[Steve k]

I think that is what it was called. Was watching Tremers 4 last night. This guy rides in with a trailer load of the biggest bore pistols and rifles of the old west. Then he pulls out the biggest baddest cannon I have ever seen makes my 95 caliber look like a toy. He put black powder down the barrel then a bigg hand full of ball bearings down the barrel, puts a blasting cap in action and pulls the trigger. This thing was shoulder fired and reminded me of recoiless rifle with a stock 8O I put this in the shotgun section because that is what this seam to be a huge shotgun I seem to rember these guns being used to kill wholsale, big flocks of ducks and geese. But I never invisioned that the gun was that huge :?

 

[TB]

IIRC the punt gun weighed something like 106lbs and was intended to "harvest" foul.

http://www.intercom.net/~shoreman/Punts.jpg

http://www.intercom.net/~shoreman/punts2.jpg

 

[JR]

They weren't designed to be shoulder fired. The punt was a small boat. The weapon was tied into the boat, bow had the muzzle. The market hunter rowed out near a sitting flock of ducks, and fired away. Able to kill literally dozens per shot.

 

[Shoot762]

8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O That would look good mounted on my bass boat.

 

[flcracker]

James Michner's "Chesapeake" has a great description of these guns used by market hunters to satisfy the appetite of the big city hotels, as well as the shut-down of the market hunting and the attempts by the wildlife officers to confiscate the punt guns.

You definitely had to aim by steering your boat. They would paddle out in the bay at night and slip up to a huge flock (raft?) of ducks and geese, then fire before the birds took off of the surface of the water. And that thing had better be tied down good, or it would recoil right back into you!

Does anyone know if any of these still exist in private hands? I'd LOVE to see one fired at Knob Creek, even if it isn't a machine gun!

flcracker

 

[9th]

I thought you just hit them with gun like a club!! They are long enuff to reach em'!!GI3

 

[7.62bthp]

James Michner's "Chesapeake" has a great description of these guns used by market hunters to satisfy the appetite of the big city hotels, as well as the shut-down of the market hunting and the attempts by the wildlife officers to confiscate the punt guns.

You definitely had to aim by steering your boat. They would paddle out in the bay at night and slip up to a huge flock (raft?) of ducks and geese, then fire before the birds took off of the surface of the water. And that thing had better be tied down good, or it would recoil right back into you!

Does anyone know if any of these still exist in private hands? I'd LOVE to see one fired at Knob Creek, even if it isn't a machine gun!

flcracker

Another technique was to fire a standard shotgun into the flock to get them to rise. The punt was discharged as the birds went airborne, killing them by the hundreds.

 

[5594]

Are these not the same as the 3 ga. and 1-1/2 ga. shotguns I heard about many years ago? Seems there used to be an 8 ga. too...

???

 

[pantera84]

Saw this video awhile ago about a punt gun shooting clays. Not bad, but it's cheating.GI7

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7FeeamC4qk[/ame]