Muzzleloading Puntguns

[toot]

all I can say about birds no matter what kind they were, someone may have contributed to there extinction maybe? were any duck species ever decimated to the brink of extinction, by over hunting? I am not anti hunting, I have been a hunter for over 65 yrs. and love the sport and beleave that it is well managed very well now days.

 

[Feltwad]

I would like to know if any members know anything about Puntguns building.

Did you come up with any information?
Feltwad

 

[Big Al1]

No ..Matter fact ..not even the Basc..But I will still search information on the wonderful Wildfowling tool..Not to be a bother if you find out thing would contact me..

 

[Eterry]

There's a couple videos on YouTube regarding punt guns, one is from 2 British gentlemen in a shop with several guns. There may have been a club at one time, judging from their comments. They give data, powder charges, shot weights, loading while mounted on the skiff.
A search should turn it up.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I have seen several over the years. One last year at the Chincoteague Museum in Chincoteague, VA. They tended to be long enough that they were braced against the transom and still hung out over the bow. !2 ft was not unknown. Large bores for what ever, the shooter had, gravel, bits of old metal, etc. Not exactly production guns, each being banged out individually by who ever had the skills and lived near where the hunters did. The one at Chincoteague appears to be about 7 ft and was sleeved in part by what looks like water pipe. They were very utilitarian and made from what ever could be salvaged. I remember seeing one years ago on display at the Maryland DNR offices in Annapolis. That one was about 10 ft.

 

[tenngun]

Not very sporting, is it? I could be missing something: not unusual.

Commercial hunting, no sport involved. Much like fly fishing vs a fishing trawler

 

[appalichian hunter]

We will be heading to the outer banks of North Carolina soon if we get up towards whalehead I will ask the curator about the punt guns and see if I can get more info. on them and their usage during the time the area was a hunting lodge.

 

[Big Al1]

I would like to build maybe 4-Bore version if possible.

 

[Jay Templin]

The Mariners Museum in Newport News has some punt guns. And video of punt guns in use:
https://iscc.marinersmuseum.org/object/punt-gun/https://iscc.marinersmuseum.org/watercraft/maldon-double-punt/
Jay

 

[rafterob]

I still remember when I was about 12 and visited an Aunt and Uncle on their farm. The Uncle had recently bought a 9 guage magnum and asked if I wanted to go down to the duck pond and try it out. Sure!
So we walk down to the pond and I figure he was going to scare them into flight and maybe shoot one. Nope! He takes aim at the flock on the water and lets one fly. Took out 5 of them. I suggested that was not very sporting and he replied "they're my ducks, I can shoot 'em how I like"

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Why would it be sporting. Never meant to be. It was an occupation. Supply meat for market. Cattle ranching is not sporting, why should market hunting be? Buffalo hunting was not sporting. I don't understand this hang up on "sporting" Sporting did not feed the family, or pay the mortgage. Market hunting had a completely different objective. Gather a natural resource to sell for money. Not a whole lot different than timbering or mining.

 

[appalichian hunter]

My take on the sporting side versus the occupation side is without regulations and management there would be neither when it comes to environmental resources such as animals. Sure those were different times and different circumstances this is what brought about the laws and regulations we now hunt and fish under. As to the reference of timbering and mining those also are regulated for the same reason. It is a world we now live in thanks to those past practices Yes the buffalo hunters did not adhere to so called sporting methods and in a few years practically wiped out the beasts for a few dollars each. As a younger man when I hunted deer there were very few if you seen a deer you were lucky now with sporting regulations there are plenty where I hunt same as wild turkeys if we do not police our own ranks through sporting rules and regulations there will be no birds, ducks, geese, deer or other game to pursue for us or the generations to come. So not to Pi$$ anyone off if the only reason someone now would kill for the money and thrill you are foolish I hunt for the thrill of matching my skills to the quarry I am legally hunting and the solitude of the hunt.

 

[Big Al1]

No all I wanted to know if there’s any Punt guns that could build in member of a sport of the great Wildfowlers of the past..I would love to do in Flintlock..Not piss anyone off.Matter fact I would love to one as a shoulder cannon..Oh if there any Wildfowlers out there can they
tell me the dia. of a 8-bore or 4-bore plastic shell?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

You can’t hunt with it, but you might be able to water ski behind it if you stayed off to one side.

