On Barrel Length: How long is long enough?
Rainy day reading and I stumbled upon some good stuff on the history of shotgunning for game birds. In his history of shooting, E. D. Cuming notes that J. Sprint writes in his book Experienc'd Fowler(1700) that he and his contemporaries used "flint-lock guns" with a barrel of five and a half feet, with "cleverly made tapers." He notes the more muscular, among "the brethren" used barrels of six feet. Apparently they used rests (who wouldn't need a rest at that length). It seems it was a two man job sighting and shooting.
As Cuming quotes Sprint, "Your preparations completed, the other man fired at the birds sitting, and you loosed off 'as soon as ever he...has pulled the tricker and flashes in the pan, or at least if you are very near as soon as you hear the report of his piece."
Cuming goes on to describe the introduction of "setting dogs" and the shortening of barrels (to 4 feet!).
I thought you long barrel aficionados might be interested in this early history of barrel length. Apparently, those of you who covet long barrels have precedent.
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"Doubtless the good Lord could have made a better game bird than bobwhite, and better country to hunt him in...but equally doubtless, he never did." -- Guy de la Valdene (from A Handful of Feathers )
"'I promise you,' he said, 'on my word of honor, I won't die on the opening of the bird season.'" -- Robert Ruark (from The Old Man and the Boy)
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