You can now buy a copy of "Fowling in the Wild" which contains the first five chapters plus some additional new material right here:
$9.95 (about £5)
Click on Image to Buy or find on Amazon
One of the very first decisions
which must be made by the aspirant wildfowler is the choice of a
gun. It is a matter in which much conflicting advice will be
encountered and the permutations of possible options will, at
first, appear almost limitless. He may be assured by one veteran
that an 8-bore or 10-bore is necessary to achieve the requisite
range at which flighting duck and geese will be encountered.
Another trusted friend will aver the efficacy of a light 12-bore
game gun. On the shore he will witness fellow fowlers using
side-by-side guns, over-and-unders and semi-automatic repeaters
and he will wonder about the relative advantages of each type.
Questions such as the respective merits of different barrel
lengths and chamber dimensions will cross his mind and, as likely
as not, he will agonise for hours over details such as choke
borings. At the end of the day he will pass a substantial cheque
over the gunshop counter but, until he has shot his first mallard
or pinkfoot, the wisdom of his choice will remain unconfirmed.
A shotgun is a smoothbore weapon which is designed to fire a
cartridge containing a large number of small pellets of shot. The
quarry is killed by being struck by several shot pellets and, at
its most basic level, the gun is merely an instrument for
detonating the cartridge and ensuring that the shot charge is
propelled in the desired direction.
Any survey of the literature relating to the "good old
days" when wildfowl reputedly blackened the sky above every
estuary and marsh will confirm that the hard gnarled fowlers of
yesteryear went in for big guns in a big way. The 8-bore was
frequently regarded as the smallest gauge which could
legitimately be described as a "fowling piece", with
6-bores and 4-bores being not uncommon. Even when the
professional fowler was joined on the foreshore by a new breed of
gentleman gunner, the obsession with heavy shotguns did not
disappear.
During the 20th-century, however, the popularisation of
wildfowling as a sport and the simultaneous development of the
12-bore magnum led to a decline in the use of those large
weapons. For a time the magnum-12 was almost universally held to
be the best gun for shooting below the sea wall but, more
recently, the appearance on the market of imported 10-bores and
8-bores has re-awakened interest in specialist fowling weapons.
At the same time there has been a growing awareness that heavy
shot loads and tight chokes do not necessarily provide the most
effective combination in the hands of the average sportsman and
an increasing number of wildfowlers now opt for an ordinary
open-bored game gun.
CHOOSING A GUN
Faced with such a bewildering array of options, the wildfowler
must take account of factors such as the cost of various models,
the availability of ammunition, the amount and type of shooting
in which he will engage and, above all else, the "feel"
which different guns have in his hands. The man who intends to
restrict his sport to foreshore fowling and who may anticipate
firing only a few dozen cartridges each season may make a very
different choice than the sportsman who expects to combine
wildfowling with some game shooting, vermin control or clay
pigeon shooting.
There are many conflicting theories regarding shotgun
marksmanship and the "follow through" adherents will
doubtlessly argue with the "sustained lead" disciples
for many years to come. What all such schools of thought agree
about is that the man who shoots instinctively will be the best
performer. To reach this state demands that the gun becomes an
extension of the body so that eye, brain, arm and shotgun are all
parts of a single synchronised system. This will be achieved far
more readily if the reflexes are not asked to accommodate the
weight, balance and dimensions of more than one gun and there is
therefore considerable merit in using the same weapon for all
types of shooting. Having said that, there is no doubt that the
experienced fowler will derive a great deal of enjoyment from
experimenting with different types of gun. It is better, though,
to forego such pleasures until a few seasons of fruitful fowling
with one shotgun have elapsed.
Calibre
The calibre of shotguns is normally expressed as a numeral, e.g.
8-bore, 12-bore, 20-bore, etc, which relates to the internal
diameter of the barrel. The numeral is the reciprocal of the
weight in pounds of a spherical ball of pure lead which has a
diameter equivalent to that of the gun barrel. Thus a 4-bore has
a barrel with the same diameter as a ¬ lb ball of lead and a
12-bore barrel will accommodate a lead ball weighing 1/12 lb. The
exception to this rule is the .410 which is simply a measurement
in inches but this very small calibre of shotgun is not of
interest to the wildfowler.
