Belgian Trade "Elephant" Guns

I'm posting info on my "elephant guns" that have been referenced in the past. These are Belgian made flintlocks for the African trade and were imported by Stoeger and Turner Kirkland (Dixie Gun Works) from the late 50's till the mid 60's. They were advertised by Dixie Gun Works as 4 gauge pygmy elephant guns that pygmies would run with under an elephant, plant the stock on the ground, and then shoot. Yeah right. lol

First up is my flintlock in the white with Kirkland stamped on the barrel. It is 50 inches in overall length with a 34 inch barrel. It is a smoothbore .87 cal and is a 7 bore. My load for this is 200 grs of FF and 2 oz of shot. I have never fired a solid that fit the bore properly. The closest was an 8 bore lead ball. In the gun trade of the period, if the fired a round ball, which is most likely, then it would have been called a 6 bore. If a slug was used, increasing the bullet weight, they would have called it 4 bore.

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Belgian Trade "Elephant" Guns