The 4 bore is one of the largest shoulder-fired guns ever made.
Here in the United States, we love our big guns. We love our rifles chambered in .50 BMG, our handguns chambered in .500 S&W and more. In the states, we generally do not think our friends across the pond in Europe are into large guns, but we would be wrong with that assumption. As proof, behold this incredible 4 bore shotgun.
This beast of a firearm weighs at least 20 pounds and has a nearly 40-inch barrel on it. It uses brass shells that are over four inches long. It is an absolute beast of a gun.
Just watch these guys firing it in slow motion. The looks on their face says it all.
Some of you may be asking one simple question: "Why?" The answer is simple. A 4 bore like this was designed much like the traditional punt guns, to take as many birds as possible with one shot. With punt guns, those were usually mounted on a boat to make transporting and aiming them easier. They made collecting a large quantity of birds for the commercial markets a much more efficient task.
A 4 bore like this also extends the effective range that you can ethically harvest a bird. The much longer follow-up video to this goes much more in-depth on the history of the 4 bore. You can watch that below if you want to know more about the technical aspects of this incredible firearm. They also test this gun at several different ranges including 100 yards.
While the 4 bore does not group too well at 100 yards, they do a crude experiment at 45 yards where they end up with more than a dozen "dead" ducks in a single shot.
This type of shotgun is a relic of a bygone era, but it was fun to watch these guys shoot it. As much as it kicks, it seems they enjoyed it. Now we want to try shooting one too!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: THE SIG SAUER CROSS RIFLE FOLDS THE GAP BETWEEN TACTICAL, HUNTING PURPOSES
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