Guns of the 4-bore, 8-bore and 10-bore calibres are specialist
wildfowling weapons designed to throw heavy charges of shot for
long range shooting. Almost all 4-bores are single barrelled guns
although one or two massive double barrels were made. Almost all
were manufactured by English gunmakers during the 19th-century
but, to meet a small contemporary demand, a few modern single-4s
of Italian origin were imported by Ralph Grant of Leicester
during the 1980s. Cartridges are scarce and extremely expensive.
The 8-bore is the largest calibre of gun likely to be considered
seriously by the modern wildfowler. Once more we find that the
majority of such guns were made by English gunsmiths such as J
& W Tolley and E M Reilly but, again, new models from Spain
and Italy are available. A double barrelled 8-bore will normally
weigh between 12 and 15 lbs and can throw a 2« oz shot load.
Commercially loaded cartridges are now difficult to obtain but
big-bore enthusiasts have discovered that the Remington
industrial cartridge fits an 8-bore chamber and those plastic
cases can be reloaded for wildfowling purposes.
Up until the early years of the 20th-century the 10-bore was
regarded as the lightweight of wildfowling guns. When the advent
of 12-bore magnums led to a substantial decline in the use of
larger bores, the 10-bore suffered most and, for a substantial
period, it was not regarded as a worthwhile weapon. In recent
years an American-led revival has occurred due, no doubt, to the
fact that legislation in the U.S.A. prohibits the use of any
calibre larger than 10-bore. To meet the demand created by those
Stateside sportsmen who wanted the most powerful weapon their
laws permitted, a magnum-10 was developed with 3« inch chambers.
This gun is capable of firing a cartridge loaded with 2¬ oz of
shot or, if low velocity ballistics are adopted, 2« oz. Most old
English 10-bores are chambered for 2 inch or 2 inch
cartridges and they offer very little advantage over a magnum-12.
The more popular magnum-10 cartridge, on the other hand, does
provide extra firepower and it can be used in a variety of modern
10-bore weapons including Spanish side-by-sides, an Italian
over-and-under and an American 3-shot semi-automatic repeater.
Cartridges for the magnum-10 are readily available but are
extremely expensive, costing approximately six times as much as
standard 12-bore ammunition. Any wildfowler likely to use more
than two or three boxes of cartridges in a season would do well
to consider reloading his own empty cases.
There is no question that the 12-bore is the most popular gauge
of shotgun in Britain today having, over the years, been
developed into a superb general purpose weapon. From a
wildfowler's point of view, the choice lies between a standard
game gun with 2« inch or 2 inch chambers or a 12-bore
magnum chambered and proved for the heavier 3 inch cartridge. If
the decision is made to purchase a 12-bore, the fowler will find
himself with the widest choice of models, both English and
imported, and the greatest range of available ammunition. If
coastal wildfowling is to be combined with other forms of
shooting sport, a 12-bore is likely to be the only calibre to be
seriously considered.
Smaller calibres of shotgun do exist and the 20-bore has become
popular with sportsmen seeking a very light game gun. When
shooting driven grouse or pheasants it is almost as effective as
a standard 12-bore and many people enjoy the faster handling
characteristics of the lighter gun. Although some notable
successes have been scored at duck or geese with a 20-bore, it is
unlikely to be a serious contender in the eyes of dedicated
wildfowlers. The 28-bore is even smaller and is generally bought
as a first gun for a youngster.
Barrel Configuration
For many years the side-by side shotgun was favoured for almost
every kind of shooting and it reached a state of technical and
aesthetic perfection which no other type has yet overtaken. The
traditional English design has been successfully copied by
gunmakers in Spain, Italy and Japan with the result that good
servicable specimens may be found throughout a wide price range.
Available as boxlocks or sidelocks and as ejectors or
non-ejectors, side-by-side guns are quick to reload, can be very
well balanced and are simple to break down for cleaning.
The over-and-under was popularised by clay pigeon shooters but is
now regarded as an acceptable alternative for all branches of the
sport. Most models have a single selective trigger which is a
decided bonus when shooting with gloved hands. Other advantages
claimed by supporters of the over-and-under are the single
sighting plane and the fact that the lower plane of the bottom
barrel, which is normally fired first, helps to prevent gun-flip
and hence assists second barrel accuracy. The wider gape to which
an over-and-under requires to be opened does, however, make
reloading a slightly slower process than with a side-by-side. For
guns of similar quality, an over-and-under will be a little more
expensive than a side-by-side.
