Show us your big bore rifles

[bigsmoke]

Didn't an African hunter by the name of Bell take down everything with a
7MM? A 28 caliber isn't any big bore that I am familiar with. Bob Roller

Point taken.  However, is not the lowly .22 a favorite with poachers for deer also?  For some reason, however, most state game departments think that a larger bore firearm is needed.  I think Sir Samuel White Baker said it best in his book, "Wild Beasts and their Ways":  There is no more fatal policy in hunting large or dangerous game than a contempt of the animal, exhibited by a selection of weapons of inferior caliber.  Common sense should be the guide and surely it requires no extraordinary intelligence to understand that a big animal requires a big bullet, and that a big bullet requires a correspinding charge of powder...

[SuperCracker]

The big bore rifle is an intriguing thing but were they ever really needed?
Didn't an African hunter by the name of Bell take down everything with a
7MM? A 28 caliber isn't any big bore that I am familiar with. How about
the rest of you out there??

Bob Roller

Yeah, but IIRC he was able to get away with using the most common ammo found because he was such a freakishly good shot that he could depend on making ear shots on running elephants.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I had two big bore rifles for hunting until a few days ago. The first is my Jaeger in .60 cal throwing a 305 grain ball, and which now belongs to a friend.  And the second is my Hawken in .62 which likes a .613 ball @ ~350 grains.  Here's a few pics of the Hawken, and of me with the Jaeger and some dangerous game!  Later this winter, I'll have some shots of me and the Hawken, and a moose I shot two days ago.

[smylee grouch]

Taylor, that flinter looks like a single shot gun. You were lucky that critter didnt charge!   

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Let's just say his heart, among other parts, wasn't in it.

[hanshi]

Did you have to use a finishing shot?

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

No, but I didn't get every gopher I shot at.  I thought it'd be great practice with the jaeger.  On the second day, I used my .40 cal Kuntz rifle and was more productive/destructive.  It poured rain, which didn't seem to affect the critters, and the rifle never missed a beat.
Now, back to your station...

[dagner]

 over at allen coons farm they were shooting a 4 bore that lizard had  it looked like they were putting lead golf balls down the barel shooting around 300 grains of powder shooting it prone and hitting target real well at 60 yards  it was fun to watch them slide back acrooss the grass as pulled trigger close as i got to that thing was the cheering section
dag

[dagner]

 what fine looking guns   the wood and finish was truely outstanding
dag

[Daryl]

14 bore rifle.
 

[bigsmoke]

Here is another double rifle I had for several years.  It is an 8 bore with Oregon Rifle Barrel tubes, L & R shotgun locks and triggers and a piece of English Walnut for the stock.  The iron furniture came from Allen Manufacturing.
The barrels had rifling at 1@144, .006 deep.  The breechplugs were machined and the hammers were extended to fit.



The load was 300 grains of Fg, an 8 gauge Ox Yoke lubed cushion wad, a T/C Wonder Lube Cleaning Patch and an .820 cast ball.  1,425 fps.  Loaned to to a customer for an African hunt, he shot a charging 525 pound male lion at 25 yards, flipped it up in the air and it did a one and a half summersault and landed on its back, facing away from them.  The ball hit high chest, went the length of its body and exited through the hind quarters, shattering the pelvic girdle. 
The power of these big bore guns is just totally amazing and until a person experiences it for themselves, they just do not understand.
John

[Daryl]

Nice, bigsmoke! I always cringe when someone asks about what slug to use in his 12 bore Kodiak DR.  "Exactly WHY do you think you need a slug?"

[bigsmoke]

Daryl,
A number of years ago, a fellow wanted a 12 bore rifle to shoot a conical bullet.  At least he wanted it a heavy rifle.  36" x 1 1/4" barrel, 1:28 rifling.  I think it wound up about 16 pounds, IIRC.  The conical looked sorta like a Minnie bullet on steroids, seems like it weighed about 1,250 grains.  Ufda!!
The test firing and chronograph session was "interesting", to say the least.  It was totally awful to shoot.  I believe I received a mild concussion shooting off the bench.
No, you really do not need conicals in a 12 bore.

