One of the booths in the gun companies section(upper level) had a bunch of beautifully made doubles. One was a monsterous 4 bore with two dummy cartridges, a solid and a hollowpoint softpoint. They were a hand full. I asked the lady attendent if it was black powder and she said no it was nitro. I asked her how much it weighed and she said 30 lbs. and I said I think it needs to be that heavy. There was also a tiny little double(maybe a child's gun) that by the looks of the diameter of the chambers must have been made for either a 22 long rifle or 22 mag. Exquisite metal work with gold, red and green inlays but made only to be kept in a very nice gun cabinet to be admired.

Wasn't it a 4-bore that Cornwallis Harris shot a sable (originally called a Harris Buck) with that just pissed it off?

Saw both of those guns. The 4-bore was at the Rock Island Auction booth. The small double rifle was in .22 mag and there was another in a different booth in .17. I fondled them both and they were beautiful, but $20,000 for a squirrel gun seems a bit much. Very expensive plinking.
kh

I got to handle a 4 Bore at Butch Searcy's shop. I didn't want to shoot it.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
I got to handle a 4 Bore at Butch Searcy's shop. I didn't want to shoot it.

Does Butch furnish a caisson with it?

These look like modern 4-bore.

I knew someone who had an original 4-bore punt gun.

I borrowed it from him, and several of us fired it.

It had rings in the triggers, for a line yard and the stock was very large and had a hole in the middle.

Apparently they had a wooden pole that fit in there so it would not fly out of the punt as they shot ducks with it.

Yes Saeed I have one of those original 4 bores for waterfowl. I plan on having it brought back to fireable condition. It’s missing the striker and a few pieces.

A little different then the 4 bored that were seen in Africa and safaris.

4-bores are interesting and unique and it is a very select group that owns an original. They are so rare--more rare than .600s or full-house .577s. I will miss mine as I sold my double 4 a few days ago. As I get older, with no family to pass things on to, it's time for my doubles to go. The 4 was the first.
Cheers,
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
4-bores are interesting and unique and it is a very select group that owns an original. They are so rare--more rare than .600s or full-house .577s. I will miss mine as I sold my double 4 a few days ago. As I get older, with no family to pass things on to, it's time for my doubles to go. The 4 was the first.
Cheers,
Cal

Hey Cal, do you need a stepson?


……………………………………………………...

Thanks, MAC.
But in all honesty I have been thinking of adopting. I am focusing my adoptive interest in an orphan girl from Korea, say 19-20 years old.
We'll see how it works out.
Cheers, mate, and I hope you can come to the double rifle shoot May 4.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
4-bores are interesting and unique and it is a very select group that owns an original. They are so rare--more rare than .600s or full-house .577s. I will miss mine as I sold my double 4 a few days ago. As I get older, with no family to pass things on to, it's time for my doubles to go. The 4 was the first.
Cheers,
Cal

You could have left it to Joyce.

Cal,

Won’t Janet Reno get jealous?

Just for reference, a 4 Bore case next to a 50 BMG case and a loaded 375 H&H round

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
Thanks, MAC.
But in all honesty I have been thinking of adopting. I am focusing my adoptive interest in an orphan girl from Korea, say 19-20 years old.
We'll see how it works out.
Cheers, mate, and I hope you can come to the double rifle shoot May 4.
Cal

I knew I was barking up the wrong tree, trying to beat out a 20 yr old girl!
……………………………………….. SHUCKS!

Please, MAC, don't be offended.
It was VERY close.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
These look like modern 4-bore.

I knew someone who had an original 4-bore punt gun.

I borrowed it from him, and several of us fired it.

It had rings in the triggers, for a line yard and the stock was very large and had a hole in the middle.

Apparently they had a wooden pole that fit in there so it would not fly out of the punt as they shot ducks with it.

No - the hole is for a recoil rope - its belayed forward to a turning block on each cockpit coaming and then back to a weight in the cockpit floor to take the force of the recoil. Not a shoulder arm - though it may have started that way.


Although 4 bore was quite common for punt guns the cartridges would often be longer to take more shot. On larger bores the cartridges would need to be made specially. The modern equivalent uses a turned brass head with a plumbing pipe case sealed with silicon.


A couple of years ago Gregor McLeod had one in his shop in Tain - it was about 1 1/4" in the bore with a bronze screw breach - all painted a fetching battleship grey. Probably propelled a pound or so of BBs. Such guns were (maybe still are?) used on the Dornoch firth on rafts of roosting ducks and geese - a really treacherous stretch of water with a lot of "bottomless" mud banks to suck you down.