Semi-automatic and pump action repeaters were once popular with
wildfowlers and roughshooters on account of their relatively low
cost and the imagined advantage of increased firepower. Few are
as well balanced as a good double barrelled gun and they are more
prone to malfunction when used in the muddy conditions
encountered by the estuarine fowler. Now that the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981 has decreed that, when employed against game
birds or wildfowl, the magazine of a repeater must be plugged so
as to accept no more than two cartridges, their appeal has been
considerably reduced.
Barrel Length
In the age of black powder it was generally accepted that, within
reason, the performance of a shotgun would improve proportionally
to increased length of the barrels. To an extent there was some
foundation for this claim as black powder burned slowly and
progressively with the result that the longer the wad and shot
charge took to travel up the barrel, the more efficient would be
the utilisation of the energy released by the burning gunpowder.
Within the limits of modern shotgun design, there is no
significant ballistic advantage to be gained from long barrels
when using cartridges loaded with fast burning nitro powders. To
all intents and purposes, therefore, the choice of barrel length
can be solely concerned with gun balance and shooting style.
The great majority of 10-bore and 12-bore shotguns on the market
today have barrels of between 25 inches and 32 inches in length.
Guns with 25 inch or 26 inch barrels are supposed to be faster
handling and particularly suited to fast, short range birds
whereas 30 inch or 32 inch barrelled weapons are usually sold
with the claim that they will produce an exaggerated swing when
used against high pheasants or geese. There is a certain logic in
those statements but, as most wildfowlers will use the same gun
to shoot at a teal flipping past at 20 yards and greylag
flighting over at 40 yards, it could be a mistake to opt for
either extreme.
Another consideration is chamber length and this is directly
related to the type of cartridges which it is intended to use.
Almost all modern imported 12-bores will have 2 inch or 3
inch chambers but, if a secondhand English gun is being
considered, it may have shorter chambers and the selection of
cartridges will be correspondingly restricted.
Proof
By law every shotgun sold in Britain, whether new or secondhand,
must be in proof and must bear the proof marks of either the
London or Birmingham Proof House or one of the recognised foreign
proof authorities. The Proof Acts lay down that no small arm may
be sold, exchanged, exported, exposed or kept for sale or
exchange or pawned unless and until it has been fully proved and
duly marked. Guns proved in Britain for smokeless or nitro
powders will bear one of the following marks on the flats of the
barrels:
Guns proved in Britain prior to 1904 may bear the following proof
marks which invariably indicate proof for black powder only
unless they are associated with the marking "NITRO
PROOF" in words:
The existence of proof marks on an old or well used gun does not
in itself guarantee that the weapon is still in proof or is safe
to use. Deterioration or enlargement of the bores, for instance,
could render a gun out of proof. Many old shotguns were only
proved for use with black powder and must not be used with modern
smokeless cartridges. The owner of such a gun really has no
alternative than to send the weapon, through his gunsmith, to the
Proof House to be reproved for use with nitro powder.
The proof marks of the following foreign countries are currently
acceptable in Britain:
Austria (Ferlach and Vienna) West Germany
Belgium Italy
Czechoslovakia Republic of Ireland
France (Paris and St Etienne) Spain
Further details of proof requirements and markings are contained
in the booklet Notes on the Proof of Shotguns and other Small
Arms issued under the joint authority of the London and
Birmingham Proof Masters.
Choke
The constriction which the gunmaker builds in to the muzzle ends
of the barrels affects the spread of the shot pattern and, hence,
the range at which sufficient pellets will strike the quarry to
ensure a kill. While tighter chokings do increase the effective
range of a specified shot charge, subject to there being
sufficient striking energy, a denser pattern does, of course,
imply that the shooter must be more accurate in his marksmanship.
If the gunner is consistently faced with no other quarry than
limit-of-range fowl he may feel that he needs the benefit of
full-choke barrels but a wildfowler tackling a variety of duck
and goose shooting situations and, without any doubt, the man who
also goes roughshooting should seriously consider whether he will
not be better served by normal game gun borings of, say, improved
cylinder in one barrel and half-choke in the other. At a range of
40 yards a barrel which is bored to improved cylinder, i.e. with
only 5 points of choke, will throw 50% of the pellets within a 30
inch diameter circle. When using normal loads of No.3 or No.6
shot, this pattern will give clean kills on geese or duck
respectively at that range.
