The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Big Bores Most significant big bores used in military history rated.Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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Ok chaps! Dust off your monocle and wax your mustache and or beard/burnsides. It is time for you to brush up on history and rate in order the top ten most significant military big bores in history! This list is limited to portable shoulder fired artillery. I will wait a bit in order not to taint/gooch the pool. I dare say their may be some saber rattling and pearl clutching so don't be shocked if you get an invite to a duel at dawn. Talley ho and balderdash to you all. 577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | ||
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Well I could not do 10 but for me it would be the 45/70 and 577/450 | |||
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I see we have a B'hoy! A medal for bravery for being first to volunteer. Mighty fine carts there. PS. Bullets without cases will be valid entries with its accompanying rifle etcetera I.E. the P53 Enfield musket and the 577 ball 577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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50/70, 45/70, 577/450, 43 mauser and all the 43variants, 455 webley, 45ACP, 577 enfield ball,577 snider, 75Cal Brown bess musket, 12 GA trench sghotgun | |||
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Bully for you! A nice list. No 50 BMG yet? 577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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416 Rigby and 404 Jeffery have to be in there somewhere, as well as the 450 NE. | |||
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45 colt, 45/70, 577/450, 577 Express (BPE) 7 mauser, 7x64, 375HH .. all the rest is confusion and noise opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club Information on Ammoguide about the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR. 476AR, http://www.weaponsmith.com | |||
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45 Colt is a big one for sure. More significant than the 45 ACP? 577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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What caliber was the Spencer Repeater .53? And what about the .69 caliber Brown Bess musket? Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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Finally someone brought up the Brown Bess! 577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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JMB used the colt to measure his round .. yeah, i'd say so opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club Information on Ammoguide about the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR. 476AR, http://www.weaponsmith.com | |||
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Kentucky long rifle anyone? 577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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It was/is a .56" | |||
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Military - how about a blunderbus? "When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick." | |||
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Step right up and make your list... Start rating in order of significance. Some significance by mass of use or revolution in technology etcetera... 577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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I love me some Blunderbus! Arghhhhh!!!! Nothing says pirates on the high seas like a good ol' Blunderbus.  577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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.250 Savage, 6,5x55, 8x64S Brenneke, later necked down to 7mm . .404 Jeffery , not forget the .42 Berdan either, took sub .45 calibers to a new level . was mr Rigby before a pc crash | |||
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Keep it coming Try to keep it to Big Bores 577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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Thank You, I knew it was a .50 something caliber. I may be wrong on this, hopefully someone will straighten me out, but if I remember correctly George Custer was on the approval board in determining what rifle the U.S. cavalry would be issued and he went with the Trapdoor Springfield over the Spencer Repeater and that has always puzzled me. Weren't Union Tropps using the Spencer during or toward the ernd of the Civil War? Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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.505 Gibbs .500 Jeffry .470 NE .458 Win Mag .45/70 Govt .416 Rigby JMO BH63 Hunting buff is better than sex! | |||
