8 Bore Deer Rifle

W

WR1894

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Finally got around to fire my 8 Bore Rifle. This gun is marked JSF Botha Capetown who was the retailer of the gun. The gun was made in Birmingham England and inside the lock it is marked WWG which may be WW Greener.

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Here ia picture of the ball compared to a 22 LR and a 45 cal ball. The ball is 825 in diameter and weighs 800 grains

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Here is the 8 beside a Thompsen Center Hawken. There is only 1/2 pound difference in weight. The 8 bore weighs 9 pounds and the TC is 8 1/2 and the 8 is shorted by a couple of inches

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Here is a picture of the muzzles, 45 cal TC and the 8 bore.

I got the gun on paper today and shot a 3 shot group at fifty yards, the first 2 in less then 4 inchs and the last one got a way and made it 6 inches. After 6 shots I had enough. I have been shooting 6 drams of FFG with the patched ball, not sure what load to use yet but this should kill a deer.
Anybody have any loading information for a 8 bore
John
 
WW Greener shows a powder charge of 138 grains and a conical bullet of 1378 grains in the proof tables for rifled arms of all kinds. Granulation of powder not stated.
Tell us more; where did you find the gun? Looks like a dandy. I have one in 9 guage (.79 cal) but mine weighs about 12 lbs which makes the recoil quite comfortable.

cheers mooncoon
 
mooncoon,
I found this gun in the US, the guy that had it collected civil war stuff and got it with a collection of stuff. Had no interest in the gun and I happen to hear about it. I got a mould from Dixe in the winter to try it out. Was suprized how good the mould works it is one of there cheap mould.
The one book I have shows a load of 10 drams (275 grains) and a 1200 grain bullet. That not for this gun or me.
I will have to look up my information on the retailer I got from the South Africa. The Botha family had been in the busniess for a long time there.

I also have a WG Rawbone 4 bore that needs finshed. I have been working on it for a long time but not getting to far, but this gun has my interest back into getting it finished. I like big bores, it only the money that keeps me from having a bunch

John
 
WR1894 said:
mooncoon,
The one book I have shows a load of 10 drams (275 grains) and a 1200 grain bullet. That not for this gun or me.

I also have a WG Rawbone 4 bore that needs finshed. I have been working on it for a long time but not getting to far,

John
Click to expand...

I get the feeling that early hunters often loaded their guns far above the loads they were proven for. I think your gun would be truly brutal with 10 drams and a conical bullet. You can buy custom roundball molds from Jeff Tanner in England, at a reasonable price. You can find him on the web.
I have a 5 guage smooth rifle (.935 round ball) that I shoot with 240 grains of 1F. In a 14 lb gun, it kicks enough that you have to be careful how you hold it. You get used to the recoil after a while, which is a tremendous shove, but I still have to control a flinch.
It and guns like it that were used on the veldt, often have a compass rose like design on the top of the barrel.

cheers mooncoon
 
Got the my records out tonight and looked at what I have from Africa on JSF Botha. This gun was sold buy JSF Botha the 3rd who was in business from 1859 to 1901, and unlike the orginal Botha family members all of his guns are Birmingham manufactured. It does not appear that he made any guns as the rest of the family had.The Botha family was in business for 98 years in Capetown.
The express sights have not been filed on this gun, there was a dent in the standing site so I filed a small groove for a site. The rifling and bore is bright so I not sure if this gun was ever used for hunting. The only problem is that I do no think it has the proper hammer as most rifles of this type had flat sided hammers with some engraving were this hammer is curved but it is hard to tell. But I am sure that I will keep it
John
 
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