Well as the title states.

Is there a market for this type of old gun and if yes what would a guy expect would be a reasonable value......?

also

Looking for any additional info that the experts out there can provide, Lord knows I no very little when it comes to punt guns.
or even if this is truly a punt gun, maybe its just a really large duck/market gun.

What I know so far, the locks are Joseph Golcher and that Golcher was an American lock maker, maybe he was a gun maker as well I do not know.

The barrels are British proofed in the era of good old King George and with crossed staffs under a crown.

There are markings on the underside of the barrels, probably inspectors marks of some kind but I do not know and am hoping you experts can help shed some light on the whole thing.

I have included a pic of the barrels with a set of 410 sxs barrels for comparison.

I would love to know who the maker was but I suspect that will not reveal itself with the info we have, the british barrels and American lock is very interesting and I would like to know more about that, as well, I do not have a clue of potential value of these kind of guns or if there is even a market here in North America, so any views on that would also be welcome.

You can still waterfowl with 8 bore in the UK.
There is a vibrant market in punt guns They always go for solid premiums

I couldn't tell from your pictures if you have a large bore shotgun or if it is actually a punt gun.

yes clapper, i am trying to determine that as well.

I think the gun is probably around a 4 bore at the breach but hard to determine. any ideas on how I can tell.....? or diagnose...?

Shoulder fired vs mounted in a "Punt" is probably a good one.
Though you could have a swivel mounted gun.

In this month's "The Field" magazine, a fellow was shooting 2oz of BB shot from an 8 bore single.

I'm not an expert, people on the eastern shore are more knowledgeable about them than a lowly Saginaw Bay waterfowler, but there is a practical charge limit for shoulder fired shotguns.
Once you go above that, it has to be mounted to the boat.

I'd start to determine that by going to the muzzles first ............ and measuring.

SRH

I suspect it is a shoulder mounted gun, muzzles measure 1.820 across both barrels, .750 on the inside and .910 outside at the muzzle.

At the breach, the barrels measure 2.500 across both barrels outside and each barrel measures 1.320 outside.

Overall length is 57 inches and she weighs in at around 15 pounds.

Any way to mount it to the boat?
Trunions or brackets anywhere?
So, 3/4" bore at muzzle? That's a nominal 10, but what about at the breech?

Sounds like an 8 gauge fowler to me.

Yes clapper you are probably right. It is likely an 8 bore gun, there is no way to mount it on anything it is definitely a shouldered gun. As stated earlier breach measurement from the outside is 1.320, cannot measure the inside, so i'm guessing logically it would come in around an 8 bore maybe a 6 but hard to tell.

any value to these guns....? and who is buying them and for what reason.....?

If this gun has a .750" choke, it most certainly is not a 4 gauge or an 8 gauge either. Sounds like it may be a heavy 10 gauge waterfowl gun with rather long and heavy barrels... not a punt gun. Since it is a percussion gun, and may have been built before choke boring was common, it could be an 11 gauge.

http://www.hallowellco.com/bore_size_chart.htm

If it's had much use, there may be marks from a stirrup shaped gun support that gets stuck in the ground, and the gun set in it while waiting for the flights.

Had a friend in the UK who made and hunted a punt gun. He worked for the Harrier Jet people and had full access to their tool room. He had it proved in Birmingham. He gave me one of his O bore new shells, it's roughly 8.5 inches long and the OD is about 1.25 inches.

Bill

from info provided, i am declaring i have a large bore percussion gun. Was wondering if anyone has info on the markings on the barrel and/or what can can be determined from info provided on the gun.

and maybe some sort of value ........?

You need more pictures.

you are correct , more pics coming.

Prepare to be disappointed.
C!osed auctions on 10bore percussion fowlers are pretty low.
I thought Golcher might bump it up, but nope.

A friend whom is now deceased owned 10 4 bore guns. I went to his house and measured all from muzzle to breech. He wanted a choke gage made and I made him a 10 to give to friends that has 4 bores. He wanted them made out of brass and I told him he would need a holster to carry one, but he insisted. From those readings for choke we averaged the readings and came up with
cyl/bore .935
imp.cyl. .920
mod. .905
imp. mod. 890
full .875
Some of these were single barrel.

He also had 28 8 gauge guns mostly doubles. He owned the only two consecutive serial numbered Quality 4 L.C. Smiths.

This ought to give you an idea of what you have.

David

are you talking about my old friend Bernie Laliberati.....?

Hope that is how his last name was spelt, Bernie bought a number of big bore guns from me over the years.

From what I've saw in the photos I'd say you would be hard pressed to get 4 or 5 hundred for it...really hard pressed.

watt jOe said...

someone privately has suggested it may be a rampart gun......?
converted.....?

Likely the evaluations are correct, I am not under any illusions.

tigertrout, yes it was Bernie Liberati.

David......

Bernie was such a good honest guy, I miss him.