Punt gun
Punt gun | |
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Type | Shotgun, Hunting |
A punt gun is a type of extremely large
Operation and usage
Punt guns were usually custom-designed and varied widely, but could have bore diameters exceeding 2 inches (51 mm) and fire over a
Punt guns are usually muzzle-loaded with a lock similar to muskets or rifles of the day including flintlock, percussion, and more modern types. Holland & Holland offered models using breech loading and standardized shotgun shells in both brass and combined paper and brass base in the 1890s via custom order.[2][3] Double-barrelled models also existed,[4][2] typically in the smaller 8-gauge loadings.[5] In most cases, these guns were work-guns with little additional adornment in surviving examples. Many appearing in modern auctions have signs of being repaired or upgraded in some fashion, such as upgrading a flintlock action to a more modern percussion system or refinishing by rebluing the piece.[6][7]
In the
According to Eunan O'Halpin's book Defending Ireland, a Local Defence Force unit of the Irish Army in Co. Louth was equipped in 1941 with a number of flintlock weapons that had been gifted to them. Among these guns was a weapon described as being a "nine-foot (9 feet (2.7 m)) [long] blunderbuss", which could be more commonly understood to be a punt gun.[9]
In the
Fictional usage
Desmond Bagley's 1973 thriller, The Tightrope Men, features a percussion-fired punt gun. Although the book is set in northern Finland, punt guns were never used in the country.
In his 1978 novel
The 2004 film
In the novel Outer Dark, by Cormac McCarthy, the use of a four-gauge punt gun for hunting ducks is described.
In the Discworld novel Pyramids, mention is made of a "Puntbow", essentially a combination of this weapon and a crossbow.
See also
- Gauge conversion guide
- Sneakbox, a small boat used for hunting waterfowl
- M18 Claymore mine, directional anti-personnel minewith similar effects to that said firearm.
- Canister shot
- Guns of similar size or application
- Anti-materiel rifle
- Anti-tank rifle
- Jingal
- Elephant gun
- Wall gun
- Organ gun
- Volley gun
- Zamburak
- Java arquebus
References
- ^ ""Irish Tom" historic punt gun to be put on permanent display". BASC. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ^ a b "untitled" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-01-20. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ^ "Bonhams : A fine 1½in. bore 'London' punt gun by Holland & Holland, no. 20118". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Bonhams : A 1¼-bore double-barrelled punt gun by Townsend And Owens The false-breech and screw-plugs contained within a fitted timber box, along with a wrench and striker-disc keys for the screw-plugs and hammers, the lid with a brass plaque engraved Townsend & Owens, Braintree, Anno 1981". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Rock Island Auction: C.S. Shattuck American 8 Gauge Punt Gun". www.rockislandauction.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Bonhams : A Massive 2-Bore Tube-Lock Punt Gun". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Bonhams : A Massive Percussion Punt Gun". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Office of Law Enforcement - Waterfowl Hunting and Baiting". www.fws.gov.
- ^ O'Halpin, Eunan (1999). Defending Ireland; The Irish State and its Enemies Since 1922. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 165.
- ^ "PUNTGUNNING - An Introduction to the Sport and Code of Practice". wildfowling.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
- ^ "Wildfowlers bring out the big guns for celebration". spaldingtoday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
- ^ "JUBILEE VIDEO: 21 gun punt salute at Cowbit". spaldingtoday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
- ^ "The Weapons of Tremors 4: The Legend Begins". stampede-entertainment.com.
External links
- Article on punt gunning Archived 2013-12-07 at the Wayback Machine at Wildfowling.com
- Video showing a punt gun being fired at an array of clay pigeons
- Royal Armouries wildfowling film clip
- [1]
- [2]