Shotguns larger than 10 gauge

[Moonclip]

Has anyone here ever fired or owned one of these guns? I know they are illegal for hunting in the USA but I always found them interesting. Is the recoil much worse than a 12 gauge? Is ammo a huge problem or a reloading only type proposition?

 

[IDriveB5]

never shot anything larger than a 12ga, but here is a pic of a 4ga shell compared to a 12ga:

i would imagine the recoil is just a little bit worse than a 12
i dont think id shoot that thing unless it was solidly mounted to a concrete launch pad

 

[-C4-]

What the HELL are you shooting at?

-C4-

 

[telomerase]

What the HELL are you shooting at?

Flocks of sitting ducks, back when restaurants served wild duck.

 

[exoduster18]

But seriously though, what do you shoot with a 4 gauge? More like what do you shoot out of a 4g? Or is it used just for knocking a whole flock of waterfowl out of the sky in one shot?

 

[kjeff50cal]

never shot anything larger than a 12ga, but here is a pic of a 4ga shell compared to a 12ga:

i would imagine the recoil is just a little bit worse than a 12
i dont think id shoot that thing unless it was solidly mounted to a concrete launch pad

Let me see.... the one on the right is AP and the one on the left is HE . Punt guns anyone? How about a round of sporting clays . IIRC that those shells are still in use today.... in steel mills to break up restrictions in flow when molten steel is poured.

kjeff50cal

 

[slopemeno]

Kiln gun rounds.

 

[Deer Hunter]

I've held some 10 gauge 3 1/2" magnums, and I know I'd never want to shoot one of those. Then again, at that same store the owner pulled out an 8 gauge slug shotshell that had never been fired. I was floored at the size of it, and wondered how anyone could consider it to be anything BUT overkill. Never seen a 6 or 4 gauge, but I did see on Riply's Believe it or Not a blackpowder shotgun, supposably a 4 gauge or larger for shooting large flocks, with an 8 foot barrel. supposably, it took 1 pound of black powder.

 

[shermacman]

When you absolutely do not want any mess to clean up: squirrels with a 4 gauge...

Poof! Gone!

 

[Oldnamvet]

Some industrial rotary kiln incinerators use 8 gauge mounted shotguns to knock the slag off the side of the kiln. A friend who does this says they typically will fire 50 to 70 rounds in succession to clean out the slag. How many they REALLY have to fire I don't know. I don't know what they are loaded with either - and I don't think they do either.

 

[doubleaes2]

Flocks of sitting ducks, back when restaurants served wild duck.

Not a blackpowder shotgun, supposably a 4 gauge or larger for shooting large flocks, with an 8 foot barrel. supposably, it took 1 pound of black powder.

 

[MCgunner]

Called punt guns 'cause they were mounted in "punt boats" and the operator skulled up to the flocks to fire. Redheads raft up on open water and they were the primary target of the market hunters. That's why redhead populations are down to this day, they nearly got wiped out by market hunting with these things.

I've heard of 2 gauge punt guns.

 

[MCgunner]

Some industrial rotary kiln incinerators use 8 gauge mounted shotguns to knock the slag off the side of the kiln. A friend who does this says they typically will fire 50 to 70 rounds in succession to clean out the slag. How many they REALLY have to fire I don't know. I don't know what they are loaded with either - and I don't think they do either.

I heard about this when I worked at the plant. We ran a PVC production unit and after so many runs the reactors would have huge "rocks" built up behind the baffles in the reactor. I always thought having one of these kiln cleaners would be just the ticket, but management didn't seem to want me to bring my Mossberg and some slugs to work.

Eventually, operators didn't have to worry about it. We got contract hydroblasters to take care of it. Still, some of 'em were bad enough it'd take 24-48 hours with a hydroblaster to clean 'em. That's a lot of down time that's costing lots of money.