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I think only one of those is considered a military round. 577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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Great topic.  Some have wandered off into the panache patch a bit already, but we must remember to stick to MILITARY big bores. I am going to assume that has got to be .375-caliber and bigger, to stay within the usual accepted on this forum.  My No.1 pick agrees with the several picking the "Brown Bess" of Britain. According to the NRA's americanrifleman.org: "It began with a contract by Britain's Royal Board of Ordnance dated September 15, 1714 ... finally resulted in a new musket design in 1722 called the "King's Pattern." ... delayed its production until 1728 ... first issued in 1730 as the "Long Land" pattern." Affectionate nickname for the British flintlock muskets: Brown Bess Some say it started off as a .76 to .77-caliber musket eventually standardizing as a .75-caliber smoothbore. It was also initially called "King's Arm" or "Land Pattern Musket." Quite a few variations of the original pattern developed, "India Pattern" etc. It was good enough to subdue Napoleon and all of India, etc. The slang term "Brown Bess" developed in the latter 1700's, some say 1785, as a noun and a verb. "Firelock" was the original British term for a flintlock. "To Brown Bess" was to carry a firelock, or to serve as a private soldier. "To hug Brown Bess" was slang for enlisting in the army. The nickname "Brown Bess" does not come from the appearance of browned metal parts, for all of those were polished shiny bright. Well, anyway, the name sounded good, like that new maid down at the tavern, so it stuck. My "Pedersoli 2nd Model Brown Bess Musket" is a reproduction of the musket manufactured in England by Grice in 1762. It has a .75-caliber smoothbore barrel that is 42" long, gun overall length is 58.25". Weight 9.0 lbs. You load it with 70 grains of FFg and a patched .735-caliber round ball. It is about like a modern 12-gauge, smoothbore shotgun shooting a pumpkin ball, but not as accurate.  Hence, King George got whooped by General George and the USA was born, all thanks to the Brown Bess, the greatest military big bore of all time! The Pedersoli Brown Bess is perfect for ceremonial salutes at Sons of the American Revolution tributes at the local cemetery. 70 grains of FFg pushing a paper wad.  The Battle of Bunker Hill:  Thankfully there were some flintlock rifles and real riflemen amongst the rebels. And that brings me to No.2: The "Kentucky Rifle" which is the popular slang for what was really the "Pennsylvania Rifle." Call it "American Long Rifle," or simply the "Long Rifle" if women and children are present for any discussion about the nickname, "Kentucky Rifle." 1. Brown Bess 2. Kentucky Rifle ... to be continued after I go sight in for muzzleloader deer season. boom stick in a previous incarnation:  boom stick is the smiling chap with the extended pinky finger, kneeling in the front and center of the ranks, daydreaming of a feather-plumed pith helmet, and a rifle instead of a smoothbore. Rip ... | |||
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I don't know if Custer was on the board or not, but officers are often demeaning of enlisted, they have always limited the soldier. Scared that the soldier would fire all of his supply of ammo and then have none when needed, the decision makers preferred muzzle loaders to breach loaders, single shots to repeaters, to self-loaders, to select fire. So it comes as no surprise that the 7th Cav was fighting with single shot rifles while their adversary was using repeaters. As to the Spencer, Abe Lincoln fired them on the back lawn of the Whitehouse as part of the approval process and they were used by Union troops in the later years of the war. My dad had a spencer repeater in very good condition. Unfortunately he gave it and a few other highly desirable guns to my Idiot with a capital I brother who undoubtedly has traded them off for a bowl of lentil soup. | |||
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It is very common for people to respond to the topic heading. | |||
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By your definition,"Portable, shoulder fired ARTILLERY "... Lets not forget the 50 BMG Barrett, 55 cal Boys, 20 and 30 mm Lahti anti-tank rifles! Do the Panzerfaus and Bazooka count? They were big smooth bores! In regards to the duel, I will be armed with my Webley WG model in .455/.476. PIP PIP, Cherrio and all that sort of rot! DRSS(We Band of Bubba's Div.) N.R.A (Life) T.S.R.A (Life) D.S.C. | |||
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Jeffery's .404 ... none better. All The Best ... | |||
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Adzooks! Now you chaps are getting into the spirit. For clarity sake I changed the title for those scoundrels who did not read the first post. Nobody mentioned the Chinese hand cannon?  577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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Bravo! Great additions! I guess a bazooka does count as a big bore like a 12 gauge would. Now rate your list my man.
