Punt gun

[tomcat]

Saw a punter returning from a foray on Cromarty firth last week, started me wondering how much a load (It looked like a 1lb gun) cost, A cup of blackie & a pound of bismuth anyone?

[keith66]

Bismuth is approx £50 a kg so for a 1 pounder £20 odd quid just for the shot, add the powder & it will be £25 to £30 a pop, Good pop though!

[enfield2band]

I didn't know they were still legal in this country.

Google punt guns and there is a lot of information about them.

I found this snippet:-

Some big guns gained almost cult status.’Irish Tom’ was made as a muzzle loading punt gun. It was bought from an Irish market gunner in the early 1930s by WAGBI founder Stanley Duncan. He had it converted to breech-loader by Greener and started using it in 1936. When Duncan had finished with the gun he sold it to the actor James Robertson Justice. It was rediscovered and restored in the 1980s and given to BASC to display at their HQ. Irish Tom has a barrel made from Whitworth steel, weighs 300 lbs and fires 50 oz of shot propelled by 10oz of black powder. The gun is 14 feet in length.

[tomcat]

I didn't know they were still legal in this country.

Google punt guns and there is a lot of information about them.

I found this snippet:-

Some big guns gained almost cult status.’Irish Tom’ was made as a muzzle loading punt gun. It was bought from an Irish market gunner in the early 1930s by WAGBI founder Stanley Duncan. He had it converted to breech-loader by Greener and started using it in 1936. When Duncan had finished with the gun he sold it to the actor James Robertson Justice. It was rediscovered and restored in the 1980s and given to BASC to display at their HQ. Irish Tom has a barrel made from Whitworth steel, weighs 300 lbs and fires 50 oz of shot propelled by 10oz of black powder. The gun is 14 feet in length.

Payne Galway had a double built one barrel flint the other percusion, one trigger fired both one barrel took them on the floor, the second (flint)in flight, recoil drove stern down

[Unframed Dave]

Punt gunning fascinates me after visiting a museum somewhere on the Essex coast. I bought a dvd from there telling it's story.

A couple of years later I visited an old lady customers house to hang some pictures for her, both walls of her substantial hall were taken up with two very substantial punt guns. Apparently her husband was a serious practitioner in the day.

I'd love to have a go.

Dave

[tomcat]

Punt gunning fascinates me after visiting a museum somewhere on the Essex coast. I bought a dvd from there telling it's story.

A couple of years later I visited an old lady customers house to hang some pictures for her, both walls of her substantial hall were taken up with two very substantial punt guns. Apparently her husband was a serious practitioner in the day.

I'd love to have a go.

Dave

The gunning punt adventure is a good read,heard some good tales in the Nith hotel Glencaple in the seventies

[Fronteria]

A cartridge for a breech loading punt gun in my collection.
photograph here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fronte...7718084462298/

[greasemonkey]

heres mine in action,load was 12oz of shot,cant remember the powder charge.target is a caravan cooker.the land "punt" i made from one of those diddy halfords trailers,apologies to all those who have seen this before.it hangs on the wall of my mancave now.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsT3j1E8tmE

[Unframed Dave]

heres mine in action,load was 12oz of shot,cant remember the powder charge.target is a caravan cooker.the land "punt" i made from one of those diddy halfords trailers,apologies to all those who have seen this before.it hangs on the wall of my mancave now.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsT3j1E8tmE

I had to watch it three times, once to observe the recoil, once to see what happened to the target and then the whole lot.

Thanks for sharing.

Dave

[Unframed Dave]

A cartridge for a breech loading punt gun in my collection.
photograph here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fronte...7718084462298/

Incredible, the dvd I have shows cartridges being made by hand. If I remember correctly, several layers of newspaper were wrapped around a former to make the case.

Dave

[Peter Dunkley]

heres mine in action,load was 12oz of shot,cant remember the powder charge.target is a caravan cooker.the land "punt" i made from one of those diddy halfords trailers,apologies to all those who have seen this before.it hangs on the wall of my mancave now.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsT3j1E8tmE

Hi Mr Greasemonkey. I have a few friends who would like to see a demo. We have just the right location over water. I can supply the powder and shot. Perhaps next spring. Is this possible?

[tomcat]

A cartridge for a breech loading punt gun in my collection.
photograph here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fronte...7718084462298/

If that is a 3.5" 4 bore case, the punt gun case must be over 9" I wonder what breech action was? Screw probably

[Fronteria]

If that is a 3.5" 4 bore case, the punt gun case must be over 9" I wonder what breech action was? Screw probably

Hi. Tomcat.
The cartridge is a touch over 10" I don't know what bore the breech loader that used this cartridge was but it would have made your ears ring when it was fired.
I think you are correct about it being used in a screw breech punt gun.

[greasemonkey]

Hi Mr Greasemonkey. I have a few friends who would like to see a demo. We have just the right location over water. I can supply the powder and shot. Perhaps next spring. Is this possible?

pm sent.

[keith66]

Punt gunning was also practiced on the Venetian lagoon, there they used a type of boat called a Sciopon, a low punt style boat. Some of the guns were huge up to 3" bore. It was banned there in the 1980's.