The Two Bore

CBMS

CBMS

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Victoria
This is a black powder gun I have loved since I heard of it, yet have never held one in my hands.
I want to hold one, and as such am currently looking for a gunsmith who is willing to go on this little adventure with me to try and build one of the largest shoulder fired guns ever made. If you are or know a smith who wants a bit of a challenge please let me know!
CBMS

As an Edit, I am posting this here not as a full fledged want to buy, but also as a discussion of this behemoth of a shoulder cannon.
Does anyone know of any that are around in Canada?
 
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I do know of a dealer who has a 4 bore which is a newly made or remake of an older style. It is a caplock made by an older gunsmith. I can remember when he first had it on his rack for $1,400.00 but after 15 - 20 years it is now at $2,300.00 I think. No wonder he still has it. Single barrel smoothbore I believe. Dave
 
I have a single 8 bore rifle and a 4 bore rifle being restored slowly, have never seen or heard of a 2 bore rifle for sale. I have had a couple of 4 and 6 bore smooth bore market guns. I would think getting a original 2 would be next impossible as very few were made as shoulder arms. If you were going to make one finding a 4 bore market gun and making a smooth bore barrel would be the way I would look at doing it. Again even getting them is hard.
Dave if you don't mind were is the 4 bore is it in Ontario?
John
 
Wow! I took a look at that link and saw the size of the 2 Bore case compared to the 45-70. The first thing that I thought of is that I'd go bankrupt pouring powder into that case. In fact, 'case' is a misnomer; 'can' would be a better description of a 2 bore case.
 
One of the gun shop owners in Grande Prairie has a muzzle loading 2 bore it weighs over 20 lbs. and is massive. I have held it but never fired it.
 
Why not make it a true African dangerous game rifle.......make it a DOUBLE! You will be the only kid on the block with a SxS shoulder rifle that weighs 41 lbs.!
 
The gun on top is a 5 guage or .95 caliber and is a smooth rifle. Double set triggers and rifle sights on the gun. I would echo WR1894 and suggest making a 4 or 5 bore percussion smooth rifle as being much more practical. I think the 2 bores were virtually non existent as shoulder fired guns partially because of weight and partially because of recoil. I also think that hardened roundballs were preferred to conicals because they had greater penetration (read Baker's Rifle and Hound in Ceylon). That seems to suggest that the conicals were probably soft mini ball type projectiles.
For what it is worth, a 1200 grain round ball and 8 drahms of 1F in a 14 lb gun concentrate your attention but become liveable after you get used to it with a few shots. I think a heavier caliber with more powder in a gun in the 20 lb range would be pretty awkward to shoot as well as being pretty punishing.

cheers mooncoon

BritishPercRiflesb.jpg
 
Shrek said:
Why not make it a true African dangerous game rifle.......make it a DOUBLE! You will be the only kid on the block with a SxS shoulder rifle that weighs 41 lbs.!
Click to expand...

The double doesnt weight THAT much, only like...28-31 lbs. Seriously, who wouldn't wanna shoot that?
mmmm Buckets of powder dumped downrange....
Yeah Moon I'll let you know. Check your PM's.
 
On top of the shooting times video, here is a quick calculation for the drams to Grains for those neophytes.
1 dram = 27.34375 grains
Sooo:
12 dram = 328.12500 grains
mmmm I can feel my shoulder hurting from just watching it :D
 
Here is a picture of my 8 bore rifle with a 45 cal Thompsen

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This is the 8 bore ball (820 grains) and a 22 LR and a 45 cal ball

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Here is a picture of a 4 bore, case and bullet beside a 22 LR and a 7 Remington Magnum

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I have fired the 4 bore rifle, it is a Double Rifle that weights 24 pounds and the load I fired was 400 grains of 2 F powder and a 1850 grain bullet. It is a hand full and is as much as I want to shoot
John
 
A local gunsmith took a 20mm barrel and made a percussion gun out of it.Called it his two step as when fired you always take at least two steps back! About .80 caliber............Harold
 
Is it just me, or does that 2-bore kind of looks like an overgrown C. Sharps Model 1875. So how exactly could you get a bullet mould to properly fill out? You'd have to dump a pile of lead in there in a hurry. That's a half pound of glorious plumbonium heading in the opposite direction you are. When I drag out my 535 grain Postell loaded .45-90's, the uninitiated are impressed, that's well... mind blowing. :eek:
 
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