I BOUGHT AN 8 BORE DOUBLE RIFLE ONCE OWNED BY JACK LOTT

[buckstix]

I BOUGHT AN 8 BORE DOUBLE RIFLE ONCE OWNED BY JACK LOTT

This is the Biggest cal double rifle I now own. And I love the Jack Lott history - as written and pictured in both the 1983 and 1995 editions of "Big Bore Rifles" by Jack Lott. I always wanted an 8-bore double rifle, and when this one came up for sale I unloaded a bunch of iron to buy it. All the specs are shown above the pictures. I am anxious to get to the range to test it, but need help with loading recommendations. Since it has steel barrels, I intend to load "nitro-for-black" cartridges. Again, your help would be appreciated.

(I also have 2 other rifles attributed to Jack Lott. Picture links are below. The first is a Custom 458 Mauser. The second is a Custom 458 Browning. Both these are also written and pictured in both the 1983 and 1995 editions of "Big Bore Rifles" by Jack Lott.)
http://buckstix.com/buckpics/lotts0.jpg
http://buckstix.com/buckpics/lott-3a.jpg
http://buckstix.com/buckpics/1983magazine.jpg
http://buckstix.com/buckpics/filinga.jpg

http://buckstix.com/buckpics/lott2-1.jpg
http://buckstix.com/buckpics/lott2-5.jpg
http://buckstix.com/buckpics/lott2-6.jpg
http://buckstix.com/buckpics/lott2-8.jpg

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/rodda-000.jpg

Here is another write-up I found about this double.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/rodda-0000.jpg

 

[buckstix]

Hello all.
Here is an update. I have an 8-bore round ball mold ordered from England, and an 8-bore hollow base conical mold from Accurate Molds. However, both are many weeks away from arriving. So, in the meantime, I improvised a homemade mold of my own. Below are a series of pictures showing my process. I hope to test my bullets later this week. Range report with target to follow.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8-BORE-MOLD-000.jpg

 

[buckstix]

Here are some additional details of my Rodda 8-Bore Double rifle ....

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpi...BORE-DETAILS-000.jpg

 

[buckstix]

Well, I am back from the range. Here is the loading technique I used with bullets from my home-made mold, along with my test target. And, also shown is my Buckstix 8-Bore Paradox Crimping Tool that I used for crimping the shells. This is the 78th tool that I've made. No.1 and No.78 are for me ... the other 76 went to fellow shooter. Sights were adjusted for the next trip to the range. I must admit, this sucker really kicks!

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8-bore-loading.jpg

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8-bore-target.jpg

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8-78-6.jpg

 

[PARA45]

Beautiful stuff, and you sir are one lucky and talented individual.

 

[Andrew Short]

Congratulations! I love your rifle and the history with it.

That is truly a massive cartridge!

 

[UpNorthMI]

Thanks for sharing all your posts on your new to you 8 Bore rifle, it's great to see another one of these old magnificent guns with an amazing history. Your shooting is impressive as well as your tool making skills.

Back in my youth in the UK I was a keen wildfowler and shot a double 8 bore shotgun for goose and duck hunting on the foreshore around the UK. Like you Bluedot was a key powder and shotshell loads were typically 2.5 - 3 oz.

I eventually sold my 8 bore guns when I relocated to the US but still have a lot of data on 8 bore shotshell reloading. The Birmingham Proof Master was a friend and we used to submit a lot of loads for pressure testing.

A small group of us developed our own tooling for reloading 8 bore Remington industrial cartridges, including a massive double ended multi stage resizing die that was used on a hand fly press. Gamebore made plastic wads, we made card wads and developed a crimp and roll over tool.

Shooting those big guns was a lot of fun. We used to shoot sporting clays and wood pigeon for practice before the wildfowl season. I'm guessing I loaded and fired several thousand 8 bore shotshells, I shot through 50 shells in under an hour once on pigeon that were eating laid wheat in the summer.

Have fun with your new big gun, I'm impressed with all of your mold and tooling development. Your post brought back a lot of 8 bore memories. These old 8 bore rifles are amazing, it was not so easy to buy and hold large bore rifles in the UK, today there are very few ranges where they could be shot and the UK authorities have just about banned large bore rifles other than maybe be held as a collectors item.

I still keep a file on my 8 Bore shotshell reloading data, see below for a could of articles and book that I have. Not sure if shotshell data is usefull for 8 bore rifle shell loading. Interestingly 57 grains of bluedot was used for 2.25 - 2.5 oz loads.

So many of my friends from the 1980's who were involved with big bore shooting are no longer with us, I had friends that shot double 4 bores and also many who were punt gunners. Coastal wildfowling was not a sport for the meek.

 

[buckstix]

thank you for the loading information.

 

[vette447]

Congratulations! Very nice rifle that is made much better from the provenance. I love a rifle with special history.

 

[Surgeon1]

You must take this to Africa to use on an Elephant! A real piece of history.

 

[juan pablo pozzi]

Very interesting as the life of his former owner Jack Lott a great admirer of Mayor Burham of Scouting on two continents

 

[Zinz]

Wow, it regulated very well! What a fantastic piece of safari history. Glad you’ve got it back in action. Can’t wait to hear the future hunt report using this beast!

Ed Z

 

[F. Vaccaro]

Thanks for taking us on your adventure.

 

[buckstix]

Thanks for taking us on your adventure.

Now I am trying to find a take-down case that is deep enough for the gun. The breech is 3" across, so I need a case that has at least an inside height of 3".

 

[buckstix]

Here is the latest update. I tried a lighter load with 55g Blue Dot, but saw no difference from previous. I went back to 60g Blue Dot and cast a heavier pure lead bullet. I also adjusted the wad column. I also changed from lathe turned brass to Parker brass. The lathe turned brass had a thick lower wall with a reduced powder chamber. This produced higher pressure and required severe resizing after the first loading. The thin wall Parker brass seems much stronger and required no resizing even after 3 loading. I am very happy with these results and will move out to 50 yards at the next outing. I also received my Tanner .875 dia round ball mold and will be testing it also.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8-bore-loading-3.jpg

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8-bore-target-2.jpg