Big Bore Guns

[pavman]

I have 2X 10 Bores for Fowling anyone have an 8 or bigger? I guess Pop must have a Punt gun

 

Cant beat a nice big bore

[al4x]

I'm alright Jack must do, bigger is afterall better

[RC45]

Someone must have a Canon

[yanibaby]

I used my friends 8 gauge once and nearly died, even just lifting it was hard. He uses it for fowling.

 

He also has a 4 gauge, which uses 4oz cartridges... that's like shooting 4 x 28gram at once - I don't think I will ever dare have a go.

[CZ550Kevlar]

I have seen a nice 2 Bore cannon for sale made in france for £1200 brand new, not sure how effective it would be for fox etc

[shakin stevens]

I have seen a nice 2 Bore cannon for sale made in france for £1200 brand new, not sure how effective it would be for fox etc

got a english double 8 bore and a english double 10b, just saving up now for nxt seasons non toxic ! never tell her indoors!!!! Edited May 27, 2010 by shakin stevens

[ziplex]

A mate of mine has an 8 bore Tolley, it's a lovely thing and certainly thumps a bit, he's had some rangey geese with it too

[3xspringer]

A buddy of mine has got a 4bore and **** does that kick.

[Magus69]

I'm alright Jack must do, bigger is afterall better

And your Avatar just reinforces that.

Mike...

I'll add with an edit that when the mrs comes up with cuppa I always seem to scrolling past one of your posts she now says she knows what I'm on about when I say how much I like sbs doubles!!.

Elderkins Greylag 8 and a Lincoln 10.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Magus69

[shaun s]

have a look at this one http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=087017c573

[RossEM]

I used our guide's double 8 bore hammer gun for a flight on the greylags in Orkney last year. It was a beaut of a gun in terms of build quality and finishing, but to be honest I couldn't see the advantage as it was so bulky and uncomfortable to handle. It wasn't the extra recoil (which was negligable, using a 4 bore is when things get serious), just the sheer size and weight of the beast! So went back to the 12 bore with 36g 2's - much more wieldy and it did the job every time.

[wildfowler.250]

Here's a side question: is there much improvement,(effective shooting distance and killing power) between a 10 bore and a 12 for geese? Not that I'll be using them again but you can go as heavy as 66grams in a 12 bore if you wish (kicks like a mule ) and it's much lighter to swing about

[starlight32]

Here's a side question: is there much improvement,(effective shooting distance and killing power) between a 10 bore and a 12 for geese? Not that I'll be using them again but you can go as heavy as 66grams in a 12 bore if you wish (kicks like a mule ) and it's much lighter to swing about

 

 

All in a nutshell?

 

The advantage is less shot string and uniform pattern.

 

They are heavy in admission, but if you haul them correctly then it is no problem.

[mikee]

I had a double 8 a few years ago, nothing special just a spanish sbs, expensive to load for, kicked like a cart horse but as with any form of shooting "the bigger the gun the bigger the fun" really regret selling it

 

mikee

[shakin stevens]

I find them very interesting, and the end of the line most are now vintage and hard to buy and find.

Even the old reloading bits for big guns like dixon and hawksley are now going through the roof.

If you carry them on your shoulder they are a bit lighter to carry, and are great to use but the

old berreta extrema does the trick and is 6lb lighter!!

regards rob.

[njc110381]

A chap at the gun club I go to has a cannon. It's a huge trailer mounted thing that takes a decent 4x4 to tow it and if I remember right burns a whole tub of powder for one shot!

 

I've always fancied a double 10 or 8 but wouldn't really have the use for one. Oh well, when's that ever stopped me?

[pavman]

Here's a side question: is there much improvement,(effective shooting distance and killing power) between a 10 bore and a 12 for geese? Not that I'll be using them again but you can go as heavy as 66grams in a 12 bore if you wish (kicks like a mule ) and it's much lighter to swing about

 

 

Before the 3 1/2 12 gauge yes they were able to poke big lead loads on a full choke beyond the range of a 12 and where once a common tool for Wildfowlers, as with all things improvements in the modern 12's means it can do most jobs for the shooting man....

 

I just like a nice old fowling gun, I home load for both mine and the side X side has a nice touch in that if you pull the back trigger first you can shoot both tubes at once and I have done so a few times into a flock of Widgeon with BB's

 

You can also load for your choice.... I make up 5mm steel for Geese you get only about 80 pellets in a cart but the range that gives is fantastic as the big pellets carry on going and going, ok its a bit hit or miss but you only need one to do the job (draw a 5mm pellet and see just how big it is)..... I have never shot Lead from them but it must have been a Great experience with perhaps a massive load of number 1s

 

Highlander came out with me last year and even he was impressed bagging a brace of pinks each when we may have not had a shot with a 12...

[shakin stevens]

Ive not had me double 8 bore long took me 3yrs to save up for one, i have a mate who loaded a few

cartridges for me till i got me own loading gear,just bought a cracking brass and ebony wad rammer

from the states and its english so thats come home! putting 2.5 oz of no 1s through it in lead just for

inland loads in scotland, patterns very well, me old 10bore is late 1880s with a 3.5 chamber so that

old girl can turn some gear out as well. me mate has a 4 bore with a 48inch barrell its a big lump

went round other day and had a crack with that in his farm yard, did 4oz of bb at 70yds you aint

gonna fly through that!

regards rob.

[al4x]

A chap at the gun club I go to has a cannon. It's a huge trailer mounted thing that takes a decent 4x4 to tow it and if I remember right burns a whole tub of powder for one shot!

 

I've always fancied a double 10 or 8 but wouldn't really have the use for one. Oh well, when's that ever stopped me?