Different conventions are used in other countries with the result
that the degree of choke in gun barrels may be described in a
variety of ways, including the use of stars. Approximate
equivalents are as follows:
True Cylinder Cylinder Skeet
Improved Cylinder Improved *****
Quarter Choke Quarter ****
Half Choke Modified ***
Three-Quarter Choke Improved Modified **
Full Choke Full *
The pattern thrown by any particular gun barrel may not
necessarily correspond exactly to the nominal choke boring and
will also vary according to the type of cartridge used. For
example, cartridges with plastic monowads will usually give
tighter patterns than those with fibre wads. For this reason, it
is always wise to test the pattern thrown by any choke/cartridge
combination by using a pattern plate and counting the percentage
of the pellets which strike within a 30 inch circle at a range of
40 yards. The Eley Shooter's Diary each year contains all of the
necessary data tables to enable a wildfowler to make this check.
A fairly recent development has been the popularisation of
multichoke guns with screw-in choke tubes which are inserted in
the muzzles of the barrels. This arrangement has considerable
advantages as it allows the fowler to select relatively tight
chokes when expecting high geese or to change over to more open
borings if duck are on the agenda. The advent of multichoke guns
has significantly reduced the temptation for a sportsman to build
up an armoury of several guns, each specifically designed for a
particular purpose. By using the same gun for all types of
shooting he can expect his all-round performance to improve.
CARE AND CLEANING OF GUNS
Having selected and purchased the weapon of his choice, the
wildfowler should take a few elementary precautions to ensure
that his gun will provide him with reliable service for many
years. Of all forms of shooting it will be obvious that
wildfowling is potentially the hardest on a gun. Salt water and
mud are the twin enemies of any mechanical device and both are
inescapable in the fowler's environment. Generally speaking, the
better quality shotguns will be less prone to deterioration than
cheaper models as the finishing of the wood and metal components
will be to a higher standard. Almost all modern imported guns by
proven manufacturers such as AYA, Beretta, Winchester or Laurona
will be sufficiently sturdy to withstand hard service on the
marsh provided that they are carefully cleaned after each outing
and occasionally stripped down and checked by a competent
gunsmith. Cheaper imported "bargains" may be less
reliable and any secondhand English gun should be treated with
extra caution as misuse in the hands of a former owner might
already have caused deterioration to commence.
Proper cleaning of shotguns is a three phase process. Before the
gun is put away in a car boot at the end of a shooting outing a
few squirts of an "instant maintenance" spray lubricant
such as WD-40 should be directed down the barrels and over the
external metalwork. A quick rub down with a clean rag will then
remove any surplus moisture.
Upon reaching home, the gun should be cleaned properly. After
breaking the weapon down into the component parts of stock,
barrels and fore-end, a squirt of WD-40 down each barrel followed
by pushing through a rolled-up ball of toilet tissue will usually
remove all deposits from the chambers and bores. If the internal
surfaces of the tubes are particularly dirty, it may pay to adopt
the old-fashioned procedure of scrubbing with a phosphor bronze
brush. A soft nail brush may be used to remove mud from the rib,
chequering and engraving before a final spray of lubricant is
given and the re-assembled gun wiped down with a clean rag. The
third stage of maintenance should be an annual strip down,
inspection and clean by a good gunsmith. By developing the right
sort of relationship with a local expert it should be possible to
have this service undertaken quickly and inexpensively.
Should a shotgun be inadvertently dropped into mud or salt water,
the most effective remedy lies in washing it thoroughly in
gallons of clean lukewarm water, drying as well as can be
arranged and then spraying liberally with WD-40 before rushing it
to a gunsmith for proper attention. Even the softest mud contains
grit which will accelerate wear if it is allowed to remain in the
working parts and no motorist needs to be reminded of the
corrosive properties of salt.
It is virtually impossible for a wildfowler to keep his gun in
mint condition forever but every effort should be made to protect
it from unnecessary damage. It is worth purchasing both a soft
gunslip and a hard case. The latter will protect the gun against
knocks and bumps while it is being transported in the boot of a
car while the gunslip is more practical for carrying over the
shoulder when out on the saltings. A gunslip should be
fleece-lined to avoid the blueing being rubbed off the muzzle
ends of the barrels as can happen if a plain canvas cover is
used. In order that the lining can be quickly dried after each
outing, it will be helpful if the slip is fitted with a
full-length zip.
