howdah hunter pistol

[milltownhunter]

i just got my 20 guage smooth bore to day in the mail it did not come with any reloading data does anyone know the starting data and max powder charge for bird shot /slugs/ round ball /and buck shot + how many pellets? any help would be appreciated

[wellfedirishman]

The Cabelas Pedersoli Howdah doesn't come with any hunting load data, if I remember. I think that Pedersoli recommends 25 grains of Pyrodex P, which is a really light load.

I was shooting one today with 60 grains of FFg Black Powder and a 350 grain 20 ga Round Ball, or 7 x 50 grain pellets. I used greased fiber wads (from Midway, about 1/2 inch thick) between the powder and the ball or shot cup, and another wad on top to hold the ball or pellets in place.

Load data was taken from Dixie Gun Works (item 20):
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/faq.php

How do I load my muzzleloading shotgun?
The proper sequence for loading a muzzleloading shotgun is as follows:

black powder
over-powder (heavy card) wad
fiber cushion wad
optional shot (thin card) wad
shot
over-shot wad

Recommended loads are as follows: 20 gauge -- 65 grains of FFG black powder and 1 ounce of shot, 12 gauge -- 75 grains of FFG black powder and 1 1/8 ounces of shot, and 10 gauge -- 85 grains of FFG black powder and 1 1/4 ounces of shot. Dixie stocks all of the wads needed in assorted gauges. Muzzleloading shotguns can be loaded with patched round balls as well as shot. We recommend using a .600 round ball for the 20 gauge, a .715 round ball for the 12 gauge and a .760 round ball for the 10 gauge.


Edit: I found that black powder gave more reliable ignition in this gun that Pyrodex. Also, the nipples that came with the gun didn't give very reliable ignition for me. I replaced them with CVA #11 stainless nipples ($3.50 for a pair) and with Magnum #11 caps, I got perfect ignition every time.

[Shooter]

I want one!
Are you going to hunt with it?
Dropping a rising pheasant, how cool would that be.:bigsmyl2:

[wellfedirishman]

For hunting, it would have to be a very close range shot though. The Howdahs have an open choke, and no screw threads for attaching choke tubes.

At 15 yards it gave an 8-12 inch pattern with 7x 0size buckshot in a shot cup. I didn't try patterning it with birdshot. As a close range defensive weapon it is pretty fearsome.

[mini14]

wasn't it used to "remove" tigers from the elephants head?

[wellfedirishman]

Actually, I think it was used to remove the head from the tiger, in the event the tiger climbed up on the elephant!


wasn't it used to "remove" tigers from the elephants head?

[fryboy]

lolz i read somewhere ( an old handgun mag that had an article on howdah's ) that it was used to down the elephant that mite of been drove berserk by a tiger , of course with two barrels it could of been one for each .... i vaguely recall a foto years ago of an 8-bore and read of them as big as a 4-bore ( now that's serious thump - on both ends )

[DIRT Farmer]

I bought the Pedersoli 20 SxS at Friendship this fall. The loading recomendation seemed weak, so I tried a standard 20 ga load 7/8 shot and same dipper of powder. I found it patterned better with lesspowder, best load seemed to be 3/4 dipper of ffg, card wad and 1/2 fiber wad and 7/8 dipper of shot. I was shooting "at" clay targets, and did hit a few. I will have to try skeet with it. It should make a 20 yd small game gun. It is a blast to shoot, but is heavy to handle and swing one handed.

[shunka]

lolz i read somewhere ( an old handgun mag that had an article on howdah's ) that it was used to down the elephant that mite of been drove berserk by a tiger ...)

With no offense intended, I humbly beg to differ..... :-)

With a bit google-fu we find the following, fairly well substantiated by appropriate verifiable sources

"A howdah, or houdah, also known as Hathi Howdah, is an elephant mount, a carriage which is positioned on the back of an elephant, or occasionally some other animal, used most often in the past to carry wealthy people or for use in hunting or warfare. "

"During the first period of the British colonial government in India, the Howdah pistols for their power and reliability were preferred by the officers of the English army in the far away outposts of the wide empire, but the main use was at close range to stop dangerous wild animals such as the tiger which were known to leap upon the Howdah atop the elephants back. "

A howda is the little enclosure, perched on the back of an elephant, that the shooter sits in when tiger hunting in India. The tigers were baited and the hunter was supposed to shoot them from the elephant. If he missed, it was not unknown for the tiger to literally jump onto the elephant and the huge bore pistol was there to make certain the hunter didn't serve as the tiger's lunch."

and here two antique paintings/illustrations depicting the above
http://tinyurl.com/TigerHunt1
http://tinyurl.com/TigerHunt2

Bearing in mind that the howdah pistols came about during the early days of repeaters, Colts Revolvers, and relatively small-bore officer's revolvers, some British officers took to carrying howda pistols as regular sidearms for sheer intimidation in the same manner that certain Brits carried Volley Guns during the uprising.

Frankly, if I were an officer on the Rocky Mountains around 1850 I would be inclined to have a brace of howdah pistols for both Hostile Tribal encounters but especially Grizzley Bear. Actually I am not sure they make a handgun big enough for Grizzley Bear.

yhs
shunka

[fryboy]

eh there's no mistaking why they were named .... i found one of the articles i was looking for , the other two are buried somewhere in a rather large stack of gun rags , the one i found is dated 1980 and is guns and ammo's specialty magnum handgun edition of that year , if i find the other two articles i'll post the issue # and print company , just so u know , if you look at the "elephant with a .22 " thread , retro in post # 49 shared a interesting link showing where the elephant's brain is , not sure if a olde tyme howdah would penetrate or not but would assuredly stun one , common sense also tells me that a scared elephant would be rather hard to otherwise stop and care naught for the howdah upon it's back or the luckless occupants in such , leaving me to wonder then in your opinion what would such a person do after the big brute has done left the tiger behind yet shows no desire to stop it's rampage away thru the jungle and brush ?

[Skipper]

Here's the recommended load data from Pedersoli:


http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/newsEn/Cariche_BlackPowderLoads09.pdf