C. Moore ~ Hammer Single Shot ~ 4 Gauge

C. Moore Hammer Single Shot 4 Gauge If a shotgun is a 4 gauge, that means four lead balls the same size as the gun's bore diameter equal one pound. And yep, that means a 12-gauge would require 12 lead balls the same size as the bore to equal a pound. The exact bore diameter of a 4 gauge is 1.052 inches that's about twice as wide as a 12-gauge or a .50-caliber rifle bullet. Yeah, that's huge. Among the largest shoulder-fired long guns ever, the 4 gauge shotgun was made for long-range waterfowling. Both market and sport hunters saw the 4 gauge shotgun as a means to increase both their effective range and the number of birds they could kill. The 4 gauge shotgun was first developed in England, where waterfowl hunting is traditionally very different from waterfowling in the United States. English wildfowlers used 10-, 8-, and 4-bore shoulder-fired guns. Those guns often had much longer barrels than we see on shotguns today. Barrels of 40 inches or more helped shooters milk every bit of velocity possible out of the slow-burning black powder of the time. In the United States, the 4 gauge is more often associated with market hunters, who made their living selling the ducks, geese, and shorebirds they killed in the 19th and very early 20th century, when it was still legal to do so. By the early 20th century, market hunters and sport hunters, with their unrestricted bag limits, seemed well on their way to wiping out North America's waterfowl populations. Conservationists pushed for bans on the sale of wild game and on the big guns used to do much of the damage. In 1913, the U.S. established limits to the legal bore size of guns for waterfowl hunting. Today, the largest gauge allowed for migratory bird hunting in North America is the 10-gauge. If you can find or load ammo for these big-bore guns, it is still entirely legal to own and shoot a 4 gauge. However, they are not legal hunting guns. This example weighs over 17 pounds and sports a 45 inch barrel. It's still in great shape. If you want a real head turner and conversation starter, check out this shotgun. Not often seen. A nice collectable.