I wish I'd purchased that 8 gauge shotgun I saw several years ago.

[NYC_SKP]

I've never seen another.

IIRC, it had a Damascus barrel and was a basic single shot breakaway.

I went back and it was sold. It's not that I'd have fired it, but it was unusual.

Has anyone ever seen one?

:shrug:

[Snotcicles]

1. Well they make 8 Gauge Ammunition nt

[NYC_SKP]

3. I did not know that. I have a 22 WRF that I never fire, can't find the ammo.

My granfather's rifle.

WRF is no longer sold around these parts, I still have one box.

[beevul]

9. Nice little rifle...

I have one quite similar to that, a winchester model 90-22, likewise from my grandfather:





Its not in shape to be fired, needs a hammer spring and a magazine tube, but it shoots .22 long and short rifle...maybe someday...

[MineralMan]

16. Google .22 WRF.

Cabela's sells it, and there are other sources you'll find in the search. Assuming you want to fire your nice antique, that's a possibility. Your local store probably doesn't carry it, but you can still get it.

[Old Codger]

5. That barrel

I don't think a damascus barrel will take modern ammo...

[NYC_SKP]

10. No, it was one of the reasons I didn't buy the 8 ga. immediately...

Still, it would have been a nice item to have.

[tularetom]

2. I sold a lab puppy once to a guy who claimed to have one

He invited me up to his place to fire it but it was way up in northern CA so I've never been but he also claimed to have an old Chesapeake Bay "Punt gun" that was about a 2 ga. He said he could mow down about half an acre of alfalfa with one shot. They didn't use shells, just stuffed in powder, wadding and anything for shot they could find (gravel, nails whatever. It was illegal as hell but evidently widespread.

[GreenStormCloud]

4. What a recoil. I bet they didn't fire it off the shoulder. N/T

[tularetom]

6. The thing was fixed to a boat

They sluiced the geese right off the water, supposedly 100 or so at a time. It was said the reaction to the shot would push the boat 50 feet. Illegal as hell of course but they were apparently in wide use.

I fired a 10 ga goose gun one time. I wasn't prepared for the recoil, I'm a big guy but my shoulder hurt for a week and turned all kinds of funny colors. So you can image the reaction from a big gun like that.

I have a formula here somewhere for calculating the bore of a barrel knowing the gauge, I can't find it now but I'm guessing about 2 inches or about the same diameter as a 50 mm.

[GreenStormCloud]

7. Mounted on a boat. That fits. It was a Chesapeake militia naval cannon. (Just kidding) N/T

[Cobalt-60]

12. They did use these things against fowl

Not much sport, but ripping a load of canister shot at a flock
clawed a lot of meat out of the air.
Farmers sometimes also used these monsters on pivoting mounts, set to fire down trip wires
at crop thieves.
You're better off without it.
I think you should skip the 10 gauge too.
12 gauge is standardized and readily available.

[Howzit]

8. Gauge diameters

Here you go http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_gauge

[oneshooter]

17. Punt guns were not "illegal as hell" till 1920! N/T

[Taitertots]

20. 2 bore is not illegal as hell

It specifically is exempt from being a destructive device because the recognized sporting use.


They may be against the law to hunt with, but wouldn't be to own.

[backwoodsbob]

11. I've shot a .10

never seen an .8

[TexasProgresive]

13. Why the dot before the gauge number?

Gauge is not a decimal fraction as is caliber. If memory serves me right the gauge of a bore is determined by how many lead balls of that diameter to make a pound. So the smaller the gauge the larger the bore. .10 and .8 would be really huge.

[MineralMan]

14. When I was 14, my uncle handed me a 10 gauge double

while we were shooting clay birds on his farm. He didn't say anything about it. My shoulder hurt for a week. He thought it was pretty funny.

[MineralMan]

15. As an aside, here's a site where you can order

black powder shells in 8 ga., 10 ga. and smaller. They're surprisingly affordable.

http://gadcustomcartridges.com/#shotgun

[oneshooter]

18. I have in my collection both a 8ga double and a 4ga single

The 8ga weighs 14 1/2lbs and I have used it to take deer with BP handloads. The 4ga weighs 12lbs and is a ML caplock. I have yet to fire it as it has a damascus barrel and I have to get it x-rayed for weak points. Both are English built and meant for professional market hunters.

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

[TheWraith]

19. Was it modern, or antique/blackpowder?

I know modern 8 and 10 gauge shotguns are sometimes used in industrial purposes, but 8 gauge using modern loadings is considered too powerful to shoot by hand. They put it on a tripod.

[pipoman]

21. Just guessing

but if it had Damascus barrel it is most likely an antique.

[pipoman]

22. I have a damascus 12 ga

I have shot it with black powder loads. The guy I bought it from 15 years ago sent it to an English proof house so I trust it is safe to shoot with black powder loads. I don't shoot it much because it is a pain to clean after shooting those dirty loads.

I also owned a 10ga Winchester signal cannon for a few years...they are neat and Winchester still sells the blank loads for them.