 500 pages.
So, 2 hour movie.. Ain't nothing of the book but the highlights.
Anybody read Harry Potter books? 800 pages and 2 hour movie. You KNOW that lots is left out.
Hell, They didn't even know there WERE 2 lions eating people, per the movie.
Cheers,
George
Bill DeShivs
New member
Tdmoparguy- Have you ever SHOT a 20 ga. pistol?
I doubt you have, or you wouldn't be asking about a 10 ga.!
I doubt you have, or you wouldn't be asking about a 10 ga.!
madcratebuilder
New member
A 10ga Howda would be very uncomfortable to shoot. This 20ga is a hand full at 50gr. My LeMat is a 16ga and a hand full at 35gr.
I've fired 400 grains of lead loaded on top of a 100 grain duplex powder load of APP/Clear Shot (~60/40) out of this .667 caliber Sea Service smoothbore.
While the load did produce "considerable" felt recoil, it was controllable by holding the pistol with 2 hands. And although it only has a 9 inch barrel, I imagine that this pistol is also much lighter in weight than the Pedersoli 20 gauge Howdah double barrel pistol.
Video:
http://s55.photobucket.com/remix/pl...tname=stream55.photobucket.com&fs=1&os=1&ap=1
While the load did produce "considerable" felt recoil, it was controllable by holding the pistol with 2 hands. And although it only has a 9 inch barrel, I imagine that this pistol is also much lighter in weight than the Pedersoli 20 gauge Howdah double barrel pistol.
Video:
http://s55.photobucket.com/remix/pl...tname=stream55.photobucket.com&fs=1&os=1&ap=1
Last edited:
tdmoparguy
New member
Thank you for all the replies. I'm not planning on building and shooting one I just saw a Howdah on Cabelas and wondered if anybody had modified one to a 10ga. Bill DeShivs No i haven't gotten the chance to shoot a BP Shotgun or Rifle yet. All i've shot is my 4 'Navys and my Dragoon. If anybody has a 10ga Double Barrel BP Shotgun i am wanting to trade my Dragoon and some cash for one. It doesn't have to be brand new I just want to try one to see if i like it.
Thank You
Tom Dooley
Thank You
Tom Dooley