Although there is no legal requirement in Britain to keep a
shotgun in a lockfast security cabinet there is considerable
merit in ensuring that it is safely locked away when not in use.
Apart from protecting the gun against the unwanted attention of
children, a strong cabinet will also minimise the chance of
accidental damage. It goes without saying that a gun should never
be left in an unlocked, unattended motor vehicle and should be
kept out of sight in the boot.
CARTRIDGES
As mentioned previously, it is not the gun which kills but rather
a few pellets of lead shot. To achieve a clean kill, the bird
must by struck by a sufficient number of pellets and each pellet
must strike with enough energy to penetrate to a vital organ of
the quarry. It is the combination of pattern density and striking
energy which determines whether or not a particular load and size
of shot will be suitable for use at any specified distance and it
must be recognised that the maximum effective range of any load
will be limited by whichever of those parameters fails first.
Basically, large shot sizes will retain adequate striking energy
over longer distances while small shot provides denser patterns.
As a rule of thumb, any shot size in the range No.4 to No.6 will
have sufficient striking energy to kill a duck up to a range of
50 yards and shot in sizes BB, No.1 and No.3 will have high
enough energy for use against geese at the same range. To be
reasonably sure of obtaining a clean kill, however, we must look
for a pattern sufficiently dense to strike the bird with at least
three or four pellets and this factor is absolutely crucial. With
an open-bored gun and game loads, only shot sizes No.5 and No.6
will provide a sufficiently dense pattern for duck at 50 yards
although No.4s will just meet the criteria from a full choke
barrel.
When geese are the quarry, then we are restricted to No.3 shot
when using a game gun as the patterns of No.1 and BB will fail at
38 yards and 32 yards respectively. Even when a fully choked
12-bore magnum is employed, BB shot will cease to give a decent
pattern at around 40 yards. Many wildfowlers swear by large shot
sizes and can recount tales of fowl being plucked from the sky at
ranges of up to 65 yards. Certainly such shots have occurred but
they are likely to have been flukes caused by a chance single
pellet hitting a vital organ of the bird. Responsible sportsmen
cannot rely upon such chances and should moderate the range at
which they shoot so that, theoretically at least, a clean kill
can be expected every time. The following table illustrates quite
graphically the limitations of a variety of shot loads when fired
at geese from a full choke barrel.
On balance there is little reason to choose anything other than a
game load of No.6 shot when pursuing duck. If geese are in
prospect, a game load of No.3 or a 3 inch magnum load of No.1
will give the optimum combination of striking energy and pattern
density. Having made that point, it must be conceded that many
experienced fowlers feel more confident with a little bit of
extra oomph up the spout and regularly employ the most powerful
cartridge for which their gun is proved and as large a shot size
as will give a satisfactory pattern at maximum range. One
important aspect of shotgun marksmanship is that the shooter must
have confidence in his gun and cartridge. If that confidence is
provided by a heavy shot load then perhaps it would be a mistake
to be too dogmatic about the effectiveness of lighter ammunition.
The principal dangers of using extra-powerful cartridges are,
firstly, that the fowler may be tempted to shoot at unsporting
ranges and, secondly, that his gun may not shoot to the point of
aim if used with a heavier shell than that for which it was
designed.
Cartridges for 12-bore guns are available from a very large
number of manufacturers, including some well known brands from
the U.S.A. and Europe. Some paper-cased 12-bore ammunition is
still sold but, for use in the wet conditions of the foreshore,
it would be prudent to buy only plastic case cartridges. Almost
all commercially loaded 10-bore magnum shells are of American
origin while the owner of an 8-bore or 4-bore wildfowling gun may
have to load his own in paper, plastic or brass cases. A few
specialist shops do sell cartridges for big-bore guns but they
may not always be available "off the shelf".
Armed with a suitable gun and cartridge combination, the
apprentice wildfowler can then concentrate his attention on
developing his skills so that he learns to accurately assess the
range of a bird and swing his barrels with the correct speed and
direction. In the last analysis those skills will put more birds
in the bag than any switch to a larger calibre of gun or a
heavier cartridge load.
This file is an
extract from "Fowler in the Wild" by Eric Begbie. It
may be reproduced, in whole or in part, by magazines or other
publications with the prior permission of the author.
