4 Bore?

[JohnCanadian]

I am interested in the Sitting Fox 4 bore blunderbuss. Mainly because its a 4 bore. Is there any where else that sells that calibre I should consider? Is there anything else I should think about or know?

 

[Feltwad]

I always thought that a 10 bore was the biggest size to use so may I ask why a 4 bore .
Feltwad

 

[JohnnieT]

I think a four bore would be great fun just for the wow factor. It’s definitely something I’d like to do just for the fun of it!

 

[Zonie]

If you plan on shooting a 4 bore smoothbore from your shoulder, you may be a lot more WOW than you expected.

With it's 1.052" diameter bore it is more suited to being a "wall gun", supported by a yoke embedded in a wall with the yoke and wall taking the recoil.

 

[tenngun]

Bill Raby one of our members, has you tube vids on gun building and he is building a 4bore right now.

 

[JohnnieT]

If you plan on shooting a 4 bore smoothbore from your shoulder, you may be a lot more WOW than you expected.

With it's 1.052" diameter bore it is more suited to being a "wall gun", supported by a yoke embedded in a wall with the yoke and wall taking the recoil.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that they were similarly mounted on sailing vessels and used as signaling devices and boarder repellant.

 

[AZ Muzzleloaders]

Dave York of Chino Valley has a 4 bore he built. I shot it once at the Rocky Mountain National Rendezvous in 2019 with 250 grains of powder. Once was really good............but probably enough.

 

[billraby]

The 4 bore that I have been working on is finished now. Biggest powder charge that I have fired so far is 400 grains of 2F powder. That will knock you back about 5 feet when you pull the trigger. A 4 bore is not something to mess around with. These things can hurt you. Stay away from it unless you have a lot of experience with the dangerous game rifles. 458 Lott, 500 Nitro express, or something like that. A 4 bore will have about 4 times the recoil that one of those does. It has double the recoil of a 600 Nitro Express. Are you ready for that?

When building the gun the first thing to think about for every step is how it will deal with the recoil. It is essential that the wood is PERFECT for a heavy recoil gun. You need straight tight grain going through the wrist. If not, put a thick steel rod through the wrist. I hate the idea of bedding a traditional rifle. But you need to do it on a 4 bore. Bed the barrel, breech, and butt plate. Don't even think of building one of these unless you have already built several rifles.

The one that did was built as an elephant rifle. The barrel alone is over 12 pounds and made for the big powder charges. I have never actually seen one of Sitting Fox kits. The ad says that the barrel was made by Rice. I would call Rice and ask what kind of load that barrel was made for and how much it weighs. Barrel is 20 inch octagon to round with 1.5 inch breech. It is a light barrel. For the $999 price I would assume that the stock is black walnut. Not the best for a 4 bore. I would prefer English or Turkish walnut. It is closed grain and denser. Also far more expensive. The wrist looks rather thin and there is a lot of drop. How wide is the butt plate? Can't tell from the picture. It better be over 2 inches. What all that means is that this would not be a gun for the heavy powder charges. I would guess that you would not want to go over 250 to 300 grain powder charge with this one. At that level the recoil is enormous. It would certainly be the biggest, loudest, most obnoxious gun at the shooting rage. Which is an excellent reason to get one! But it is not quite in the same league as the 4 bore elephant rifles. Those were designed for powder charges up to 550 grains. Getting into that requires a significant increase in the budget and building from scratch.

Just realize what it is and what it isn't. These big blunderbuss were fighting guns. The purpose was to throw a large amount of lead shot at human targets. The 4 bore rifles were made to knock down a charging elephant. They may be the same caliber, but they are designed for two totally different purposes. Mainly because its a 4 bore. That is a great reason to get one. So what kind of 4 bore are you after? Are you looking at the Sitting Fox kit because that is the gun that you want to build? Or is it because that is the only 4 bore kit on the market? Far as I know it is the only kit on the market. For anything else you are looking at a custom made barrel. Expensive and probably take about a year to get one. There are no other kits. Only other option is to build from a blank.

 

[Feltwad]

Enclosed is a image of a punter firing my 4 bore goose gun at the local country fair This gun for wild fowling is heavy but the weight absorbs most of the recoil and too the 2 bore bank gun and the punt gun is just a pup .
Feltwad

 

[Troyfairweather]

I always wanted a punt gun,

 

[JohnnieT]

I don’t know about the OP, but I’m thinking I should just find one to borrow. I’ll try anything once, but once may be enough for one of these!

 

[Feltwad]

If you plan on shooting a 4 bore smoothbore from your shoulder, you may be a lot more WOW than you expected.

With it's 1.052" diameter bore it is more suited to being a "wall gun", supported by a yoke embedded in a wall with the yoke and wall taking the recoil.

There is a big difference in a 4 bore fowling gun and a wall gun better known has a rampart gun . These 4 bore rampart guns came in both smooth bore and rifled barrel those that were mounted on the old rigging vessels and the man of war ships were rifled and fired a large conical bullet for blasting out the enemy rigging [SEE IMAGE]
Feltwad

 

[Treestalker]

They are devastating. The recoil will make you curse your mother for giving you birth. However, since it is usually illegal to hunt anything with a bore larger than 10ga in America, a blunderbuss is the way to go; it will satisfy your self destructive instincts while making women scream and dogs bark, etc. It can throw a cloud of shot a gallinipper could not fly through, or can be loaded down to 'squirrrel gun' level. It will definitely clean out the front yard.

 

[Feltwad]

They are devastating. The recoil will make you curse your mother for giving you birth. However, since it is usually illegal to hunt anything with a bore larger than 10ga in America, a blunderbuss is the way to go; it will satisfy your self destructive instincts while making women scream and dogs bark, etc. It can throw a cloud of shot a gallinipper could not fly through, or can be loaded down to 'squirrrel gun' level. It will definitely clean out the front yard.

They are a bit slow on the swing for a skeet gun
Feltwad

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Bill Raby was my father's name. He is deceased for some years now and though he was a woodworker, he never did anything with muzzleloaders, but you caught me by surprise.

 

[oldhunter1954]

I believe Pecatonica River Long Rifle Supply Co. has a 4 bore. They seem to be good people. I saw the notice on Facebook.

 

[Dave James]

I owned and shot an under hammer 8 bore for years,the only thing I could hunt with it where pigs, on private game farms,it weights was 14 lbs loaded,still not for the faint of heart, wanted a six bore but never found one,a 4 or 2 bore would have been more punishment than needed, good luck if you build one the smooth bore will be a bit less recoil