any 4 bore shooters out there?

[whitetrash078]

I have an opportunity to buy an under hammer 4 bore and was wondering where one might find ball moulds for 4 bore? Is it possible to find find wads? Also how big of a patch are you using as well as what patch thickness. For a charge I was thinking 200 gr of fg to start is this about right?

 

[wszumera]

For a mold you might try http://www.jt-bullet-moulds.co.uk/moulds.htm

Clutch

 

[trent/OH]

When I was at Friendship last weekend, some of the dealers had goodies to help feed 4 bores, including wads. They aren't common (yet?), but there are more than a couple of 4 gauge blunderbusses in use.

I would think that 200 grains would be a nice starting point, but only a starting point. That was the charge used in a Gun World magazine review of an 8 gauge rifle I recently read.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Whoa: Just because some idiot has used a load in a magazine article( hope someone didn't mistype anything) is not a good reason to use it in your gun. I have a friend with an 8 ga. gun, who likes to shoot 4 drams( 110 grains) of powder under 2 oz. of shot, sometimes 3 oz.! ) It hurts.

200 grains is 7 1/4 drams of powder. That is a lot of powder in anybody's book! Start with something like 120 grains of powder, and maybe 2 oz. of shot. Put it on paper, and shoot it over a chronograph to see what kind of velocity you are getting. Unless you are a very rich man, feeding that gun enough powder and shot to get any good at shooting it is going to be a major factor.

A big bore does not make up for poor shooting techniques, and break targets you would miss with a standard gauge shotgun. So, learn to shoot well with standard gauges, and use any specialty gauge gun like this for fun, only. Its illegal to use this to hunt game in most states, except maybe coyote, or other varmints. Migratory birds, and upland game are out. That is the reason you don't see much in the way of these kind of guns being sold, or used, at Friendship.

 

[trent/OH]

I stand corrected. 200 grains probably isn't a starting load, but it won't be a maximum load either.

 

[whitetrash078]

Will 110 gr of powder get that 1750gr :shocked2: :shocked2: ball to move? (I know better safe than sorry) In some of Selous and Bakers books they speak of using 400-500gr of powder :youcrazy:. The cannon I am looking at has a very heavy octagon barrel. The gun probably weighs 18-20lbs. It is a smooth rifle so I can feed it wheel weights, what wil kill me will be pyrodex ( I won't feed it black, it cost to much!!)

I feel I must be crazy for wanting to shoot this piece of ordinance, but I am drawn to it. Maybe I read to many books about Africa as a kid.

Almost forgot ,do any of you know of an online source for cleaning jags and bore brushes? Or perhaps next time someone sees 4 bore goodies drop me the dealers name, address and phone#

 

[paulvallandigham]

Unless you can find them at Dixie Gun Works, I don't think you will find too many sources for 4 Ga. equipment. And, for most of us, buying pyrodex, or any other substitute will be much more costly than black powder. As to loads for the gun, you do what you have to. Its your gun, arm, and shoulder. I have a friend who was shooting a custom made .69 cal. slug gun, shooting a 2 pice bullet, weighing 1760 grains, in front of 350 grains of powder. The gun weighed 100 lbs. Even with that tremendous weight, he told me that you would dislocate your shoulder if you did not tuck that stock in hard.

If you are just trying to see how much pain your shoulder can take, why not just stand behind a cannon with your shoulder pushing against the breech when it fires? If you are shooting a larger bore gun to get more shot in the air than with your 12 ga, then what do you need all that recoil for? The benefit of shooting 20 ga. loads in a 12 ga. smoothbore is that you get no recoil in the latter. The benefit of shooting 12 ga. loads in a 10 ga. shoothbore is you get no recoil in the latter. because the shot column is wider and shorter in the larger bore gun, the shot stays together in flight better, and reaches the target closer together, so their are no gaps for a bird to escape through. The advantage of shooting 12 ga. loads in something like a 4 bore gun is that there will be no recoil, your patterns will be better, and other than the weight of the gun, there is no down side in cost of powder, shot, or noise.

All those advantages are gone when you start talking about feeding your testosterone, by using large and unnecessary quantities of powder, and shot to prove how tough you are. Why all the self doubt? Who are you trying to prove something to?

 

[gmww]

Hiya White. Try PM'ing BS or Volapluvia. They shoot them big guns.

Here is a link where Volapulvia posted a picture of his gun.

BBBBIGGGG Hawkens.

 

[whitetrash078]

All those advantages are gone when you start talking about feeding your testosterone, by using large and unnecessary quantities of powder, and shot to prove how tough you are. Why all the self doubt? Who are you trying to prove something to?

Paul,

I am shooting a ball, not shot, I don't want to buy a case of black powder so pyrodex is cheaper here than a single can of black. I have a facination with the old Ivory hunters, therefore to be historically correct and to understand what they went through I want to give a 4 bore a try.

