Poachers gun..?

[gcs]

I think it was gamekeeper or nath who mentioned buying a 410 recently and mentioned that single shot 410 poachers guns were a dime a dozen over there.
So I guess poachers used a 410 a lot, can someone explain the term, and reasoning of why that particular type gun was used?, other then the obvious name,
Thanks.

[Nath]

Bird collector's liked shooting little birds to study, paint or stuff.
Little light folding .410's were popular for such pastimes.
It became illegal so the guns were unwanted and hence cheap.
It was easy to get one and on a windy wet night a fellow could fill a sack with pheasants to sell down the pub if he knew how to dodge the gamekeeper.
Hence forth the little folding .410 that could be concealed in a long coat got called a poachers gun.

Blasted things! Light in construction they are the reason British .410 ammo makers make their ammo so anaemic!

That's my take on it .

N.

[Pete44ru]

Bird collector's liked shooting little birds to study, paint or stuff.
Little light folding .410's were popular for such pastimes.
It became illegal so the guns were unwanted and hence cheap.
It was easy to get one and on a windy wet night a fellow could fill a sack with pheasants to sell down the pub if he knew how to dodge the gamekeeper.
Hence forth the little folding .410 that could be concealed in a long coat got called a poachers gun.

Blasted things! Light in construction they are the reason British .410 ammo makers make their ammo so anaemic!

That's my take on it .

N.

Straight from the horse's mouth, there ! .

.

[vancelw]

Around here a .410 used to be called a poacher's gun because you could slip a .45 Colt cartridge in it and shoot a deer. Back in the days when tables were barren and wild game was scarce from overhunting. Poor people didn't have access to slug and buckshot shells that are so plentiful today. They could always claim they were hunting squirrels with the .410

[Nath]

Bird collector's liked shooting little birds to study, paint or stuff.
Little light folding .410's were popular for such pastimes.
It became illegal so the guns were unwanted and hence cheap.
It was easy to get one and on a windy wet night a fellow could fill a sack with pheasants to sell down the pub if he knew how to dodge the gamekeeper.
Hence forth the little folding .410 that could be concealed in a long coat got called a poachers gun.

Blasted things! Light in construction they are the reason British .410 ammo makers make their ammo so anaemic!

That's my take on it .

N.

Straight from the horse's mouth, there ! .

.

I don't know what you mean.........

To be honest, I use to use a net!

[Nath]

It's just tooooo easy!


N

[gundownunder]

Back in the 70s I owned a 12g poachers gun. The forearm was inletted with a groove big enough for the trigger guard to fit into.
This made the whole gun fold completely in half, but it was still 30 inches long, because that was the barrel length.
You'd need a pretty deep trench coat pockets to hide one in.
Even in one of those old A frame backpacks there was 6 inches of barrel pocking out the top. With a sleeping bag tied across the top of the pack the barrel was well out of sight. I traveled about 2500 miles up the east coast of Australia and back again, all by hitch hiking. Only one bloke ever spotted the barrel, and all he said was " great, I'll pull up and you can get us a rabbit for dinner ".
In 45 years of gun ownership, that poachers gun was the only one I ever had an AD with. Dammit their loud in a small room, and their not good for the wallpaper either, no wonder I ended up with tinnitus as I got older.

[gamekeeper]

I cannot better Naths description of a poachers gun, he is spot on.
I can only add that my first shotgun was a folding .410 and was used for illegal gathering of game long before I changed sides and took up gamekeeping, then it became my trapping gun because it was so light and handy.
The last poachers gun I posted about I have promised to my son who wants one for squirrels.
I'm currently trying to find an Investarm o/u folding .410 with double triggers, the only ones I can find over here have those awful single triggers.

[gcs]

Thanks guys, Ive been pondering about that, since I read that post. Ive been considering getting a Chiappa double badger, 22 LR on top and 410 shotgun below, thing folds almost in half, and looks handy for dispatch and chicken thieves. Any advice on 410 ammo?

[Blaine]

If hungry and in dire straits, I think I'd take a .22 with CB longs across the hwy to Ft Lewis...plenty of game there.

[Ysabel Kid]

This has been a fascinating thread. Thanks guys!