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Post by brokennock on Jul 21, 2019 17:07:47 GMT -7
I am reading "A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa," by Frederick Courteney Selous. Taking place towards the end of the muzzleloading era, just after our War between the States. I found the following statement about a shot taken on elephant with a 4 bore muzzleloading smoothbore "elephant gun" interesting regarding accuracy and range regarding heavily charged large bore smoothbore guns,
"120 yards of the herd. At this moment the old fellow, being nearer than the others, must have caught an indistinct glimpse of me behind the bush; for, with head erect and ears cocked, he now gazed intently at the spot where I crouched concealed. Seeing that it was useless to attempt to get any nearer, I noiselessly raised myself to a kneeling position, and, taking a careful aim at his chest, fired. At the shot he fell on his knees, but, recovering, sprang up and bounded off at full gallop after the retreating herd; but his race was short, for, after rushing along at full speed for about 100 yards, he staggered and fell, and in a few moments the remorseless assegais of my Kafirs had quenched the last sparks of vitality that still remained. On coming up I found that I had made a very creditable shot, considering my weapon (a smooth-bore elephant gun, carrying a four-ounce round bullet, backed by fifteen drachms of coarse powder)."
He doesn't further define "very credible shot," but the elephant did drop within 100 yards, and the shot itself was over that.
If anyone can do the math, I'd be interested to know how his 4 bore load compares to our common 20 gauge roundball loads which seem to run between 80 to 100 grains of powder.
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Keith
City-dweller
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 990 
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Post by Keith on Jul 21, 2019 17:51:32 GMT -7
15 Drams = 410.16 Grains
Keith.
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Post by brokennock on Jul 21, 2019 20:40:12 GMT -7
So let's call 410 grains slightly more than 4x the high end of the average 20 gauge round ball load, just for arguments sake and keeping math easy. What I don't know is, would the ball for a "4 bore" be 4x larger than a 20 gauge ball?
He says he is shooting a 4oz "round bullet." (As opposed to those square or rectangular ones?) Does he mean bullet as in conical? Or does his use of "round" as an adjective imply a ball? Would a round ball for a 4 bore weigh 4oz?
It sounds like a massively heavy load, but, it is a huge bore size. Maybe the load is just average for that size bore?
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Post by brokennock on Jul 21, 2019 22:23:28 GMT -7
Another quote from later on, explains the weight of his projectile,
"although my first gun was loaded again, I had no time for another. However a four-ounce round bullet, hardened with zinc and quicksilver, is no trifle,"
Mercury in one's ammo projectiles, that would cause quite a stir in some circles these days.
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Keith
City-dweller
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 990
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Post by Keith on Jul 22, 2019 0:21:50 GMT -7
So let's call 410 grains slightly more than 4x the high end of the average 20 gauge round ball load, just for arguments sake and keeping math easy. What I don't know is, would the ball for a "4 bore" be 4x larger than a 20 gauge ball? He says he is shooting a 4oz "round bullet." (As opposed to those square or rectangular ones?) Does he mean bullet as in conical? Or does his use of "round" as an adjective imply a ball? Would a round ball for a 4 bore weigh 4oz? It sounds like a massively heavy load, but, it is a huge bore size. Maybe the load is just average for that size bore? I would imagine that he is referring to a round ball rather than a conical. So, a 4 gauge/Bore would take a quarter of a pound round ball, being four balls to the pound. A 20 gauge would take 20 balls to make a pound in weight.  4 Bore Miquilet wall gun.I want one! Keith. |
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Post by spence on Jul 22, 2019 7:37:02 GMT -7
If anyone can do the math, I'd be interested to know how his 4 bore load compares to our common 20 gauge roundball loads which seem to run between 80 to 100 grains of powder. They are in the same ballpark. Nearenuf. For the 4 bore, the weight of the ball is 4.38 times the weight of the powder. For the 20 bore the weight of the ball is 4.27 times the weight of the powder. Spence |
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Post by Sicilianhunter on Jul 22, 2019 15:32:47 GMT -7
So let's call 410 grains slightly more than 4x the high end of the average 20 gauge round ball load, just for arguments sake and keeping math easy. What I don't know is, would the ball for a "4 bore" be 4x larger than a 20 gauge ball? He says he is shooting a 4oz "round bullet." (As opposed to those square or rectangular ones?) Does he mean bullet as in conical? Or does his use of "round" as an adjective imply a ball? Would a round ball for a 4 bore weigh 4oz? It sounds like a massively heavy load, but, it is a huge bore size. Maybe the load is just average for that size bore? I would imagine that he is referring to a round ball rather than a conical. So, a 4 gauge/Bore would take a quarter of a pound round ball, being four balls to the pound. A 20 gauge would take 20 balls to make a pound in weight. 4 Bore Miquilet wall gun.I want one! Keith. I love those Miquelet locks!! Nock, Frederick Courtney Selous? Were the Selous scouts named after him? A little off topic but curious... |
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Post by brokennock on Jul 22, 2019 18:22:44 GMT -7
If anyone can do the math, I'd be interested to know how his 4 bore load compares to our common 20 gauge roundball loads which seem to run between 80 to 100 grains of powder. They are in the same ballpark. Nearenuf. For the 4 bore, the weight of the ball is 4.38 times the weight of the powder. For the 20 bore the weight of the ball is 4.27 times the weight of the powder. Spence Thanks. Based on the last few responses here and elsewhere (the ones here being better) I am thinking this load is simply an average appropriate load for the bore size. I was initially thinking it was really heavy, and it is, but it is a big "heavy" bore size. |
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Post by brokennock on Jul 22, 2019 18:24:34 GMT -7
I would imagine that he is referring to a round ball rather than a conical. So, a 4 gauge/Bore would take a quarter of a pound round ball, being four balls to the pound. A 20 gauge would take 20 balls to make a pound in weight. 4 Bore Miquilet wall gun.I want one! Keith. I love those Miquelet locks!! Nock, Frederick Courtney Selous? Were the Selous scouts named after him? A little off topic but curious... Yup that's the man, and the unit. Pamwe Chete, Dave |
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Post by Sicilianhunter on Jul 22, 2019 21:41:16 GMT -7
Forward Together!!
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