How to get your compitions attention @ a Rendezvous

[Puffer]

If your an "old" Green River Mountain Man, you have Pete Sheeran  { a master gun builder from Spokane WA.} bring over a "TOY" !   A 4 Bore Wall Gun

 1 BIG  4 bore-Britsh-Rifled-Wall Gun. Here is an old TMA post from the Maker --- Pete Sheeran
British Wall Gun
The British Wall Gun (or Wall Piece and some times Swivel Gun, Fortification Gun, Rampart Gun and Amusette) were used by the Military for both fortification defense and ship defense.  They were typically smoothbore, about .98 cal., 4 ft 6 in heavy barrel, mounted on a swivel, with iron rammer and made in the likeness of the Brown Bess pattern (Brown Bess on heavy dose of steroids).  In “The British Military Firearm” by Blackmore, “A number of them Survive in the Tower (of London), all exactly alike but with dates ranging from 1729-44.  and   The design of the gun appears to have been unchanged up to the end of the century and there are several wall pieces in the Tower Armouries---identical to the above, except that they do not have escutcheons(wrist escuteons)---made for the East India Company in 1793.”  I have seen photos of French, Dutch/German and U.S. wall guns in “Battle Weapons of the American Revolution” by Geo. Newman, and has photos and descriptions of 6 wall guns.   Yes, George Washington had a number made at Rappahannock Forge in Virginia (4 survive)  and these U.S. wall guns were rifled, 1.125 inch bore and weighed 55 lbs.  Supposedly, in one of George Washington’s letters, he indicates that they was capable of hitting an ordinary sheet of writing paper at 500 yds. 

The British Wall Gun that I constructed has a rifled barrel that weighs 18 lbs.  There is evidence in the Board of Ordnance records that in 1806-7 a number of existing wall guns in the Tower were “bored up and rifled and rear leaf sights mounted”.  There is a bit more info in British Military Flintlock Rifles 1740-1840 by De Witte Bailey, p. 118-119.  I started my Wall Gun with a barrel purchase in April 05 but couldn’t find a walnut plank large enough in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho.  Finally my brother Dan in Ohio located a specialty hardwood sawmill near Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  The walnut was shipped in June (120 lbs), freight was about $60, plus the cost of the wood.  Sawing down a 60 lb plank on a band saw is tricky, get help before you start.

Starting point
I inlet the barrel to full depth prior to ordering my brass parts and lock from The Rifle Shoppe in early Sept.  It took about a 3weeks to get the brass parts (not bad) but did not receive the lock castings till Nov (still not bad time wise).
However, the screws did not arrive until Feb 06.  I had problems with the screws from The Rifle Shoppe, some of the bolts did not have the threads or slots cut in them (blanks)  and one of the bolts for the barrel tang had been hardened and broke while tightening (the head was not large enough) and the top jaw screw was not slotted, tapped or drilled through the head.  Why did I wait for them?  Because I had been charged on my MC card in Nov.
and was expecting them “any day” for almost 3 months.  The rammer was made from ½ inch mild steel stock, a 7/8 inch button was forge upset on one end and the other end forged to a slight taper.

Finished lock and mortise

I first fired it in March, benching it at the Spokane Falls Muzzle Loaders monthly club shoot.  I know recoil is subjective…  Think of it this way, 1660 grain round ball (that is about ¼ lb, 1.025 inch in diameter) being shot from a 37 lb gun with 300 gr. of Fg (that is a light load for this gun) and your finger is on the trigger and your shoulder is against the 3 inch wide butt plate,  then the fun begins…. the earth moves as you are enveloped in a white out.  The 400 gr. charge is about the same except somewhere between the earth moves and white out, a mule sneaks up on you and kicks you

We spread the word that we were doing a "domo". We took it to the range & secured it down on an oversized bench. While Pete, loaded it, we hauled out a Big 4' tall, Heavy (about 60# +++) steel target & set out @ 50 yd.s.

Sir Michael took Aim & Fired  A big BOOM, a Big cloud of smoke & Sir Mike, the bench, & the Gun slid back about 3'. The Target was about4+' fartjer down range  ;The crowd of "spectators" were momentarily spell bound ; then oohing, then clapping 
A GREAT TIME

[Ohio Joe]

Sir Michael took Aim & Fired  A big BOOM, a Big cloud of smoke & Sir Mike, the bench, & the Gun slid back about 3'. The Target was about4+' fartjer down range  ;The crowd of "spectators" were momentarily spell bound ; then oohing, then clapping

And that smoke cloud is still drifting over us here in Nebraska!!!   

Now I bet that was something to see for sure! 

[Bigsmoke]

That story (about firing the rifle) reminds me of shooting a few of them.  IIRC, they came in at about 20 pounds.  Also, they fired about 400 grains Fg Goex.  Our bore size was a bit smaller, as it liked a .980 round ball and it weighed about 1,450 grains.  The rate of twist was 1:144, yep, one turn in 12 feet.  Kind of slow.
The recoil wasn't too bad, about like being punched in the shoulder, by a big man.  Lennox Lewis comes to mind.  Seriously, it would make one take a pace or two backwards.  I always shot it offhand, and for sighting in, used a standing rest.  No desire to shoot it from a bench.
I really did enjoy shooting that big mother.  As said, the ground would shake.  And it would rattle windows a quarter of a mile away.
I always wanted to shoot Pete's wall gun, but the fates never cooperated in our getting together.
I really preferred shooting my 8 bore double rifle.  The recoil was not nearly as noticable and it was a lot less expensive to shoot.  Only 300 grains of Fg and 2 ounces of lead for the round ball.
Long live the big bore rifles.

[toot]

MONSTER GUNS RULE!!