So in short don't be jerk, if you have good advice fine, but if all you want is to be smug don't speak to me :blah:

 

[faw3]

If ya got to do it ya just got to right. Ive shot a 82 I think it was( made from a 20 mm barrel) and 240 grs 1f and that was once. But its your body, best as I remember reading a few of the old "Africa" books the patch was leather,around a 1500gr ball and about 300 grs of 1 or 2 f out of short barrel, 22 to 24" long. Not much help, I think GMWW can give you a better heads up on this one, but i will add that all those things I read busted arms seemed to be a everyday thing. Have a good time with it, I dont think you'll be shooting it to much,they didnt.(not being :rotf: or trying to talk you out of it , its just all I can remember from the old books that stands out. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[sledgemeister]

I was reading this forum and remembered an article i read about big bore muzzleloaders and the cause and effect.
The link is:[url] http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/shooting/article/0,13199,1007499,00.html[/url]

heres an extract I found ammusing:

They ranged from 10-bore up through 4-bore, and even a few 2-bores were made. (Sir Samuel Baker had a 2-bore muzzleloader, which he called “Baby.” Its recoil spun him around and gave him a nosebleed and a headache every time he pulled the trigger.)

This doesnt sound fun, but I mut admit I would hav to give it a go if there was one there to have a go at...

 

[sledgemeister]

BTW I found a bullet mold for you.
Just dont faint at the price....[url] http://www.griffinhowe.com/store/view-det.cfm?id=183800[/url]

 

[whitetrash078]

Thanks, for the link. That mould cost more than 3 times what i'll pay for the the gun!!!! :shocked2: I must admit though that is one hell of a slug. I should just stick to round balls as the mould from Tanner runs about $60

 

[gmww]

Please post your results if you do fire it. Photos of possible bruises too!

Yah know I got a program that will give actual felt recoil in pounds if you have enough information.

I would need weight of gun, ballistic Coef. Feet per Second. Actual bullet size. I think that's it.

 

[BS]

Hiya White. Try PM'ing BS or Volapluvia. They shoot them big guns.

Here is a link where Volapulvia posted a picture of his gun.

All I have is a smallish 7ga. I use 170FF for most everything.

Hear is how I got the load:

I weighed a ball.......then I carved out a cow horn to hold the same weight of birdshot.......that gave me 170FF.

If you do the same, it will give you one a$$ kicking load.

I have shot up to 225 FF in my light weight 73.....a 550 grain RB has a pretty good thump.

:yakyak: :yakyak:

Anyway.............200 grains will be a mild load in that cannon!

 

[cliff mccann]

I read about Sir Samuel Baker years ago,and built an "elephant gun",sort of... The barrel was 1" bore smooth,30" long,with an old Enfield lock.The piece weighed 14 lbs. and I put a modern recoil pad on it. I didn't find a mold for it,but bought a dozen 15/16" ball bearings for about a dollar each.I shot them into a dirt bank and used them over and over.With a 200grain charge of Ffg black powder,and the ball patched with denim,the recoil pushed me back a step,BUT IT DIDN'T HURT! I could put three shots into an 8" group at 100 yards from a rest. I sold it to a guy from Alaska who was going to shoot a Grizzly with it.Haven't heard from him since the sale. I'm not recommending steel balls nor the 200 grain charge,but it worked for me.

 

[Roy]

I have now built 3 1" bore guns. Two wall guns and a blunderbus. The wall guns weigh around 35 pounds so recoil is limited, but the blunderbus weighs around 12 lbs. and can quite easily handle 150 grns of 1F with 4 to 6 oz. of shot or buck and ball loads. Having shot this I would not be afraid of shooting 200 grns, but I would keep the lead down to 4 oz. Technically if the gun is designed properly it'll shove you back a bit rather than kick the tar out of you.

 

[sledgemeister]

to give you an idea of recoil check this vid link.
[url] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdbDRMx8G4I&search=recoil[/url]

I think it is of a .600 or .700 nitro, please correct me if I am wrong, I would imagine the recoil to be similar, judge for your self.
A couple more for amusement purposes only..

[url] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JvS7TITVLY&search=recoil[/url]

[url] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4qRlTGuPp4[/url]

 

[robinghewitt]

Hi Erik

I don't have set loads or fancy tools, I just muddle through somehow )

I started with ball and the service charge which is 275 gns, doesn't kick much unless you tight patch it.

For clays I use that indeterminate amount that is my powder flask and shot measure.

3 squirts of each is limp, 4 squirts gets your attention, 5 squirts hurts.

To clean it I used a broom handle with a home made doohickey on the end to scrape and hold cloth

I have the load for a BP elephant gun. Someone actually asked a white humter and his reply was handed down by subsequent owners of it. Unfortunately, last time I revealed it on this forum I was censored by the moderators :shocked2:

best regards

Squire Robin

 

[Bernie Schneider]

There is a company called Blue Grouse and go by[url] underhammers.com[/url]. sounds like they might have the tools and molds you are looking for. They sell a Hopkins and Allen style gun :hatsoff: