Bought a Howdah Hunter way back in 2009, finally fired it last week. That took awhile! It also took some preparation and a solid $250 worth of accouterments to get it in working order. These included black powder, shot, balls, cards, wads, bore lubricant, a nipple pick and grease, cleaner, caps, a cap holder, a ball starter, a cleaning rod with a bore brush and a brass jag, and more, most of which had to be ordered. I tried to go for brass where I could. Make that $300+. Actually, in the years since I last blog posted, I also bought a removable stock, so, say $600 total, plus the initial investment. Speaking of which, I notice that prices have gone through the roof.
But no regrets. The Howdah is now my "bar gun," because any muzzle-loading shotgun with a full stock and two 12-inch barrels is the medieval pub gun of our collective dreams. Firing it was impossibly satisfying. It went BANG and puffed enough smoke that I never once saw what it hit (a bystander confirmed I was hitting the ground 3 feet past the target, while holes in the target confirmed I eventually did hit it). The thing is, the barrels are so short that it is impossible to aim when using the stock. There is simply no way to hunch forward enough to look along the barrels ... one looks down at them :-). But, who really cares? If pointing is the name of the game, it's a skillset I can get into.
Having now fired a black powder weapon, I am fully addicted. It is the equivalent of driving stick. Muzzle-loaders are weapons laid bare. The cleaning process only enhances the satisfaction. Pouring hot water down the barrels and then removing the nipples to allow drainage is gloriously primitive. Applying thread grease and screwing the nipples back in, only more so.
I'd thought the loading process would prove difficult, but once I got a rhythm it went smoothly and quickly. Repetition is the name of the game. Always load the barrels in the same order, moving from one to the other at each stage. Also, always observe how far down the ramrod goes; not compressing the wads fully can lead to "issues." Place both hammers at half-cock when loaded and add each cap directly before firing the corresponding barrel. But also do your research. I watched several how-to videos before buying accouterments and going to the range, and they were absolutely necessary in order to determine the size of the powder and shot loads and all manner of other information.
I never felt for an instant that the weapon, made by Pedersoli, was not fully capable of handling the powder load and shot I dropped down the barrels. It proved utterly reliable during the course of perhaps 14 barrels fired. I alternated between bird shot and #4 buckshot. One thing, though — I had .60 caliber balls, but when I found they sat on the muzzle and required tamping to get them to fit down the barrel, I decided to wait and do more research. Didn't want to risk blowing my toy up.
Buck and ball would seem to be the ideal load, provided the powder can propel that much mass. Number 4 buck definitely felt right. Bird shot didn't. Can't think of anything but snakes to hit with short-range bird shot. I was in the desert though, so that could have actually worked. But I have no intention of shooting living things.
I fashioned a leather sling for the bar gun, but it is oddly long and I removed it at the range. The thing is, you can't really hang a percussion cap rifle over your shoulder because the hammers will dig holes in your back ... or will they? The way I configured my sling was to hang it over one shoulder such that I can hold it in front of me with one hand, then raise it to fire with both hands. So it's a long sling.
Bottom line is, the Howdah Hunter with a stock is a supremely badass post-apoc carryall weapon that would fit perfectly in a marauder buggy or on a deep desert motorbike. Load it however you want, keep the hammers at half-cock. Know your range with it. People laugh because of the two-shot limit, but two shots are two shots. Shrug. And there's very little recoil. And reloading happens — it just takes longer. But not that much longer when you get it down. Give one a shot if you ever get the chance.
