Tony,

I also wondered why a 12-bore wasn't ordered. There can't be much difference but if he wanted a very heavy bullet and a larger that usual powder charge, even a 12-bore like this would have required custom cases. Also, a friend sent me a Greener Police gun cartridge case that's drawn brass and it is almost exactly the right size in front of the rim. Maybe some of the Greener 14-bore case tooling could be used for this? Even if that was the case, a lot of custom tooling would certainly have been needed because of the case length. Unless the records are detailed enough, we may never know.

Daryl,

My guess, and this is mainly just a gut feel based on the need for a stronger case and the fast twist rifling is that it was made to fire a bullet of at least 875 grains and likely heavier--maybe in the 1000 grain range. Prince Esterhazy used a 12-bore and a 12-dram 8-bore rifle during his first trip to India in 1886/87 and maybe he wanted to throw the same amount of lead, or even more, with a rifle that is more manageable. Who knows... I just think that it's neat and I enjoy digging up all of the history that I can find.

-Jim