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What do you guys think about this large bore shotgun?


This punt gun is from the 1870s. It weights about 100 pounds, is 6ft., 4 inches long and has a bore size of 1-1/2 inches.

 Really big punt gun.JPG (20.87K)
downloads: 61

Wow! A two man crew? Not much armor though? LOL!

I think it seems rather impractical.

They were widely used in the US and Europe at the time and would bring down large quantities of birds. Punt gun comes from their use on small boats, called punts.

BattlecryGWJ, on May 16 2013 - 16:11, said:

Agreed! its cool tho.

A demonstration of the weapon firing
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=n7FeeamC4qk
It can be fired by 1 man. It appears that the gun is loaded from the muzzle and rammed with a ram-rod as a cannon would :P

Low velocity I am sure.  Recoil-less rifles were much more impressive.

What CrazyHeinz said.  They're illegal here (U.S.), but I think they're still allowed in England.  Afaik the name actually comes from the fact that they were used on waterfowl boats called punts (guessing that's a term brought here from across the pond?). For us Yanks think flatbottom jon boat.  Commercial or market hunters used them to decimate waterfowl which is why they were made illegal for hunting.

Here's a punt gun in "combat".  Media tags won't work with the YouTube cue function so here's the link.

http://www.youtube.c...BUs7O-h4#t=128s

HeavyMetal, that's an elephant gun, not a punt gun.

heavymetal1967, on May 16 2013 - 16:27, said:

They are illegal to hunt with, and some are C&R status. (Cartridge loading)

I've shot a 6 bore fowling piece, it was not amusing.  Really, a 20mm Lahti was more fun.

Most Punt Gun's I'm aware of were blackpowder, and transfer like any other antique.  Illegal as hell to use for actual hunting, but neat collectors items.  Personally, I'd have thought a Howitzer firing grapeshot would have been preferred. . . .  

I've shot an 8 bore double rifle.  1200 gr bullet at 1100 fps or so.  Recoil was more of a push than a punch, but it was one hell of a shove. . . . (I got sucked into shooting a dangerous game match offered at a range I used to belong to. I wasn't paying much attention and thought it was his 500 NE.  I was wrong. . . )