very funny, but at the same time an interesting period where guns were very commercialized, as with everything else, because of the big boom in America as well as with the first real sense of marketing. This gun was intended for hunting large quantities of birds at once, and to be more specific, this gun has the potential to kill 100 birds with one shot.
The round it shoots is buckshot weighing in at almost over a pound (460 grams), and holds over 150 pallets. The diameter of this gun is 51mm. This is a very specific caliber and the largest gun to be considered a shotgun rather than a cannon which it truly should be. This firearm changed the hunting industry for its short use before being banned.
The gun would come with a boat mount as hunters would mostly use it for hunting waterfowl, a very common bird in the 1910s with over 120 species worldwide. This goose was quite valuable in the early 20th century. These birds would be mostly found in lakes. Therefore, the hunt would be mostly done on a boat. Therefore the need and usability of a gun mount for watercraft.
However, this gun has also been used for hunting even larger things. With so many pallets and such power, it was very difficult to miss a shot. Almost if not all (99%) of the shots were lethal. The Punt gun has actually ended up being imported as far as Scotland, where Scottish hunters would use it for hunting boar with ease. The gun weighs 94 pounds (43kg), and even if it was a very difficult decision, it was classified as a shotgun.
The exact period in which this gun was crafted or created is still unknown. The creator of the gun is Desmond Bagley, but many historians say that he is an imposter that is taking credit from the true creator of the punt gun, which still remains unknown. Many say that the original creator of the punt gun has been killed because he has created such a powerful weapon. I will let you decide the credibility of such a conspiracy.
With the Lacey Act of 1900, which banned the transport of wild game across state lines, as well as the practice of hunting marketing outlawed in 1918, it was bound for the gun to be banned in 1920. The gun was banned because it was too powerful and too efficient.
This weaponry had the potential to kill 100 birds with one shot which would considerably kill most of the species in the sky. Even in the 19th century, they were aware of species going extinct, so they wanted to preserve nature. Before becoming illegal many of these punt guns were sold around the world. Some gunsmiths have copied the gun over time with other interpretations of the gun.
The firearm has also been seen in military service in Ireland in 1941. However, the gun was never used in the Second World War as it was too inefficient on the battlefield. I guess many wonders if the gun was actually used to kill a person, and it has. There were five deaths registered with the punt gun in the First World War by the Turkish army.
The Punt Gun has become more of a type of weaponry as there have been quite a few huge 12 gauge shotguns (over 40mm in diameter). We need to admire the such type of technology for its time as it was quite advanced as well as powerful, withholding the potential of huge destruction capabilities.
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