Shooting

Questioning legislation regarding big bores and small

 

 

An Old Question Asked Again

    Many years ago, Nash Buckingham wrote an essay titled “Are We Shooting 8-Gauge Guns?” I believe it was published in Gun Digest in 1960. It was a good question and had two answers: no and yes. The question is still valid, and the answers remain the same.
    Why bother to ask? Federal law says you can’t shoot wildfowl with anything larger than a 10-gauge, and this has been the case since time out of mind. When the Migratory Bird Treaty Act finally became law, in 1918, the 8-bore was proscribed. Actually promulgated in the Department of Interior regulations required by the Act, it was a purely fiat decision, and I believe it came from two directions. In the simplest form, I suspect that whoever drafted the rules asked some hunters he knew what was the largest gun they’d care to shoot at ducks and geese, and most of them said a 10-gauge.
    Not surprising. This was the 1910s, and 10-bores were the standard. Eight-bores weren’t common in the US. Makers such as Parker and L.C. Smith built a few, but only a few. British makers built many more. If you remember that 11/4 ounces of shot was the standard 10-bore load, then 13/8 ounces was what you got in 8-bore—possibly up to 11/2 ounces, depending upon the cartridge maker.
    Remember, too, that the early 20th Century was a time of r

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