I BOUGHT AN 8 BORE DOUBLE RIFLE ONCE OWNED BY JACK LOTT
This is the Biggest cal double rifle I now own. And I love the Jack Lott history - as written and pictured in both the 1983 and 1995 editions of "Big Bore Rifles" by Jack Lott. I always wanted an 8-bore double rifle, and when this one came up for sale I unloaded a bunch of iron to buy it. All the specs are shown above the pictures. I am anxious to get to the range to test it, but need help with loading recommendations. Since it has steel barrels, I intend to load "nitro-for-black" cartridges. Again, your help would be appreciated.
buckstix, I have an 8 bore cartridge that was loaded by my past friend and mentor Gene Enterkin in my accumulation of old ammunition. It is loaded on a lathe turned case with a cast bullet, to the best of my memory. Importantly though, it has a note taped to the side with the charge data and other particulars. When I get a chance, I will dig it out and post the data for you. Mike
buckstix, I dug the 8 bore cartridge out and the case was lathe turned, but it was not identified as to who did it. It seemed to have a large rifle primer, and it did have a lead conical bullet. The note taped to the side had the following written on it: 8 Bore, 260gr. 2F, 1140 gr. Lead Bullet, 1500 FPS. I have a sample of the bullet, and it measures .861". For whatever it is worth, I also have the shop made bullet mold that the bullets were cast in. Mike
Well, that's correct - by comparison, a full house load in my 700 Nitro Express is 2000 ft/sec with a 1000 grain bullet and has only 148 ft. lbs, recoil.
To put this into a frame of reference my single barreled Sarasqueta Honker waterfowl gun with BOSS 2 1/8 oz., 3 1/2" bismuth loads at 1275 fps generates 55-56 ft. lbs. recoil energy.
The 8 Bore was made when men were men and elephants weighed more than three times what a goose weighed. You have to compare 179 ft.lbs. of recoil to getting stomped into a puddle by an elephant. Mike
The 8 Bore was made when men were men and elephants weighed more than three times what a goose weighed. You have to compare 179 ft.lbs. of recoil to getting stomped into a puddle by an elephant. Mike
There's some truth to that, Mike. Selous thought so until he sawed an elephant's head in half to locate the exact spot at which to place a bullet from different angles. Then, he put the big guns down for good. Sometimes we do what we THINK we have to do, until we wise up.
My point is not why they were first used, but why anyone would want to pay big bucks to shoot one today.
The 8 Bore was made when men were men and elephants weighed more than three times what a goose weighed. You have to compare 179 ft.lbs. of recoil to getting stomped into a puddle by an elephant. Mike
There's some truth to that, Mike. Selous thought so until he sawed an elephant's head in half to locate the exact spot at which to place a bullet from different angles. Then, he put the big guns down for good.
And no wonder, Selous originally favored the 4 bore - until he didn’t.
W.D.M. “Karamojo” Bell from “The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter”.
”As regards rifles, I will simply state that I have tried the following: .416, .450/.400, .360, .350, .318, .275 and .256. At the time I possessed the double .400 I also had a .275. Sometimes I used one and sometimes the other, and it began to dawn on me that when an elephant was hit in the right place with the .275 it died just as quickly as when hit with the .400, and, vice versa, when the bullet from either rifle was wrongly placed death did not ensue. In pursuance of this train of thought I wired both triggers of the double .450/.400 together, so that when I pulled the rear one both barrels went off simultaneously. By doing this I obtained the equivalent of 800 grs. of lead propelled by 120 grs. of cordite. The net result was still the same. If wrongly placed, the 800 grs. from the .400 had no more effect than the 200 grs. from the 275. For years after that I continued to use the .275 and the .256 in all kinds of country and for all kinds of game.”
(Wonder what the the ft.lbs. of recoil would be from intentionally doubling that .400?)
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