very old muzzleloaders is all i can think of

 

Believe it or not, shotguns shoot big bore ammo like that. I believe that the 12 gauge is about 72 or 73 caliber and the 20 gauge shotguns are about 62 caliber in size. What you may want to look at is either a 10 gauge or Greener type shotgun. This was the shotgun size, the 10 gauge, used by Doc Holliday in the Okay Corral Shootout.

I've also seen a really big bore pistol that had been made and used in old Germany. These pistols were about 100 caliber in diameter and were, if I remember right, used in combat to stop horses charging at German soldiers. So there are two ideas for you to research involving possible 80 caliber firearms.

 

...I've also seen a really big bore pistol that had been made and used in old Germany. These pistols were about 100 caliber in diameter and were, if I remember right, used in combat to stop horses charging at German soldiers...

Are you talking about the old handgonnes from medievil times? Were they basically a miniature cannon barrel mounted on a stick, and loaded with whatever was handy, like gravel, random shards of metal, a few fist-sized rocks, etc.?

 

As far as modern firearms, excluding shotguns, I know there is one that shoots a .60 caliber round, the .600 Nitro Express, and one that shoots a .70 caliber round, the .700 Nitro Express, but I am aware of no modern cartridge-fired .80 caliber rounds. As far as I know, the only cartridge fired weapons bigger than .70 caliber are artillery, anti-aircraft, light cannons (such as 20mm, 25mm, 30mm, and 40mm cannons), and grenade launchers (such as 20mm, 25mm, 37mm, and 40mm grenades). I may be wrong, however.

 

It could possibly be an anti- aircraft round thank you

 

On that note:

Two words: Epic WIN.

If I ever get the chance, I WILL shoot one of these. In case you are wondering, yes, I may be a tiny bit insane. But what would I do with such a useless thing as sanity?:

 

If I ever get the chance, I WILL shoot one of these. In case you are wondering, yes, I may be a tiny bit insane. But what would I do with such a useless thing as sanity?:

Your wish is my command. Just weld a couple pistol grip mounts and you too can shoot concrete filled coke cans. (its gonna hurt a little)

Now that I think about it they are shooting the smaller golfball size. 1.75" I think.

 

Are you talking about the old handgonnes from medievil times?

What I saw was an old cap and ball revolver, believe it or not, that also had its holster with it. The thing had a 100 caliber diameter bore and it was a HUGE pistol. The pistol was not carried on the soldier. The soldier, according to the guy who owns it, would have two of these HUGE revolvers mounted on a saddle. One on each side. Looking down that bore sort of reminds a guy of looking down the entrance to a train tunnel. For some reason I think it may have been a 5 shot revolver, possibly 6, but 5 sticks in my mind for some reason...

 

.80 cal is roughly 20.3 mm - There is a South African sniper rifle in 20 mm.

Close enough for you?

http://www.vincelewis.net/20mm.html

 

I was about to say the same thing...20mm is about as close as you will get to a modern 80 cal round.

 

If the barrel is rifled and not a muzzle loader you need a DD registration above .50 caliber. There are some rifles made exclusively for sport hunting that they don't DD but you need to talk to your atf rep before purchasing.

Notice the sled feet on the bottom of the bipod. Also the magazine size compared to the hearing protectors next to the box.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=191175

 

The Boyys rifle. Not sure of the correct spelling I've seen it 2 different ways. 20mm I think. WWI anti tank rifle shoulder fired.

 

i know this isnt relevant but all of you describing these big guns ... made me think of Hellboys huge Revolver man that would be cool to have

 

In Victorian India a special type of pistol was developed to fire a similar sized round. Called a "Howda" pistol, it was carried by hunters who went after tigers on the back of an elephant. The pistol was designed for 2 situations, if the tiger attacked the elephant it would normally do so by leaping from behind onto the back where the hunters were perched and the pistol was of such power that a one shot kill was easily possible at such close range. The other use was if the elephant went out of control (sometimes fire was used as a means of flushing the tiger out of dense cover and if the wind changed the elephant could panic) in which case a neck shot from the back of the howda would stop the elephant. I have seen one of these pistols in possesion of a friend of mine whose grandfather was actually killed by his elephant rolling on him during a tiger hunt near modern day Bengal. It was a single shot break action by the firm of Lancaster.
The Boyes anti tank rifle was 55 caliber and designed as an early anti materiel weapon and despite its name was never intended or capable of taking on a tank. Hope this helps.

 

Another little known fact about Howdah pistols is this: In the El Mariachi trilogy, El's (played by Antonio Banderas) sawed off double-barreled 12 gauge is actually a Howdah pistol of some kind. I believe they either modified the gun for the movie so 12 gauge shells would fit, or they did some editing to make it appear he was loading 12 gauge shells.

 

There may have been something that big in the early days of nitro cartridges for hunting in Africa, but I'm not familiar with it. I know they had some big ones in the black powder cartridge era too, even a revolver that shot .577 cartridges. But again, no .80 that I can think of.

Another possibility is a wildcat. I know JDJ makes some big ones. They had a .95 caliber round that was based on a shortened 20mm casing. Lobs a 1/4 lb bullet at surprisingly high velocity for such a stubby round.

.75 was popular in the muzzleloading era. I have a .75 caliber handgonne. I'm going to try squirrel hunting with it some day, using birdshot of course.

 

The Dutch Boer settlers developed a series of large bore muzzle loaders for defence against large game as they moved north from Cape Colony into the Transvaal and Orange free State. The recoil was so great that some had muzzle hooks that could be placed over a wall, window sill or wagon side to enable them to be fired. they saw action in the Matabelle war, Blood River and there were reports of their use in the 1st Boer war in the 1870's.