I've all ways read about his 2 bore "baby" when reading about big bores. I even remember one article had the serial number.
It was a h&h I think ? But I wonder what ever happened to it. I'd love to see a picture of it. Maybe even a current one . I know its probably in a private collection somewhere. I mean you don't scrap a h&h !

Zebrapunch:
Over the last century or more writers have been in error of Baker's 2-bore. It is assumed it was a 2-bore as Baker spoke of it shooting a 1/2 pound projectile. He also writes of the bullet as being elongated and explosive. He also refers to is as a half-pounder. Baker was correct in all he wrote but the fact is he had a 4-bore shooting an 8-ounce bullet with 10 drams of powder and sometime he write of using 16 drams or a full ounce! Think of it this way: a 2-bore projectile at the correct weight of 8 ounces would be a round ball--not an elongated projectile that contained an explosive charge. Baker writes: "...My half-pound shell was exceedingly simple. A cast-iron bottle, similar in shape to a German seltzer-water, formed the core, around which the lead was cast...Half ounce of the finest grained powder was inserted through the nipple by means of a small funnel; this formed the bursting charge..."

At the printers now is my book on the British bore rifles and about 5 pages is devoted to Baker in the chapter on history. There is also a photo of the rifle and bullet but I should not post the photo here as I lack permission from the owner. You can follow the book's progress on my website <calpappas.com> The book is 416 pages of everything English bore rifles, from 4 down to 28, with 100 rifles photographed, modern ballistics, rifles, and hunt stories, and vintage ammo, tools, etc...

Cheers,
Cal

PS. Yes, the 4 was a Holland.

I thought H&H had it or is that another very famous bore gun ?

(I haven't googled yet so maybe someone else can post if they know).

Ive read about his 4 bore. But was this a different gun than baby?
Was baby a single shot or sxs ?

Baker's big 4 was a single shot. Baby and the 4 are one in the same. He never had a 2-bore. He writes of using several powder charges in it, from 10 to 16 drams.
Cal

Is there enough known about the rifle an accoutrements that a modern maker could reproduce it? not that I have any interest at all in shooting it.

els:
There are photos of the rifle and a good description of the ammo. Holland and Holland has the ledger which will give all the details. Harold Wolf built an exact copy of Selous' 4-bore.
Cheers,
Cal

Is there a record of the weight of the gun. That would give us an indication of what the recoil was really like.