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Member Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1545 Location: Michigan

I'd like to say it was a nice light 16 gauge.
Actually it's a friend of mine with a 8 gauge punt gun.
This guy likes big guns, and owns an 8 bore Churchill SxS. It weighs just over 16 lbs. if I remember correctly. I have shot it, and it's impressive. Laughing

Member Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 358 Location: Houston

I've read about these guns and what a market hunter could do with one, but never saw one until now. Impressive!

I'm guessing you don't just put that up to your shoulder and fire. What kind of rest, swivel, or whatever do you use with a gun like that?

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1545 Location: Michigan

I believe most where mounted on a swivel on the front of a boat. You just pointed it at a flock of incoming ducks and pulled the triggers. Wink

Member Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 781

No one is better suited to posing with that gun than Destry....what a hoot.

Most punt guns were solidly mounted down the centerline of a sneak boat. They were sculled toward a flock of ducks and when within rainge the shooter rapped on the barrel with a piece of metal and when the flock all put their heads up and/or started to flush they would touch off the gun. Punt gun shooters als o carried a couple of pumps or auto loaders with extended mag tubes to back up the big gun.

Jeff

They called them punt guns because when you tried firing one from the shoulder, the damned gun would punt your butt into the next dimension. Laughing

Seriously, some of these cannons would shoot a pound or more of shot at one go. This one looks to be a muzzle loading percussion gun. I saw one once with a duck billed muzzle. the idea was to spread a wide thin pattern just at surface height. It must have been devastating. Thank god for game laws.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3439 Location: Illinois

IMPRESSIVE--

Member Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 602 Location: western pa

Actually punt guns were never solid mounted.The reason being that the recoil was so heavy. I have a book titled Outlaw Gunners and it gives an account of someone making the mistake of spiking the stock to the hull. On discharge it gutted the bottom of the vessel and sent the shooter swimming. Usually they would set the butt on a pc. of greenwood board that acted as somewhat of a spring to displace the recoil .When the English punt guns were outlawed, enterprising baymen would build them out of 2" boiler pipe.The proper way to shoot them, as previously noted was to scull up onto a flock and the shot was taken on the flush. If you've ever dispatched cripples you know that 1/3 of the duck is under water and 1/3 is protected by wing bone and heavy flight feathers.It's much easier to make a killing shot with wings spread and body out of the water. The name punt refers to the type of boat that hunters used. I suppose thats more info than anybody wanted. By the way, that big gun is a beauty.

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1545 Location: Michigan

Here is a picture of the boat used with this gun.
Notice the saddle that the gun sets in.

WOW!!