18 cal

[JDR]

I dont know much about smooth bores but has any one heard of an 18cal? thanks Jerry

 

[Matt85]

18 cal or 18 gauge?

18 caliber would be tiny, were talking 0.18 inches! 18 gauge on the other hand would be serviceable as a shotgun.

-matt

 

[Lonegun1894]

Matt is absolutely correct. As per another post I just read, 18.3mm is a 12ga and measures approximately .720", but an 18 cal, would be closer to a BB gun, since those use .177" BBs, so there is a HUGE difference between the two. What exactly is your gun marked as being?

 

[pargent]

If they mean bore or gauge 18 is carbine gauge or .65 ish . sometimes Italian's get lost in ENGLISH.

 

[Rifleman1776]

If they mean bore or gauge 18 is carbine gauge or .65 ish . sometimes Italian's get lost in ENGLISH.

Absolutely correct.
I have a Pedersoli '12 ga.' that is actually 11 ga. I had another Ped. shotgun in '12 ga.' that was actually 14 ga. Go figger.
I have a fowler in progress (for the past 11 years) with an original ca. 1800 Belgium damascus forged barrel that is 17 1/2 ga.
This is not a game with standards.

 

[Golfswithwolves]

The term caliber was in the old days of blackpowder guns often used to mean just the same as gauge, so 18 cal. might be referring to an 18 gauge gun alright. (Remember Jeremiah Johnson's "30 caliber Hawken" in the movie; the writers got their terms mixed up there too).

 

[Matt85]

The term caliber was in the old days of blackpowder guns often used to mean just the same as gauge, so 18 cal. might be referring to an 18 gauge gun alright. (Remember Jeremiah Johnson's "30 caliber Hawken" in the movie; the writers got their terms mixed up there too).

never heard this, in all the original writtings ive seen the term "bore" was used to describe gauge. caliber has always to my knowledge been a seperate term from gauge/bore.

also didnt see how they got their terms mixed up in Jeremiah Johnson, a 30 cal hawken would not have been that uncommon. it even mentions how he wished for a larger caliber. he later gets a 50 cal hawken (which has a silly amount of recoil).

-matt

 

[Ike Godsey]

well originally the numbers "18" or even "54" or "51" and so on as a "caliber designation" goes back to the dark days, when they measured how many round balls (for a specific gun) could be cast from one pound of lead. the smaller the number of balls the larger the bore size.

not sure if that is of any help, but that is the story someone told me 40 years ago.

 

[JDR]

yes you guys are right I ment to say gage not cal. the gun that am talking about has a bore larger than a .610 ball but I was admiring the gun so much I forgot to ask the builder about the 18 gage if there are molds for it and why he made it an 18 not a 20 any ideas?

 

[trent/OH]

I shoot an 18 caliber smoothbore. I only use roundball in it. It's called a Red Ryder!

 

[Stumpkiller]

One more: in Naval parlance a "Gun of 18 Caliber" means the barrel is 18 times longer than the bore.

 

[talkingamoeba]

18 gauge is .637 caliber

 

[Ike Godsey]

for calculating this, here is a helpful hint .

 

[Many Klatch]

Crapshooter, there are molds available. Jeff Tanner in England makes custom molds for about $40 each if you can't find anything that will fit your gun at the big online stores. The wads should be fairly easy to find as well.

Many Klatch

 

[Matt85]

yes you guys are right I ment to say gage not cal. the gun that am talking about has a bore larger than a .610 ball but I was admiring the gun so much I forgot to ask the builder about the 18 gage if there are molds for it and why he made it an 18 not a 20 any ideas?

this is what i figured you ment.

custom round ball molds are easy to get and not expensive either. http://www.jt-bullet-moulds.co.uk/moulds.htm

as for why he made it a 18 gauge... personal preference is my guess.

-matt

 

[Eterry]

The term caliber was in the old days of blackpowder guns often used to mean just the same as gauge, so 18 cal. might be referring to an 18 gauge gun alright. (Remember Jeremiah Johnson's "30 caliber Hawken" in the movie; the writers got their terms mixed up there too).

never heard this, in all the original writtings ive seen the term "bore" was used to describe gauge. caliber has always to my knowledge been a seperate term from gauge/bore.

also didnt see how they got their terms mixed up in Jeremiah Johnson, a 30 cal hawken would not have been that uncommon. it even mentions how he wished for a larger caliber. he later gets a 50 cal hawken (which has a silly amount of recoil).

-matt

Matt, I've sat in a deer blind and also wondered if the screen writers got their terms confused in the movie. If the Hawkin had been a 30 bore/gauge it would have been a 53 caliber rifle, which is something I'm sure would have been used going west. As to you stating a 30 caliber Hawkin would have not been uncommon, I have to disagree. The Hawkin was made and intended to go west and tackle large hairy beasties that bite, and a 30 caliber anything would throw a ball weighing in at 40 grains...about the weight of your garden variety 22 long rifle. Not what the Hawkin was intended for I'm sure. I've long wanted to read an accurate account of "Liver Eating Johnson" but never had. It'd be interesting if it talks of the caliber of weapons he used.

I've also heard somewhere...maybe on this site, that prior to the developement of cartridge arms most longarms were referred to by gauge or bore, not caliber.

Regards,
Eterry

 

[Rifleman1776]

I've long wanted to read an accurate account of "Liver Eating Johnson" but never had. It'd be interesting if it talks of the caliber of weapons he used.

There are different versions out there. I have read several of them. Forget which is the most accurate. It's been a number of years. I do not recall mention of calibers on his rifle. I do recall he shot a horse from the 'texas' end one time with a revolver.

edit: regretfully, I loaned those books out to a 'friend' and never got them back.

 

[Many Klatch]

I found this chart on Wikipedia. "Guage (bore diameter)" I extracted the pertinent parts here.

Ga Dia IN weight gns
26* .564 269
28 .550 250
32* .526 219
36 .506 194
C* .500 188
40 .488 175

So it looks like 30 gauge or 30 balls to the pound would be about a .54 rifle.

Many Klatch

 

[JDR]

if any one is interested I call the man who built the 18 gage he said he made the barrel from a tube that had a center hole of 5/8 and reamed it out and laped it to .635 and that is the 18 gage the barrel is finished 8 sided then to a round on the out side it is very nice think ill buy it thanks Jerry

 

[Capt. Jas.]

As to you stating a 30 caliber Hawkin would have not been uncommon, I have to disagree. The Hawkin was made and intended to go west and tackle large hairy beasties that bite, and a 30 caliber anything would throw a ball weighing in at 40 grains...about the weight of your garden variety 22 long rifle. Not what the Hawkin was intended for I'm sure.

A Hawken was merely a gun made by the Hawkens, not a certain bore size. They came in many different flavors other than plains rifles of large bore.

Here is a quote from the Don Stith dot com website.
The Hawkens produced a variety of guns for the local trade. They were called Squirrel, Turkey, or Missouri rifles, and came in a variety of sizes and degree of refinement. Most were simple hunting or target guns but some were scaled down Plains Rifles. Don Stith