[hanshi]

Sheesh!  If I can get my head in the muzzle, the gun has long passed being too big.

[Daryl]

Good one, hanshi
I altered a hollow based Lyman mould so it was adjustable, in .58. the lightest were 560gr. while the heaviest were 1,200gr. I stopped testing at around 800gr. as each shot was making me wince from pain - bench testing, of course.
Round balls kick just fine, thanks.
Here's a 480gr. ball driven be 140gr. 2F. Quite enough, thanks. I'm 6'1" but only 210 pounds (well, maybe 220) when this picture was taken.
 

[bigsmoke]

Heh, heh, heh.  Yepper, surely do pack a bit of whallop.
Is that recoil or maybe you were shooting trap?
John

[Bob Roller]

Years ago there was a movie called "A Boy Ten Feet Tall" about a youngster whose parents had been
killed and he walked from Northern Africa to Southern Africa to live with an aunt and on that long trek
he encountered an old ivory poacher played by of all people,Edward G.Robinson who used a big muzzle loader
in his poaching operation. When the boy finally got to his aunts' home she asked him what he would like to have
and he relied,"an old fashioned elephant gun and a quart of whiskey". He said the idea was to drink the whisky down below
the label and then load and fire the elephant afterward.This might be good advice when firing these big bore guns.
The only big bore muzzle loader I ever had was a cased  W.W.Greener 16 bore double rifle that also had two sets
of shotgun barrels in 10 and 12 bore and all the widgets needed to keep that outfit shooting including a mould for a
Greener Patent Bullet,a two piece affair that I never bothered to try. I shot the rifle barrels with 90 grains of 3fg and a round ball
and it regulated both barrels at 50 yards. I never tried the shotguns.

Bob Roller
\

[Daryl]

90gr. of 3F & a round ball or shot charge will kick in a large bore of shotgun weight.  I do not believe I could now "stand up" to anything larger than perhaps a 10 1/2 to 11 pound 10 bore. That would be about the absolute limit for me, I'm sure. It would have to be an English design, single or double as well.

[doug]

    Here are a couple of mine.  The first one is .79 caliber and english (Reeves).  It is also number two in the group shot.  The top one in the group shot is 95 caliber but no maker's name although the barrel was made by Rose.  I shoot it (occasionally) with a 1200 grain, .935 patched round ball and 230 grains of 1F.  Gun weighs 14 lbs and you do have to be careful not to have your thumb too close to your nose when you fire it (I have found).  Forgot to mention that the .95 cal is a smooth bore but the .79 cal is rifled.  Both have damascus barrels

cheers Doug

[Daryl]

Loverly guns, Doug.  That .95 should make a buffalo roll over. I expect the .79 would as well, quite handily.

[doug]

    It apparently has  been to South Africa because it has what looks like a compass rose engraved on the top of the barrel.  I was told by a fellow who was on a now defunct list and who lived in South Africa, that the symbol was a sort of good luck charm in that area.  It would not surprise me if the gun was capable of shooting lengthwise through a moose as long as you used a hardened ball.   I think that hardened balls was the reason that Baker preferred the 6 guage over the 4 guage which I assume he shot with soft cast minis of some kind.  One might say that he needed hardened balls for more than a few of his exploits  :>)    I have a copy of "Rifle and hound in Ceylon and it certainly makes for good reading although the waste of animals was pretty disgusting after a while.   I should mention that he complained because the french and the indians shot animals merely for food and had no sense of sport

cheers Doug

[Bull Shannon]

Mine is a .69 too. Robby

I want to hear some more details about this gorgeous lefty as well. 

[Robby]

Bull,  I did provide a few more details about a third of the way down on the first page of this string. If you want something more specific let me know. Thank you!!
Robby

[James]

Are "bore" and "gauge"  the same measure, different word?

[Dennis Glazener]

Yes, both denote the number of lead balls the size of the bore, that it takes to weigh a pound. i.e. a 12 Gauge/bore lead ball weighs 1/12th of a pound, a 16 Gauge/bore weighs 1/16th of a pound etc.
Dennis