Cogswell & Harrison Combination Gun - 16 ga x 375 NE 2-1/2"

Hello All,

I purchased this Cape gun at the the Great Northern Side-by-Side Classic in Medford, Wisconsin. Although I don't participate in the competition, I always attend the event because they have lots of interesting guns for sale. Kirby Hoyt comes all the way from Washington to attend. Here's a shout-out for him. A wonderful man and a pleasure to deal with.

This one I couldn't resist. A Father's Day present from myself - to myself. Its a Cogswell & Harrison Cape Gun in 16 gauge by 375 NE 2-1/2".

Specs are: 25-1/4" bbl - 14-1/2" LOP - 8 lbs 1-1/2 oz - Ejectors

This is the second Cape Gun bought from Kirby. The first was a Franz Thiele of Teplitz (Czech - Austria Hungary) in 16 gauge by 8x72R, but this one is very special because I've never owned one of these with a "Big Game" Nitro-Express caliber.

I've called C&H for history. Their reply is in the following post.

As always, your comments are welcome.



















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This is the information I received about my Cape Gun from Cogswell and Harrison. The gun is early 105 years old. All its features are confirmed as original. It is interesting to see there was an error in the original ledger entry from 1914. Obviously the ledger writer was a clerk that was not very knowledgeable about rifle calibers. He transposed the 4 & the 7, when he listed the load as 70g cordite 240g bullet. This was corrected in the certificate because the gun's load of 40g cordite 270g bullet is clearly marked correctly in 2 places on the gun's barrel. A knowledgeable clerk would have known that it is impossible to get 70g of cordite into a 375NE 2-1/2" case. Also of interest are the 2 notes in the original ledger that weren't mentioned in the certificate. The note near the top reads; "similar in appearance to T124 375 dbl" and the note at the bottom reads; "non engraved". Now I'm going to research J.C.Dragton to see if he was anyone special to have ordered such a special gun.

I also tested the gun today. The rifle barrel had remarkable success as witnessed by the target below.

I haven't fired the 16ga shotgun barrel as of yet. Based on the pellet count listed in the ledger as 137, that density would equal a tight modified, nearing improved modified. One ounce of no. 6 shot contains 225 pellets , so 137 would be 61%, the high side of modified. The barrel's choke measures about .020 which would be modified.

All-in-all, this is going to be a fun hunting gun this fall.