7 1/2 Foot Long Shotgun

[musketman]

7 1/2 foot long Percussion Shotgun circa 1835...

This 12-gage fowler was put together around 1830-1840. The date was determined by the style of the barrel and furniture used which included pineapple decoration style trigger guard. Who ever put this gun together used an old British Tower lock dated 1756, but this gun was not made at that time. The over all length of this single shot fowler is 7 foot 4 1/2 inches with a barrel length of 70 inches.

These long barreled goose guns are rare to find because only a few were made and may of them had the barrels cut of in later years.
This one had an octagon to round barrel...

Pull the trigger, wait a week for the shot to reach the end of the barrel... :haha: :winking:

 

[Rocky Johnson]

A cap lock in 1756 ?? Rocky /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[musketman]

A cap lock in 1756 ?? Rocky /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

This 12-gage fowler was put together around 1830-1840, using old parts from the 1700's...

Who ever put this gun together used an old British Tower (converted) lock dated 1756, but this gun was not made at that time...

 

[riarcher]

Kool, But I wonder what the motivation was behind such a brute (?). I don't think it was "jump shooting puddle ducks". ::

 

[musketman]

Kool, But I wonder what the motivation was behind such a brute (?). I don't think it was "jump shooting puddle ducks". ::

At least not in the same county... :haha:

 

Well, once you got it swinging, follow through would be automatic, you couldn't stop the swing if you wanted to. There for a time, the thought that the longer the barrel was, the further they would shoot. Someone probably ordered it just so. There are mentions of double barreled 12 bore shotguns with 48" barrels, renouned for their 'close' shooting at long range, however a smaller 14 bore with 28" barrels along with the Ely ctg., could outshoot them easily, and even with the moderate range ctg. not the long range one.
Daryl

 

[musketman]

There for a time, the thought that the longer the barrel was, the further they would shoot. Daryl

The black powder of that time may have required the longer barrel to allow a complete burn, or how about an 1830's sales gimmick?

What ever the reason, they made 10 years worth of them...

 

By the 1830's the powder charge for the .69 muskets had been dropped to 130gr.from 165gr. due to the general quality increae of the powder. The longer barrels were still sought after by individuals, though. Even today, people think they need long barrels for a good shot pattern, even with the modern ammo. Look at the barrel lengths on the single-shot 10 bores that are supposedly designed for long range goose shooting, 36 and 38" long, along with the bolt guns by Savage and/or Marlin with extra long barrels.
Daryl

 

[musketman]

Even today, people think they need long barrels for a good shot pattern, even with the modern ammo.

Maybe they're compensating for something? :haha: :winking:

It's everywhere...

Regular hotdog ---- Foot-long hotdog
Regular size ------ King size
Shrimp ------------ Jumbo shrimp

The "Bigger is better" ploy has been drilled into our heads since the dawn of man...

Stone weapon ----- Bigger rock... ::