I've got an 8ga (or 8 bore for the English among us) SxS Evans shotgun that I shoot trap, skeet, SC on a regular basis. Until now I've been using CNC machined brass hulls (RMC) with a glued on overshot card and Remington Industrial hulls with a roll crimp. Recently I recieved an 8ga die set for a MEC 600 jr which makes things move a lot faster for reloading. Hopefully I'll soon be getting some of the new clear hulls from Winchester with a thinner/flexable hull and be able to use the last 2 stages of the MEC press for a star crimp. I'm looking to network with others who have 8ga shotguns to share information on this unusual critter.

I'm also looking to see what it will take to lift the ban on 8ga shotguns for Migratory birds. As it stands now, I cannot even shoot crows with my 8ga. I would like to be able to hunt geese & ducks with my 127yr old beauty.
My Browning Gold Lt 10ga is a far better waterfowl gun than the damascus barreled 8ga. I can launch steel, Hevi-Shot, and Bismuth with the 10ga but lead and Bismuth only in the 8ga. Even then the 10ga carries a heavier payload faster and with 3 shots vs. the lighter slower 8ga loadings.

Anyway, if an amendment to lift the ban on 8ga guns for waterfowl was tacked onto another bill, would that lift the ban? Would going directly to my Rep & Senator vs the US Fish & Wildlife Svc be better since the Rep & Senator make the laws and the USFWS enforces them? Market hunting is banned, strict harvest limits are in place, and the # of hunters who own AND shoot an 8ga shotgun are staggeringly low. Why not allow the use of 8ga shotguns?

Any comments welcome.

ps. I cannot legaly hunt ducks with my 8ga & 2oz of Bismuth but I can legaly wound geese with 1/2oz of #7 steel

pss. Yes I use smokeless in my gun and everything works just fine, please don't tell me I'm going to blow up.

BMG,

I'm not a waterfowler, so I don't know how effective your loads would be on birds, but as long as the firearm is made to be held in the hands and fired from the shoulder, I don't many people would have a problem with the bigger gauges being legal.

Good luck on your mission!

George

Good luck to you. Politicians don't care about such things, IMHO.

It would be fun. I have a 4-bore muzleloader I would like to try. It is cylinder bore and could launch 4 ounces. I don't see how such a rig could be any more effective than a couple shots out of a modern repeating 12 or 10 gauges. You can get more shot down range with either. That is why the old market hunters prefered a Browning A-5 with a magazine extension. I have confirmed this with someone who shot for the San Francisco restaurants in the '30s.

BMG,

The 8 bore like the 4 bore are "industrial" shorguns. Why on earth do you need to hit 4 geese at one time? That is the ONLY advatange that you get with the larger bore shotgun, more pellets larger diameter pattern, so the commercial hunter could improve his efficiency. You aren't a commercial hunter are you? You do realize that the 8 bore doesn't shoot at significantly different muzzle velocity than a 20 gauge does, don't you? The difference is the amount of shot it fires (weight) and the pattern dispersement (diameter of the pattern). All shotguns are loaded with what double rifle shooters would call 'smokeless for black powder' loads. If you look on your commercially loaded ammunition it will have it's 'Dram Equivalent' load on it. The "Dram Equivalent' load is the black powder load. The relationship between the smokeless powder and original black powder loads are well documented and understood.

Going back to your analogy,

Quote:

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I cannot legaly hunt ducks with my 8ga & 2oz of Bismuth but I can legaly wound geese with 1/2oz of #7 steel

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with the 8 bore you will kill one goose and wound two others. So all hunters are better off with you only wounding the one goose with your current shotgun! By the way, if you want to pass a law have your reload BANNED, 1/2 oz of No.7 for geese, that isn't a good crow load!

I suggest you learn to shoot better so you can hit the goose with your 12 gauge! Oh yes, call me troll, but the
truth of my statements remains the same, THE TRUTH!

Bet you can all tell how I voted.

Perhaps I shall start a thread 'bout getting the Government to allow the use of full auto rifles for deer hunting! There is as much "need" for that as there is for using 8, 4, and 2 bore commercial shotguns for duck, geese, and turkey.

This forum has truly gone to hell! Too bad, many of these guys need to seek professional clinical help for their apparently over-powering feelings of inadequancy (reference to overstated muzzle velocities, cannot kill geese with 12 gauge, etc, etc).

Scott

Scotts,

I do not understand your arguments? By your example, why not just learn to shoot a 20 gauge instead of using the "huge" pattern the 12 gauge puts out? Why do they have choke choices?

On another point, I thought that the best shot patterns come from a bigger diameter bore which reduces the amount of shot stacked on top of itself. (Yea, I know that�s a hard read but you get my point)

GTR

SIMPLE ENGLISH:

The Commercial shotguns: 8, 4, and 2 bore were designed to bring down multiple birds with one shot. Got it. They are made to make money, not for sporting purposes!

The reason for using a 12 ga for GEESE is to achieve the proper shot density with an appropriate shot size.

Of couse we could just forget the stupid, inefficient, shotguns and go directly to BOFORS AAA (anti-aircraft artillery).

I really don't know why I even argue with a bunch of internet wannabe posier fags! If you had any experience in the field (instead of reading BS in magazines and a trip or two out to blast away at anything that moved in the woods)you would immediately understand my statements!

Scott

ScottS,

Guess your just a jackass. Do not argue. Leave. Go to the "field". Be free.


GTR

BMG

I hope you get somewhere with your quest. This is a case where the question should be "why not" instead of "what do you need that for". There is no legitimate case against the big guns, for that matter, there never was.

As far as I'm concerned they should be legally recognized as the legitimate sporting arms that they are. In my eyes, the user of the gun determines whether or not the instrument is used in an ethical manner.

On a side note. It often amazes me how this masturbater can be so ignorant as to decry the use of 2 ozs. of bismuth from a full choked 8 bore while referring to a full choked twelve bore with its 2oz.+ payloads as appropriate. The level of its ignorance is astonishing. But then again, what can you expect from someone with NO knowledge of the issue.

Gabe