Old 2 gauge shotgun

[First-light]

Friend just sent this to me.

How would you like to shoot this one? During the civil war they were used to bring down flocks

of geese and ducks to feed the soldiers. They drew straws to see who had to put their shoulder

behind it and pull the trigger. They have one on display in the museum in Gettysburg ...

BigShotgun.wmv

[Deerthug]

Ummm . . . no thank you!

[G-Man]

I've seen old photos of the "punk-guns" mounted on canoes used to take herds of deer at night along lakeshores in the days of meat hunting as well as flocks of ducks n geese. outlawed when duck and goosehunting laws came into effect in the early 1900's. neat gun ...I would do it once!

[WNYBuckHunter]

I remember seeing that episode on TV. If you do some searching for "Punt Gun" on youtube, you can find clips from the rest of the show.

[Grouse]

They called it a "punt" gun because it was securely fastened to a small boat called a "punt". The boat was "sculled" forward with one oar out the stern, into range of a flock of ducks resting on the water. Once you got all of "your ducks in a row", you fired that gun and killed a whole bunch of them with one shot. The whole boat was propelled backwards when the gun was fired.

Musta been great fun!!

[Pygmy]

Yeah... Shooting that thing looks about as much fun as having a prostrate exam... ..

However, around the turn of the (last) century they were common in use for the market hunters...

They would mount the gun in the prow of the boat, point the whole boat at the flock of ducks on the water, scull within range and touch off a shot..

200 ducks with one shot was not uncommon..

[Karpteach]

Guaranteed not to miss any target. It is also guaranteed that your shoulder will dislocate and you will have a huge headache!

[Skillet]

Ummm . . . no thank you!

X2

[Deerthug]

On second thought securing it to a boat and pulling a rope attached to the trigger mechanism does sound like fun!

[ny hunter]

I'll watch from here!!!

[WNYBuckHunter]

On second thought securing it to a boat and pulling a rope attached to the trigger mechanism does sound like fun!

Heck yeah!

[fasteddie]

That's a heck of a way to propel a boat !

[Suilleabhain]

There's a book on this called Outlaw Gunners. About the poachers after it was outlawed and the F&G guys chasing them in the Chesapeake. Besides ducks, geese and swans, there was a big market for song birds too. They all went to the hotels in NYC during the 1800's. Some of the guns were 6 & 8 gauge with multiple barrels set like a fan shape to take out entire rafts of birds at night.