4 Bore

[boykinlp]

I was just watching a show on TV called "Ready, Aim, Sold" on the Discovery channel that showed a 4 Bore double rifle. The thing looks like a 12 gauge shotgun on steroids. It shoots 1750 gr. bullets (about 1/4 pound of lead). They are huge. Has anybody here seen one in person, or even better, shot one?

 

[handejector]

I've seen a few over the years.
I think they were all British. Never shot one.

 

[mc5aw]

Here's a link to the big gun in action. Watch for the locals near the end of the footage checking out the spent casing.

W.W. Greener 4 Bore Double Rifle In Zimbabwe - YouTube

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

They kill at one end and maim at the other.

Shooting something that should probably be in a mount for a long period of time cannot be healthy.

 

[mtb1bkr]

I think there was an article in Guns and Ammo last year about a similar gun. H&H made a recent repro of one used back in the colonial days. They called it Baby!

 

[jlrhiner]

"Baby" was Sir Samuel Bakers 4bore single shot he used while exploring the head waters of the Nile tributaries. When fired, it would spin him half way around and gave him a reluctance to shoot it. The designation "4 bore" comes from the amount of pure lead balls of the diameter of the bore required to weigh a pound. Ol' Sam used 12 drams of blackpowder in "Baby". Tough dude.

 

[mtb1bkr]

"Baby" was Sir Samuel Bakers 4bore single shot he used while exploring the head waters of the Nile tributaries. When fired, it would spin him half way around and gave him a reluctance to shoot it. The designation "4 bore" comes from the amount of pure lead balls of the diameter of the bore required to weigh a pound. Ol' Sam used 12 drams of blackpowder in "Baby". Tough dude.

That's the one I was talking about, couldn't remember all the details of the story, and don't have the magazine here. Good story though!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I was at an OGCA show in 83 or 84, a dealer from N.J. had a H&H 4 bore from around 1890 (underlever action), it was like brand new. I knew the man from a prievious double rifle deal and believed him to have good prices; I ask THE question, he responded $80,000.00, like the dumb kid I was I ask if he had ammo.....He looked at me and said "Yes, all you want at $75.00 each" I bought neither.

 

[deadin]

The Great White Hunter fired his 4 Bore at the elephant.
They both fell down.
According to the laws of the jungle, the first to rise will be declared the winner and the loser's possessions will be shared out among the other witnesses of the event....

 

[mick1213]

IIRC, Shooters Bible had an article on Baker many years ago. He had cocked both hammers and when he pulled one trigger, the other hammer dropped from the recoil. It shattered the stock, jaw, shoulder, collarbone, etc.

 

[handejector]

"Baby" was Sir Samuel Bakers 4bore single shot he used while exploring the head waters of the Nile tributaries. When fired, it would spin him half way around and gave him a reluctance to shoot it. The designation "4 bore" comes from the amount of pure lead balls of the diameter of the bore required to weigh a pound. Ol' Sam used 12 drams of blackpowder in "Baby". Tough dude.

I've seen a diagram somewhere in the dim past of an exploding bullet for the 4 Bores.
Did Baker mention that? I forget.

 

[sbeatty1983]

I developed a flinch just thinking about that recoil

 

[TLflag]

Champlin Firearms in Enid, Oklahoma made one for a customer several years ago. The best I remember the bullet weighted 1250 grains and they turned the cases out of brass on a lathe. The double barrel exposed hammer weighted 34 pounds. $75.00 a shot is what they said. I know who it was made for and his big Company was in bankruptcy at the time.

 

[deadin]

The best I remember the bullet weighted 1250 grains

Must have been made out of something lighter than lead as a lead ball would be a minimum of 1750 grains.
(Maybe it was one of the new "green" bullets and made from bismuth or something...)

 

[rburg]

A guy was walking out of NGD in Louisville at the December show. The instant I saw the bore, I realized it was a Quarter Pounder. He wanted big bucks for it (and I wasn't in a buying mood.)

The other time I saw one in Louisville, about 15 years ago...I bought it!

It now resides out in my garage, blocked in by one of my jeeps. IT came with a bunch of stuff, not the least of which being a few pounds of 1" round balls. And better still, a bullet mold. The problem is, it doesn't have a stock, its got a carriage. Its a cannon. And the barrel isn't all that long, maybe 15" or so. I haven't looked at it in a few years now, except to accidently kick it with my foot (the now sore one.)

My wife won't let me shoot it, something about the authorities having a poor sense of humor. I'm pretty sure I could shell the Yankees over in Ohio. I have no idea what the range would be, but I feel pretty sure Paul Brown Stadium is in range!

There's even a name plate on the thing, it was made in Arrid-Zone-a. I tried repeatedly to contact the company but never could. All I wanted was to learn about the thing.

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

I looked at one, probably 40 years or more ago, at a Long Island show. It had a broken stock and generally looked like it had spent the last century as a boat anchor. The seller had a book on display that pictured the gun intact and was suggesting this was the actual specimen he was trying to sell. I don't recall the book's title or the author. Anyway, my thought at that time was it might be a potentially feasible restoration or perhaps a partial restoration just to hang on the wall. After the seller told me what the price was, those thoughts were immediately abandoned. Years later, I bought a couple of Cape Guns. They're long gone now, but were equally interesting....and a hell of allot less $$$$ to play with.

Cheers;
Lefty

 

[Stevie]

I thought Baker got ran over on a muddy trail by an enraged elephant...then rose from the mud and fired on the raging beast...at which point the muddy gun recoiled so hard the stock broke...Baker dropped stunned and busted up from the 'hit' the gun gave him..the elephant died...and Baker was carted off to convales for a few months.

Isn't this the way it happened?

 

[jlrhiner]

I've seen a diagram somewhere in the dim past of an exploding bullet for the 4 Bores.
Did Baker mention that? I forget.

Absolutely. He mentions a "half pound" exploding shell he used in elephant hunting. And that his Arab visitors were amazed when looking at his battery of rifles that they could get TWO fingers in the barrel of "Baby". The Arabs named "Baby" "Jenna el Mootfah", which Baker translated as "Son of a Cannon".

 

[jlrhiner]

I thought Baker got ran over on a muddy trail by an enraged elephant...then rose from the mud and fired on the raging beast...at which point the muddy gun recoiled so hard the stock broke...Baker dropped stunned and busted up from the 'hit' the gun gave him..the elephant died...and Baker was carted off to convales for a few months.

Isn't this the way it happened?

I haven't got to that yet, but I wouldn't be surprised. So far, I've only gotten to his " Nile Tributaries in Abyssinia etc." I have at least 2 more in que if not three.

 

[Erich]

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