Undertow said:Please forgive me if I've missed this...
Does anyone here own a punt gun? And could someone expand on these weapons?
I've read quite a bit on wiki and google, but I'm wondering if anyone here has first hand or second hand experience with these strange things.
Friend of mine collects 8 gauge and above, described his friend's punt gun recoil as "brisk" (from a bench rest).
Have you seen :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7FeeamC4qk
Note the ordnance-like lash-downs. I'd read where the double-barreled versions (or two singles) had the locks timed and angles adjusted : the first barrel/gun would fire low, at the fowl on the water. The second would fire higher, catching the survivors at the beginning of their startled flight.
http://www.museum.state.il.us/River...waterfowl/tools_techniques/guns/punt_gun.html
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/artifacts/archives/003537.asp
James Mitchner touches on these in his novel CHESAPEAKE (and there's a museum with some at the south end of Harve D'Grace http://www.decoymuseum.com/).