Welcome to at this time’s Photograph of the Day! This large Cogswell & Harrison 4-bore shotgun is what duck hunters used once they have been severe about placing meat on the desk. With a bore diameter measuring almost an inch, this falling-block behemoth weighs in at a shoulder-crushing 18 kilos, 14 ounces – about 3 times the load of a typical trendy shotgun. The 4-bore designation dates again to the times when shotguns have been sized by what number of lead balls of bore diameter made a pound. For this cannon, that’s simply 4 – every concerning the dimension of a golf ball. These weapons have been developed for market hunters who wanted to take down a number of birds with a single shot, usually from primitive punt boats or shore blinds. Constructed on a brass Discipline patent motion probably from the Eighteen Nineties, this explicit gun has a later nitro-proofed barrel dated 1984, suggesting it was rebuilt or refurbished for contemporary use. That’s outstanding contemplating 4-bores have been largely out of date by the early 1900s when market searching was banned in most locations. The sheer impracticality of this gun is what makes it fascinating. The recoil can be completely brutal, the ammunition just about unobtainable at this time, and the load makes it almost inconceivable to shoulder for any size of time. But skilled hunters within the Victorian period used these monsters to reap waterfowl by the handfuls, usually taking pictures into large flocks at ranges as much as 100 yards. Whereas at this time’s moral hunters use trendy shotguns with smaller gauges and strict bag limits, this 4-bore large stands as a reminder of the industrial-scale wildlife harvest that just about worn out many American waterfowl species earlier than conservation legal guidelines saved them.
“Gargantuan Cogswell & Harrison 4 Bore Single Barrel Duck Shotgun.” Rock Island Public sale Firm, https://www.rockislandauction.com/element/4094/482/gargantuan-cogswell-harrison-4-bore-single-barrel-duck-shotgun. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