Who says you cannot hunt with it?
In the United states you cannot hunt water fowl with it IF it's larger than 10 gauge, and you also must be using non-lead shot.

There is no regulation on how much shot you shoot, so you could have one made in 10 gauge, with a very robust barrel, perhaps more on the order of a swivel gun, and put an ounce of black powder an 1/4 pound of bismuth shot into it. In my area the opening day season limit on Canada Geese is very high....,

If you want to blast away at starlings with the crew served version shown in one of the vintage photos previously posted, you're fine as long as your state allows such...

is there another name in the UK when a guy is called a PUNTER? is he a guy that shoots a PUNT GUN? just curious?

The punt is the boat. A very shallow draft wooden boat, often used on rivers and creeks, and moved by a fellow standing using a pole, is a fellow who has gone a punting on the river.

Different slang from a different part of the UK a "punter" is a fellow who places bets, sometimes for a client, and for folks attending an amusement, such as variety show on a stage...,

were any duck species ever decimated to the brink of extinction, by over hunting? I am not anti hunting, I have been a hunter for over 65 yrs. and love the sport and beleave that it is well managed very well now days.

Ducks Unlimited played a large part in changing the laws about "market hunting" of waterfowl, and protection of habitat to keep the population replenishing itself.

LD

 

[Rudyard]

Whatever the merits of duck guns & punt guns .Non I believe would be firing gravel & scrap. This myth persists for blunderbusses as well . Just don't be trying it .
Rudyard

 

[tenngun]

Who says you cannot hunt with it?
In the United states you cannot hunt water fowl with it IF it's larger than 10 gauge, and you also must be using non-lead shot.

There is no regulation on how much shot you shoot, so you could have one made in 10 gauge, with a very robust barrel, perhaps more on the order of a swivel gun, and put an ounce of black powder an 1/4 pound of bismuth shot into it. In my area the opening day season limit on Canada Geese is very high....,

If you want to blast away at starlings with the crew served version shown in one of the vintage photos previously posted, you're fine as long as your state allows such...

‘You had one and a half pounds of shot and you just killed twenty seven birds on the water?
‘Honest officer it’s a ten gage’
In tonight’s local news a man was just arrested for shooting a cannon at ducks. His defense is ‘it was a ten gage’ for a compleat story we turn to our reporter Martha McPeta

 

[appalichian hunter]

I am not sure but as tenngun states do believe federal regulations are nothing larger than a 10ga. for water fowl and no lead shot. As you Dave the local goose harvest is very generous in my neck of the woods also. The local farms and residents complain but if asked about hunting the answer is no, But farther east in the traditional goose hunting areas closer to the Chesapeake bay 1 a day has been in effect since last year, I truly enjoy goose hunting but with pit lease, federal and state water fowl stamps, travel and early morning runs for a while this will have to wait. As to decimation of duck species the main reason is loss of habitat due to large scale agriculture practices and the so called management of water resources.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

You had one and a half pounds of shot and you just killed twenty seven birds on the water?
‘Honest officer it’s a ten gage’
In tonight’s local news a man was just arrested for shooting a cannon at ducks. His defense is ‘it was a ten gage’ for a compleat story we turn to our reporter Martha McPeta

I didn't say it was a Good idea...., I just pointed out it was a legal idea.

Murphy's Law with me if there are 20 geese flying in a V formation and there is a Swan or better yet a Cygnet (young swan) flying along in that formation...., IF a single shot was taken by me..., I'd drop the Cygnet, without a doubt. Even if the bird was at 100 yards....

"Honest officer, I was shooting at the lead goose."

LD

 

[Scota@4570]

Rather than shooting into the flock on the water it works better to fire when they just get up then fire into the flock. When they are on the water half the duck it under water and one duck shields others behind it. I recall reading that they did this with punts by firing with a regular shotgun to jump them up then timing the punt gun shot for maximum effect.

 

[appalichian hunter]

O the good old days, that we are paying for now. But history has a way of teaching harsh lessons for the future.