4 bore Bolt action

[bigborelover]

This may sound stupid but do you gentlemen think it is possible to make a 4 bore bolt rifle ? I think it is possible on a custom action. A 4 bore cartridge is 4.7 inches (which is shorter than 50 bmg ) the only problem i can think of other than the recoil is the width of the cartridge. What are your opinions ?

 

[Red Leg]

Ought to be one heck of a bolt face and action to employ it - all custom. The cartridge base is just over an inch in diameter.

I have held a period double. I wouldn’t want to carry it, much less fire it.

Perhaps the more reasonable question is why?

 

[bigborelover]

Ought to be one heck of a bolt face and action to employ it - all custom. The cartridge base is just over an inch in diameter.

I have held a period double. I wouldn’t want to carry it, much less fire it.

Perhaps the more reasonable question is why?

Because why not.

 

[BourbonTrail]

It’s a rimmed cartridge, so at that size it would be like a overblown bolt action shotgun. The Anzio 20mm is the only bolt gun that I can think of that has that large of a bolt face. There’s a Russian anti-material rifle in the same ballpark.

 

[cwickgo9]

Ought to be one heck of a bolt face and action to employ it - all custom. The cartridge base is just over an inch in diameter.

I have held a period double. I wouldn’t want to carry it, much less fire it.

Perhaps the more reasonable question is why?

Because they don't make a 2 Bore . . . LOL

 

[Red Leg]

It’s a rimmed cartridge, so at that size it would be like a overblown bolt action shotgun. The Anzio 20mm is the only bolt gun that I can think of that has that large of a bolt face. There’s a Russian anti-material rifle in the same ballpark.

A way overblown bolt action shotgun. My Browning 12 g bolt action shotgun is designed to handle a rim with a diameter of .87 inches. A four bore would require a bolt head over an inch in diameter. Then there is the minor problem of an action large enough to handle the bolt and handle the pressure.

The Anzio could perhaps be a basis. Though its lightest configuration is around sixty pounds.

 

[BourbonTrail]

A way overblown bolt action shotgun. My Browning 12 g bolt action shotgun is designed to handle a rim with a diameter of .87 inches. A four bore would require a bolt head over an inch in diameter. Then there is the minor problem of an action large enough to handle the bolt and handle the pressure.

The Anzio could perhaps be a basis. Though its lightest configuration is around sixty pounds.

That goes back to your “full custom” action. Someone could probably scale up the Barrett M99 or other BMG single shot easy enough.

 

[deewayne2003]

Only modern ones I know of are made on drop lock single shot actions.

Regardless of action type, I would first try to locate brass and dies before the rifle.

 

[318AE]

A Mauser M1918 Tankgewehr could make a good gateway drug for such a folly.

 

[Sarg]

There was a Russian pump 4 bore KS-23

Civilian version.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

This may sound stupid but do you gentlemen think it is possible to make a 4 bore bolt rifle ? I think it is possible on a custom action. A 4 bore cartridge is 4.7 inches (which is shorter than 50 bmg ) the only problem i can think of other than the recoil is the width of the cartridge. What are your opinions ?

I once knew a man that had a 4 bore black powder double rifle. The thing was monsterous. He had killed an elephant with it and written a magazine article about it in the 50's "True" magazine I think. His description of the recoil was frightening. Having fired an 8 bore once, I have no interest in shooting a 4 bore. The old guy gave me a 2000 grain 4 bore bullet which now sits on a shadow box in my office.

Building a new 4 bore seems like a waste of time and money to me, but hey, if you want to, I have never been accused of talking anyone out of a new gun.

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

Why do I feel a concussion coming on just thinking about it.
But, from my perspective, if you want to build it, and you’re prepared for the time involved and cost, go for it
Gumpy

 

[Franco]

Because why not.

Love it!

 

[Pondoro]

I have one 4 Gauge Eley nitro shotgun cartridge in my collection...it makes the .600 look ordinary..

The more I look at it the less I feel the urge to fire it..

 

[bigborelover]

I think a pump action would work well. Though a 10 gauge bolt action shotgun scaled up would work better. IMHO

 

[skydiver386]

With a lathe, a milling machine and some imagination, anything is possible.

The question that's already been asked is why?

Is it possible to build a coal burning steam engine to power my pickup truck? Of curse, as there were actually steam powered cars at one time, but a gasoline or diesel are better in every way.

If you are desperate to have one, a scaled up 10ga bolt action shotgun would be the place I'd start.

 

[Sarg]

I have one 4 Gauge Eley nitro shotgun cartridge in my collection...it makes the .600 look ordinary..

The more I look at it the less I feel the urge to fire it..

This is two 4 Bore rifle cartridges either side of a .600NE .

 

[Red Leg]

Frederick Courteney Selous used a 4-bore single shot black powder muzzleloader (a Hollis) to take over 75 elephant. He came to loathe the thing and wished he had never used it. "They kicked most frightfully, and in my case the punishment I received from these guns has affected my nerves to such an extent as to have materially influenced my shooting ever since, and I am heartily sorry I ever had anything to do with them." So much for the gentle push of black powder or not noticing recoil while actually hunting.

 

[Josh P]

This seems like more of an engineering experiment than one of hunting.

I held a break action, single barrel 8 bore last week. That was heavy enough. Very cool, but not something you’re going to carry into the woods or marshes. Though, I suppose you could use it to vault from hunting stand to hunting stand and keep your feet dry in the process. A 4 bore as a bolt action would be a whole lot of steel to be mechanically sound and safe to fire. It might be best built with integrated pintle mount.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Ignoring all grounds of impracticality & irrationality aside, it could be done.

The action would need to be one-off fully custom piece. I would use a scaled up version of the Austrian Hambrusch Mega Magnum Mauser action. Along with a Douglas Premium barrel.