400 grs. Goex 1F

RMulhern · Post by **RMulhern** » Thu May 24, 2007 4:19 pm

http://www.african-hunter.com/4-bore_part_i.htm

http://www.african-hunter.com/4-bore_part_ii.htm

bobw · Post by **bobw** » Thu May 24, 2007 6:07 pm

Great post Rick. Good articles, think I'll stick with my 50 and and puny 150 gr charges. To bad that guy didn't get an elephant,but it doesn't seem to have disappointed him either. You know I'll bet patching those big slugs would be easy with the right bullet diameter and style. bobw

MissedAgain · Post by **MissedAgain** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 7:56 pm

This got me curious. I remember reading about the 8 and 4 bore rifles a long time ago. I found an article about them. Depending on the weight of the bullet, recoil could be as much as 266 ft/lbs. That's something on the order of 10 times that of an average .30-06 rifle.

That's more then the muzzle energy of most .38 Special loads.

The .577 T-Rex in a 13.5 lb rifle only generates about 168 ft/lbs of recoil.

Kilts · Post by **Kilts** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:30 pm

I shot an 8 bore muzzel loader twice. The first shot my thumb hit my nose hard enough to make my nose water so I braced better for the next one, still got a nose full of thumb and my chest muscles hurt for two days. It was loaded with 265 grains of 1f Swiss and a slug that I can't remember the weight of. That fellow has a 4 bore but I'm hoping he does't offer me to shoot it. I'm to dumb to pass on a chance to try it even though I can't imagen what I could learn from it that I don't already know.

mdeland · Post by **mdeland** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 12:23 pm

I have a 58 cal Navy Arms Hawkin Hunter with the short heavy barrel and have worked up a hunting load of 150 grains of 2F Goex behind a 640 grain maxi ball. It has proven to be quite accurate but makes my sternum and shoulder hurt for days after shooting it in the eleven pound rifle. Part of the problem is the rather thin brass hooked butt that came with the rifle. Testing the load from the bench was plumb grim even with the Past shoulder pad.
I came up with the load after reading an article about Val Forrget using one of these rifles in Africa on hippo, lion and I think elephant. I believe I remember them using 175 grains of 2F and had tested with 200. He said that all 175 grains was burned in the short barrel but I don't recall what bullet and weight they were using.
I have a shirt tail relative that used to have a flintlock in 8 bore as I remember it . It was a smooth bore and he loaded it with shot mostly. I think he got it from Navy Arms in the late 60's. M. DeLand