577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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Egad! I am far more handsome and have patriots blood in my veins. Other than that, a worthy contribution Thanks for the education on the Pennsylvania Rifle
577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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Used in many wars, does the Thompson Sub Machine Gun make your top ten big bores? Here is a short write up on it https://www.thrillist.com/gear...-gun-tommy-gun-facts   577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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As far as historical "impact" i would include these but not necessarily in this order:    . | |||
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It was only in use for a few years, but as long as you're allowing the 2.36" Bazooka you should also allow the 3.5" rocket launcher. Shooting it was so loud it was painful. | |||
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Ray, the M18 57mm recoilless rifle was not a bazooka and did not fire a rocket round. It fired a projectile from a perforated metallic cartridge case. The perforations in the case allowed the gasses to exit rearward, thus making it recoilless. After firing, the breach is opened from the rear and the cartridge case is ejected before inserting a new cartridge. The bullet/projectile traverses a rifled bore. In the case of shoulder fired rockets, they do not use a cartridge case, the rockets exit smooth, not rifled, bores, and the rockets are fin stabilized in flight. Here is a better picture of the ammunition.  . | |||
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boom stick, You will note that all of your regiment had white-feathered panache on their headgear, and they were British, not patriots!  1. Brown Bess 2. Kentucky Rifle So the Germans immigrated to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and thereabouts, in the early 1700's. They transformed their Jaeger rifles into the new American style flintlocks, longer barrel, lighter caliber, well balanced. These Pennsylvania Rifles were often works of fine art. .25-caliber to .62-caliber was the spread usually sited, with most being in the .40-caliber to .50-caliber range. See, already tending toward that most american of calibers, the .45-caliber. Americans brought the long rifles to the Revolutionary War. They were military weapons then and later in the war of 1812. Decisive events occurred due to these riflemen, who supplemented the Brown Bess musketeers on hand, with "appropriated" and salvaged, "parts guns," etc., that were turned against the Brits. In the next war with the Brits, the war of 1812, a company of Kentucky rifleman showed up to save the day at the Battle of New Orleans. Their Long Rifles got nicknamed Kentucky Rifles, and that stuck. And the British were still using Brown Bess Muskets. Once again the Brown Bess Musket and the Kentucky Rifle collaborated to beat the British. That Kentucky Rifle was to those wars what the Garand was to WWII: THE State of the art combat rifle. Davey Crockett's first "Ol' Betsey" was a .40-cal. By the time he died at the Alamo he was swinging a .58-cal. Daniel Boone had a "Kentucky Rifle" also of about .58-cal. He called it "Tick Licker" because with it he could lick the ticks off his dog at 100 yards. But wait, is there a trend toward .58-caliber, or .577"-bore in Military rifles? Apparently it was so. I think the Minie ball of French Captain Minie was the next most important military big-bore development. Darn those Frenchies, they were precocious in the 1800's. First self-contained cartridge, first Minie ball, and first smokeless powder military cartridge, though it was not a big bore. So far, chronology and importance are coinciding in my picks. Lessee, which .577-bore/.58-cal rifle was the biggie, for No.3 position in my ranking ...? Rip ... | |||
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577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375 *we band of 45-70ers* (Founder) Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder) | |||
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The modern equivalent of the M18 Recoilless Rifle, and worthy of its own mention in this thread, is the 84mm Carl Gustav, or M3 Multi-role Anti-armor Anti-tank Weapon System (MAAWS). These are used by free world forces in every theater. Note the rifled bore.   Note the fired cartridge cases on the left.  . | |||
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577/450 Martini-Henry 577 cal. Three Band Enfield Springfield trapdoor 45-70 Gov..: .45-55-405 & .45-70-500) Springfield Rolling Block .50-70 Gov. Sharps carbine/rifle (Breech-loader; .42-60-410) Spencer rifle (Lever-action; 56-56 (.52-45-350)) M1861 Springfield (.58) P53 Enfield (.577 (.58)) M1859 Sharps ('New model 1859', breech loader; .52, .56) Harper's Ferry Model 1803 Rifle (Flintlock rifle; .54) Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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Good additions, Frank. The .577/450 Martini–Henry breech-loading single-shot lever-actuated rifle was in service throughout the British Empire from 1871 to 1918. . | |||
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I would have to go with those who chose the Brown Bess as most significant. Not only was it by far the longest time in service, it also influenced musket designs by many other countries including most of Britians enemies. Roger ___________________________ I'm a trophy hunter - until something better comes along. *we band of 45-70ers* | |||
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I'm surprised nobody mentioned the Dreyse anti tank rifle of WWI. I think it was 55 cal if memory serves me NRA Benefactor. Life is tough... It's even tougher when you're stupid... John Wayne | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Big Bores Most significant big bores used in military history rated.
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