Punt guns were usually custom-designed and varied widely, but could have bore diameters exceeding 2 inches (51 mm) and fire over a pound (≈ 0.45 kg) of shot at a time.[1] A single shot could kill over 50 waterfowl resting on the water's surface. They were too big to hold and the recoil was so large that they had to be mounted directly on punts used for hunting, hence their name. Hunters would manoeuvre their punts quietly into line and range of the flock using poles or oars to avoid startling them. Generally, the gun was fixed to the punt; thus the hunter would manoeuvre the entire boat in order to aim the gun. The guns were sufficiently powerful, and the punts sufficiently small, that firing the gun often propelled the punt backwards several inches or more. To improve efficiency, hunters could work in fleets of up to around ten punts.

Punt guns are usually muzzle-loaded with a lock similar to muskets or rifles of the day including flintlock, percussion, and more modern types. Holland and Holland offered models using breech loading and standardized shotgun shells in both brass and combined paper and brass base in the 1890s via custom order.[2][3] Double-barreled models also existed,[4][2] typically in the smaller 8-gauge loadings.[5] In most cases, these guns were work-guns with little additional adornment in surviving examples. Many appearing in modern auctions have signs of being repaired or upgraded in some fashion, such as upgrading a flintlock action to a more modern percussion system or refinishing by rebluing the piece.

They were for market hunters.

Boy that would be fun to have a few hogs on a cornpile and set that sucker off. . Guess when you got up you could see how many you got

Makes our just after high school White Rain powered PVC potato guns look like a cap pistol...

Responsible for a lot of the migratory waterfowl regulations we have today (thanks to market hunters).

I know a few guys who’d still miss…

Very cool, thanks for sharing!!!