8 guage almost finished

mooncoon

mooncoon

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I have almost finished restocking an 8 guage percussion double by Moore and Harris. With 32 inch barrels and weighing 11 lbs, it should be easy handling and assure a quick kill on upland game (maybe) :>) :>) This one has been a major learning experience with an abundance of frustrations, compared to others I have worked on. I didn't even notice until after I had taken the photo that the tape measure had flipped upside down. The gun above is a conventional 12 guage double

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cheers mooncoon
 
Very interesting project. I figure that upland game don't stand a chance... Maybe a goose gun! LOL! Beautiful piece.
 
Trivia: 1938ish, gun company executives were on a guided waterfowl hunt eastern USA. Chesapeake Bay(?) The Ithaca exect approached the Winchester guy & put forth the idea Ithaca would produce a true magnum 10 gauge if they could convince Winchester to produce the ammunition.
Was because of the International Warerfowl Treaty of recent, banned 8 gauge for migratory fowl in North America.
Hence a magnum 10 could be built to nearly mimick the old 8 gauge shotshell load, and it still would be American legal.
 
SigWig said:
Any tricks of the trade for the new one?
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I made a couple of mistakes early on; one was that I assumed the front tang bolt screwed into the trigger plate more or less at 90 degrees ---it did not but angled quite a bit forward from top to bottom. That meant that I had to plug the hole and inlet the trigger plate about 1/4" farther forward. I located the new position by screwing the bolt into the trigger plate then holding the plate more or less in position and freehanding the line up to where the hole in the tang was. Perhaps worth mentioning that to drill a bolt hole so that it comes out where targeted, I clamp a pointed piece of rod in my drill press vice so that it is directly under the drill bit. I rest one end of the hole on the point and drill towards it 1/2 way then reverse and finish the hole. The locks also angled in quite a bit because the wrist was quite narrow. On smaller shotguns, the locks are not nearly as angled because the width of the lock area and forend are much closer to the width of the wrist and are much easier to inlet. On this gun, I inlet the locks perhaps 1/16 " high and that held the locks more parallel (longitudinally) than they needed to be. It took me a while to realize where the problem was and luckily because the metal on the standing breach allowed me to file maybe 1/32" off and eliminate the problem

cheers mooncoon

cheers mooncoon
 
There is a legend from South Texas regarding a rural farm that the sheriff and his wife occupied. Four horse mounted hostiles visited them with unfriendly intentions.
The sheriff got to his 8 gauge first. The shot load killed one outright and mortally wounded another directly behind the first. The second barrel wasn't required as the others turned & fled forthwith.
The second wounded rider didn't get very far.
 
Extremely nice gun, but Iam wondering if 8 gauge is legal for hunting, I don’t think so here in B.C.
 
bunny said:
Extremely nice gun, but Iam wondering if 8 gauge is legal for hunting, I don’t think so here in B.C.
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It is not legal for hunting migratory birds in Canada, USA, and Mexico because of the migratory bird act in the 1920s. The irony is that a modern 10 guage 3 1/2" magnum packs more than the original service charge of an 8 guage. It is legal for non migratory upland game but is bulky and heavy enough not to be practical. I can't immediately remember his name but there was a wealthy scottish hunter who hunted elephants on horseback using a 10 guage loaded with ball although it took quite a few shots to bring one down. He hunted in the mid 1800s for elephants, rhinos, and probably buffalo on a 2 year safari, and sold the ivory and horns etc. The use of a shotgun loaded with ball was common enough that when choke boring came in around 1875, choke bored barrels were marked "not for ball". I don't think it will kick all that much because of the weight and I have shot a single barrel 8, a number of years ago

cheers mooncoon
 
antiqueguy said:
It’s out for migratory birds and turkey here in Ontario. But perfectly legal for deer upland and small game bit over kill for the last 2.
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Not overkill at all. Remember it is a muzzleloader so can be loaded with MUCH lighter charges than what one would find in an 8 gauge factory cartridge round back in the day. I used my 8 gauge for all sorts of shotgunning, just used what would be a 12 gauge load (IIRC, 1 1/4 OZ shot with equal volume F black). Had Jeff Tanner make me a RB mould for it so I could load one barrel with shot and the other with ball to hunt deer/elk and upland at the same time. The only reason I don't use it much any more is that the stock has too much drop for me so I can't hit well on flying targets.
 
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