NitroX,

I didn't grow up with a hunting tradition in my family and I have never been hunting. For this reason, it is very unlikely that I will ever use this rifle for the purpose that it was originally intended for. The history, fine workmanship and styling have been what draws me so strongly to these rifles. For some reason that I don't quite understand, game guns or shotguns as we call them in the US, don't interest me nearly as much.

Unless I suddenly feel the urge to go hunting, I just plan to continue researching the history of this rifle and abusing my shoulder

I hope to develop a good load using the original 9-dram charge. So far, it seems that the rifle isn't all that sensitive to bullet weight but my best results so far were with bullets that weight about 900-grains. A lot more testing and practice will be necessary, however, in order to find the correct load.

As for what it could be used for, my hunch is that it will take anything that you want to use it for. If I remember correctly, Arthur Neumann hunted elephants during his first season using a 577 black powder express with a great degree of success. Another bit of insight is provided by the circa 1890 Holland & Holland catalog, where I found the following testimonials on page 24:

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Letter from Major F. Gordon Cumming:--

“The 12 bore rifle is simply perfect. I fired my first shot out of it at a charging rogue elephant; he fell down all of a heap. I probed the wound and found the ball had penetrated an immense distance.”
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Letter from Prince Louis Esterhazy:-- September 18th, 1886.

“Your rifles have given me the greatest satisfaction. I shot fifteen tigers with them and killed several rhinos and buffaloes, with one single bullet behind the shoulder, with the 12 bore rifle. They never went more than twenty yards, and dropped stone dead—a proof of their great killing power.
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Letter from Lieut. S. Pulley, R.N.:--

“Your rifle I am very much pleased with. My party last season got exactly fifty elephants, more than half of which I killed with your 16 bore rifle (shooting 8 drams and cone ball).”

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The last testimonial is the most interesting because that rifle was probably very similar to mine. Since I have no actual experience with such things, all that I can do is go by what tidbits I can find in the historical record. At some point, I would like to take some velocity measurements using 800 and 900-grain bullets. I'm curious what sort of Taylor K.O. numbers would result.

Best Regards,

Jim