 

 

haven't you worked out a reason why you must have a cannon yet

[njc110381]

haven't you worked out a reason why you must have a cannon yet

 

 

To be honest I've never really had any interest in them. They're not accurate and have no real practical use so I don't feel the need to get one. Big Bore rifles and shotguns on the other hand are a big thing for me. Bigger often seems better as to me noise and recoil are two major factors in having fun!

 

On the other hand one of my favourite rifles is my .17 Ackley Hornet. That's not big at all but performs so well I'm surprised it's not a factory round!

[ziplex]

Have a read of this gents, it's taken from an old book, (The complete Wildfowler, Ashore and Afloat) I was reading on line......fascinating stuff, especially the distances involved!

 

In regard to the shooting capacities of 8-bores, records of actual experience form the only test. Below I give some authenticated instances, the first concerning a double 8-bore built by Messrs. Tolley ; the second, a gun by Mr. W. W. Greener. The records appeared in the Field and Land and Water respectively. Messrs. Tolley's gun : — "Six shots at single rooks, sitting on a stone wall, 83 yards' distance from the hall door. First, one pellet passing through head and one in back ; second shot, bird winged ; third shot, killed, one pellet passing through neck, one in breast, and one leg broken ; fourth shot, bird flew away, apparently not touched ; fifth shot, killed, one pellet in breast, one wing and one leg broken ; sixth shot, killed, one pellet through head, one under wing, and one near vent. "Six shots at single birds, 115 yards distant, killed second, fourth, and fifth shots ; the fourth flew away for about thirty yards, and then dropped dead. One shot at six pigeons, 137 yards distant, killed GUNS 27 two. One shot at thirteen rooks, 141 yards distant, killed four and wounded another. One shot at about thirty plovers, 147 yards distant, killed six and wounded two others, which we afterwards bagged. "The charge at the 83 yards was 8 drs. and 3 oz. No. 3 shot ; at the 115 yards, 7f drs. and 3ioz. No. 1 shot; at the long range, 7 J drs. and 3^ oz. shot, fifty-four or fifty-five pellets to the ounce. Mr. Greener's gun (double 8-bore, chambered for 3-in. brass "Perfects"):— "With 6^ drs. No. 4 Alliance powder, 2f oz. No. i shot, the average pattern on a target 4 ft. by 3 ft. at 100 yards was 40 pellets = 3*3 to the square foot; with 7 drs. and 30Z. No. i, average 54 = 4 pellets to the square foot ; with 6i drs. and 2|oz. No. 4 shot, at 80 yards, 127 on target, or 10 pellets to the square foot ; with 7 drs. and 3 oz. No. 4 shot in 30-in. circle at 80 yards, an average of 57 pellets, or ii| to the square foot ; with 6 drs. and 2f oz. No. i shot at 80 yards, in the 30-in. circle, an average of 53 pellets, or io| to the square foot; with 6 drs. and 2^ oz. No. i shot, at 80 yards, in the 3&-in. circle, an average of 48 pellets, or 9J to the square foot ; with 6 drs. and 2f oz. No. i shot at 60 yards, in the 30-in. circle, an average of 130 pellets ; with 6 drs. and 2^ oz. No. I shot, at 40 yards, 90 to 97 pellets in a selected 12-in. square; with 7 drs. and 3 oz. No. i, about 100 pellets in the 12-in. square. " With brass cases, and 7 drs. and 2 J oz. No. i shot, the pellets in the 30-in. circle averaged 224; average in centre 12-in. square, 90 pellets. The prices of 8-bores vary very much, but Messrs. Tolley make an admirable w^eapon, and well suited to the man of moderate means, for eighteen guineas, while their best-quality gun costs about twice as much. The double lo-bore seems rather to have gone out of favour during recent years, though personally I swear by it for certain kinds of work. Some years ago the lo-bore was supposed to be the lightest kind of gun for wildfowling proper, and it certainly is an extremely powerful and yet extremely handy gun for a man of any physique. I have a double lo-bore built for me by Mr. Greener which is an absolutely perfect 28 THE COMPLETE WILDFOWLER weapon. Its range is enormous ; its hitting power very great, and as a duck gun for fast flighting work incomparable. It comes to the shoulder — weight 9^ lbs. — with the greatest ease, and I can shoot redshank and snipe with it with comfort — though naturally one prefers a lighter gun for a long day's walk upon saltings. While waiting behind a sea-wall or in a duck-pit for fowl I find it admirable, though, of course, not every one would be able to use it for snap-shooting. Last season, for instance, I took out with me, on evening flighting, a boy of nineteen, the son of a regular wildfowler in my employment, and himself an excellent shot. I gave him my lo-bore and carried myself a lighter gun, of which I shall presently speak. We were behind a tall hedge which borders upon the narrow greens which fringe the Blakeney Marshes in Norfolk. It was moonlight, and we had not long been in position when a skein of grey geese came over us, not flying very fast, and at about fifty yards. I got my birds all right — a left and right — but my companion missed with both barrels, though the shot was not a difficult one, and one which under ordinary circum- stances he certainly would not have missed. This happened more than once during the night, and was entirely owing to the weight of the gun being too great for a slender lad of that age. The great advantage of the lo-bore is that it will shoot large-sized shot better than the 12-bore, and will also eff"ectively carry heavier loads. For smaller shot the heavy 12-bore at which we now arrive is, in the opinion of most experts, equally good. If the double 8-bore is recognised as the "standard" shoulder gun for shore-shooting, all wildfowlers of experience without exception will bear me out when I say that the heavy 12-bore chambered for long cases is the handiest and best all- round weapon. It is not too much to say that if a sportsman's whole armament consists of this gun alone, he will be prepared

Edited May 29, 2010 by ziplex