Single shot 8 gauge? Any info? Gun show find...

[Kev18]

I didn't buy anything due to the crazy price. But I just went to a gun show, and a man was selling an 8 gauge single shot. He was asking 2000$. Way to much for me... I just found it oddly big so I asked what it was. After he told me the price, I quickly backed off.

Has anyone heard of these? I dont know the maker or anything.

[ascast]

Double 8's were common here in 1879ish. I know of a couple around. Outlawed for hunting. Generally used on game birds, ducks geese.
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[ascast]

I've got a couple boxes of modern shells if you change your mind on that.

[Kev18]

I bet it has one hell of a recoil. Some people have shells for sale, but they are quite pricey. They sell them one by one usually.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Almost as bad, speaking of recoil, I once saw an ex- Green Beret that was built like a pro ball linebacker, shoot a round of trap with a 10 gauge double using 3 1/2" shells and #4 shot goose loads. This was back in the late `60`s. Towards the end of the 25 shot round of trap you could hear a grunt from him after he fired. I hear his arm was a beautiful hue of technicolors for awhileRobert

[john.k]

I think the 8 ga guns have recent use for breaking up clinker masses in cement kilns,and I think industrial shells are still available............but they certainly used a century ago for market hunting.

[Foggy1111]

Some use the 10 gauge around here for geese. My BIL owned a double 10 for a time. I think some of it is macho talk.....as a good 12 gauge 3.5 magnum will get the job done at any reasonable range.....IMO.

I've come to like smaller gauge guns as the time goes on.....lately been fooling with the .410 bore in a Henry lever action. Seems powerful enough for most of my needs of late. ;).

[725]

Foggy1111, I'm with you. My goose gun is a 20 ga pump & 2 3/4 shells. I knock 'em down with regularity. The big stuff hurts my damaged shoulder too much.

[CLAYPOOL]

Mag 10's - Remington SP - 10's Browning Gold's are ALL semi Autos that as a RULE throw Better patterns and a lots less kick cycle wise than ANY 3.5 - 12 ga.

[DIRT Farmer]

Mag 10's - Remington SP - 10's Browning Gold's are ALL semi Autos that as a RULE throw Better patterns and a lots less kick cycle wise than ANY 3.5 - 12 ga.

Agreed. I own a Mag 10 and a side by side Spanish 10. I have fired one round from a 3.5 12 pump gun and gave it away. Mag 10 has recoil comparable to a 3 inch 12 pump. I have hunted with 10s since way before steel shot was mandated.

[Shingle]

The 8 gauge is the same loads and ballistics as the modern 10gauge the only thing it used is for is industrial slug guns that i know of.

[AllanD]

8ga single shot guns also used for clinker breakup in other types of industrial kilns

As for 10Ga shotguns my brother has two a Remington 10Ga auto and a BPS 10Ga pump!

[Drm50]

My experience with 8g guns were Tap Guns in an alloy mill. The crucible was iron with a hole cast in it. A ceramic plaster was used to close the hole. Electric arc melted the metal and the pot would be glowing red hot except for the dull spot where ceramic plug was. A single shot falling block 8g with a special slug was used shoot out the plug. Gun was mounted on wheels with plexy spatter shield. Slug was consumed by the molten Alloy. The guns were leased from Win Industrial Division. These 8g shells have a magnum belt on them so they won't fit a standard 8g gun. I have a buddy that has an 8g single. It's Austrian and is a quality piece. It's Hammerless and has steel barrel. I turned belts off Industrial 8s to load shells for it. I guess 8g was popular in Africa. To be safe we used black powder loadings. I still have a bunch of those industrial 8g shells, they are red paper not plastic.

Up the road a few miles from alloy mill was Ohio Edison coal fired power plant. They used 12g industrial m37 Win single shots to shoot clinkers out of boilers. Standard slugs and 00 Buck. My old man was a supervisor there and I got to shoot clinkers to my hearts content on Sunday afternoons when only operations were running. The union guys hated to shoot clinkers because they had to squat down to shoot through inspection doors and get kicked off balance.

If interested look on You Tube for Ohio Edison Berger plant , Dilles Bottom Ohio. There is a video of the smoke stack being shot down.

[Fisher]

Industrial rounds is made with a swelled copper base, to avoid it being fieted in a sporting gun. Pressure should also be moch higer as it fires a 3oz slug at 1750fps.

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[Kev18]

Alot of people have shells for sale at the gun shows. They are plastic and look quite modern. About 4-5$ each.

[john.k]

Local guy has a 8ga H&H Paradox gun.....from memory 1100gr bullet and 280gr of 2f..........got the sharpest crack of any BP gun I ever heard............anyway,his thumb slipped as he was cocking it,hammer went through his palm, gun hit his forearm hard,and away onto concrete......broken stock..........he is now recovering ,and shooting rimfires.

[marlinman93]

I believe 8ga. shotguns were used by "market hunters" who hunted flocks, and sold their birds to local markets back in the day. Eventually they were outlawed in some states due to the way they were used, and number of wounded birds hit by perimeter shot at the edges of the patterns.

[john.k]

The H&H Paradox gun has a short length of rifling in the muzzle........and this can be clearly seen standing behind the shooter as he breaks the gun......bit like looking down a bore casing,its that big......the noise is what surprised me...I was expecting a dull BP boom ,and the muzzle blast just about lifted sheets of tin from the roof over the firing line.

[besk]

Where I worked in the 60's we used an 8ga. to break up balls in a rotary kiln. Don't remember much about the gun but did
have a shell from it at one time. It was a Remington's typical green plastic shell with a solid slug.