My, my, now THAT’s a big one!

[Flint62Smoothie]

Big black powder shoot today. We had a flintlock wall gun, 4 bore, the ball weigh 4 ounces and are almost 1” in diameter.

We were shooting 300-grain loads. I also had my swivel gone, shooting golf balls with 400-grain loads.

Then left to right … a 32, 54, 75 & 4-Bore roundballs.

FYI, the wall gun owner wants to sell it …

[MJBush]

Oh my, that’s cool. Shutters Fort in Sacramento, Ca has an original wall gun. I got to handle it but not shoot it.
As I recall it is BIG!
Michael

[smylee grouch]

My lead ladell and pot are TOO small. 

[bigsmoke]

I have shot several 4 bores.  Mine were sporting rifle versions, and percussion guns.  IIRC, they weighed in at about 18 pounds which does help keep the felt recoil down.  I found 300 grains of Fg to be a pleasant load, but when kicked up to 400 grains, you discover you don't want to shoot too many shots.
Are not wall guns smooth bores?  I seem to recall that I heard that once.  Never have had the pleasure of shooting one, though.
John (Bigsmoke)

[Flint62Smoothie]

Some stills …

[Daryl]

That is nice. The scale is pretty good, too.

[Dphariss]

I have shot several 4 bores.  Mine were sporting rifle versions, and percussion guns.  IIRC, they weighed in at about 18 pounds which does help keep the felt recoil down.  I found 300 grains of Fg to be a pleasant load, but when kicked up to 400 grains, you discover you don't want to shoot too many shots.
Are not wall guns smooth bores?  I seem to recall that I heard that once.  Never have had the pleasure of shooting one, though.
John (Bigsmoke)

If you read Selous in “A Hunters Wanderings in Africa” and the 13 pound 4 bores he was using and the powder charges its no wonder he later stated he wished he had never used them. Since they effected his shooting for the rest of his life. They were short barrel shotguns IIRC and were not meant to be loaded with a handful of powder by the gun bearer.
The wall guns ordered by Washington were MUCH heavier than that shown and were rifled and would hit a sheet of paper at 400 yards. But at the time a “sheet” of paper may have been 4 times the typical 8.5x11 we think of today. These would have been useful against arillerymen and other such things that were generally out of range of the 44-50 caliber rifle. I have seen them described as smooth bore on the WWW but in the case the Rifles ordered by Washington its simply some curator not knowing anything about firearms. Which is pretty common.

[Daryl]

Taylor once upon a time built a 4 bore which weighed 51 or 52 pounds. It was a smoothbore, however.
We made a mould out of maple & cast up a few balls.  IIRC, we used about 300gr. of powder and a tightly
patched ball. We shot it only against the 300 meter berm, so likely 350yards to that bank of dirt. It appeared
to move about a 1/2 yard of dirt with every shot.
Incredibly, the accuracy was decent, at about 3 or 3 1/2 feet, considering no rifling. Upon ignition(underhammer)
the gun would move back about 12". Didn't seem to matter if your shoulder was hard into the butt or not, the
gun simply moved back about 12".
Seems to me, I recall the 'tube' being 2 1/2" across and some 40" long.

[Flint62Smoothie]

Not mine, but $4,000 buys it!

[flatsguide]

If you read Selous in “A Hunters Wanderings in Africa” and the 13 pound 4 bores he was using and the powder charges it’s no wonder he later stated he wished he had never used them. Since they effected his shooting for the rest of his life. They were short barrel shotguns IIRC and were not meant to be loaded with a handful of powder by the gun bearer.

I read that book many years ago and if I recall correctly his gun bearer double loaded his 4 bore and Selous wound up on his butt after shooting it. It’s a great read.
Richard

[Seth Isaacson]

https://ia600902.us.archive.org/9/items/hunterswandering00selo/hunterswandering00selo.pdf

[flatsguide]

Thanks Seth! A blast from the past.
Cheers Richard

[Daryl]

If you read Selous in “A Hunters Wanderings in Africa” and the 13 pound 4 bores he was using and the powder charges it’s no wonder he later stated he wished he had never used them. Since they effected his shooting for the rest of his life. They were short barrel shotguns IIRC and were not meant to be loaded with a handful of powder by the gun bearer.

I read that book many years ago and if I recall correctly his gun bearer double loaded his 4 bore and Selous wound up on his butt after shooting it. It’s a great read.
Richard

Further to that, Francis Selous 4bores were shortened Dutch fouling guns.

[flatsguide]

On elephants he took lung and hearts shots then trotted after them ‘till they expired. The local village butchered them. Was a different world.

[Daryl]

Entirely.