doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com loads used for waterfowl in 1874

I was reading an old book on waterfowl hunting when I read about some of the loads they used in 1874. I was surprised when I read how light they were.
The author recommended 8,9 and 10 gauge guns for waterfowl.
The loads recommended were;
10-gauge, 4 to 5 1/2 drams of powder, I to 1 1/4 ounces of shot.
9-gauge, 4 1/2 drams to 6 drams of powder, 1 to 1 3/8 ounces of shot.
8-gauge, 5 to 7 drams of powder, 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 ounces of shot.
I wonder what those old timers would think of the 28 gauge 1 ounce loads being talked about today?
Pete

If we were restricted to no wads, no chokes and Black Powder that 28 load would be 1/2 ounce or maybe 5/8 ounce. 10 gauge basic common load was 1 1/8 ounce or 1 1/4 ounce. There is a reason you
see more 10's than 12's in that era.

a 28 gauge would have been used for rail and snipe...

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A 4 1/2 to 5 dram load in a 10 gauge is not lite. My WC Scott hammerless 10 is proofed for 1 1/2 oz. it weighs 9 1/2 lbs on the nose and a 1 1/4 oz 5 dram load in that thing would put me on my substantial ass.

There is a lot of difference in your 10 gauge load and the load used in 1874. The powder used was black powder, although 4 to 5 1/2 drams is a stiff charge no matter how you look at it.
But, when I said light load I was referring to the 1 ounce of shot to 1 1/4 ounces. which is very light in a 10 gauge. And I was comparing it to a 1 ounce 28 gauge load used today.
Pete

It may be well to mention that the old time hunters nearly wiped out the duck population using those "Light Loads". This at a time in which flights blackened the sky there were so many of the. These old timers for the most part didn't Sky bust. They shot when the ducks were in range. Read some of Nash Buckingham's writing of the waterfowl shooting during the time he was active around the turn of the last century. Heavy loads were not common at all. In Great Day in the Morning he did speak of using a 10 gauge loaded with around 4 or 4� drams of powder with 1� oz of shot, but hat is the heaviest I recall him ever mentioning in his writings I have read. He spoke of many times using only an ounce. I believe that 1� oz was much the more common waterfowl load for the 10 gauge of the era though. 1 1/8 was often used for a field gun, Don't think 1 oz was common in the 10 at all. Not saying it was never used, just not common.

I think the market hunters with their punt guns had more to do with decimating the duck populations than the hunters with 10 gauge.

TM

Overhunting by sportsmen and market hunters undoubtedly had a huge effect on waterfowl populations, but they would have largely recovered once market hunting ended and seasons and limits were imposed. However, massive conversion of wetlands to agriculture, both in the northern breeding grounds and the southern wintering areas, limits duck populations to the pale shadow of former numbers that we have today.

Snow geese are an exception that prove the rule: they breed on the tundra far north of agriculture, so have not lost breeding habitat, and winter in agricultural areas that provide plenty of waste grain. Due to abundant winter food, their population has exploded. The Aleutian goose is another example: once introduced foxes were removed from its breeding islands, populations went from nearly extinct to pest status in their wintering area. In both cases, liberal limits and long seasons barely put a dent in numbers.

I don't agree. Effective punt gunning required certain locales and requirements that, in and of themselves, limited the effectiveness of the technique on a national scale. Where it was used it could be very effective, and kill large numbers with a single shot, but those places were few and far between. I believe there were exponentially more ducks killed by the new pumps and "automatics" than by punt guns. But, somehow, over the last century, punt guns have gained a mystique and reputation not entirely deserved.

That, and what LGF said, plus no seasons (or no regard for seasons) was the death knell, pun intended.

SRH

I don't think a shot from a big gun resulted in as big a bag as some people think. I believe punt guns in this country were used on special occasions by market gunners who normally shot smaller guns.