Saw a percussion ''Howdah'' pistol in a gun shop the other day.

This one was a 20 gauge, or about 60 caliber. l remember reading

about those early black powder, pre cartridge days in Africa. lt

seems the most popular calibers were 2, 4, and 8 bore or gauge.

Remember the ''bore or gauge'' were the diameter of a round ball

in a pound of lead. Now it seems ''four bore'' was considered the

most common General Purpose caliber capable of taking all 'Big 5.'

The ''8 Bore'' was considered capable of only taking the big CATS.

Now an ''8 bore'' doesn't seem too punishing to me. Two ounces

isn't that much more than an ounce & 7/8 high brass 12 Gauge

duck or turkey load these days. But l cant lmagine pulling the

trigger on a FOUR BORE. That's 4 ounces or 1750 GRAINS. Even tho

some of these guns weighed 15-20 pounds, the recoil was simply

BRUTAL. Throw in the smoke from 2 hundred grains of black powder.

l can see why its called DANGEROUS GAME!!