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George's BIG 4 BORE.

Your restoration turned out very well. She is quite a grand Lady. At 12lbs 4oz I wouldn't want to shoot her with much more than 6 or 7 drams of black or a tad less. You might want to call Roland Huber (603 267 8227), he may have a few cases ready to send now and you know about Rocky Mountain. John Millar can make reproduction period reloading tools to load your own and they look good in presentation with the gun.

You won't find suitable cartridges for sale here in the US, they just aren't out there. RST doesn't even fool with 8 gauge stuff which might actually have a slight market so I'd imagine they won't be of any help with 4 gauge which has zero.

As far as I know, the only person in the world that has a loading machine and does sort of "production" 4 gauge shells is Alan Myers in England. He had a die made to mold an all plastic case and loads shells into them on special order. He doesn't sell the cases empty anymore as far as I know, he just sells loaded shells.

There would be no way to ship loaded cartridges from there, you'd have to fly over and pick some up then fly them back. Last time I saw him he had a couple boxes he'd brought along to shoot at geese in a Rhoda double 4 bore. I believe the price tag on the lead loaded ones was £225 for 25 cartridges. And yes, that's the pound symbol not the dollar symbol. There's no guarantee they'd fit in your gun anyway, 4 bore chamber sizes vary wildly.

Your only chance will be to buy brass and load your own, it's just that simple.



Destry


P.S. I think Armbrust had a few of the Myers made plastic cases at one time. You might try him I suppose.

The light weight of the gun seems odd for a 4 bore shotgun.

Are the barrels serial numbered to the gun...and could we see proof marks ?

George,

That is amazing. I saw the gun at Jim's earlier this year, right after you dropped it off and before he began work on it. Hard to believe it's the same gun. Congratulations on a job well done. I'll tell Jim next time I see him.

Let me know if and when you decide to shoot her. I'll ride up and take pictures if I can, and if you don't mind.

Stan

Roland is quite a person, I would look forward to doing business with him again just for the experience! Product was good and fairly priced too:)

7/8" bores are a lot closer to 8 bore than 4 bore....I would certainly recommend a chamber cast, that would be a forcing cone restriction I would not think would lean towards good patterns, fiber wad sealing priorities or not.

And should the cones be stepped or very steep, it would be good to know...did I miss what the proofs were?

4 bore chamber, 6 bore barrels that seem kinda common?

Best,
Mark

The 4's do vary quite a bit, 4 bore chamber, 6 or 5 or 4 bore diameter. Gun weights are variable also. Perhaps the bores are a bit more than 7/8? If you can't turn up any casings, let me know I might part with a couple but as stated above they will probably need a little work to fit them to your needs.

12 lbs for a 4 bore....most 8's weigh that.

Something fishy going on some where.

I have a single barrel 8 bore that weighs almost that much. Maybe this was a 4 bore featherlight. Good for a covey of grouse with each barrel.

I agree with earlier post... Tom Armbrust is the man to talk to. A true gentleman and possibly the most knowledgable big bore guy in the states.

It's definitely a 4-bore. It came with six loaded & one empty high brass 4 gauge Winchester shells. I'm going to weigh it again & precisely measure the bores and chambers.

Best Regards, George