What is "120 Bore"???

[Old Fud]

I just read this on RKBA website.
Can somebody tell me what CALIBER we're talking about?

"A historic pistol given to Napoleon Bonaparte by a flamboyant English army officer in 1802 is expected to fetch £25,000-30,000 when it is sold at auction next month."

"The gold-inlaid, 120-bore, three-barrelled flintlock pocket pistol is one of a pair and thought to be the only weapon ever given to Napoleon by an Englishman."

Fud

 

[Camp David]

History of William Tranter Gunmaker
"During this period it was normal practice to describe the diameter of the bore in bore size rather than calibre. The bore size being the number of round lead balls of that diameter needed to weigh one pound. The most common ones used by Tranter were 120 bore (.320"), 80 bore (.380"), 54 bore (.442"), 38 bore (.500") and 24 bore (.577")."

 

[Infidel]

NeverMind.

 

[AJ Dual]

"Bore" is an alternate measurment of barrel diameter, also commonly refered to as "gauge".

It's based on the number of lead balls the same diameter as tbe bore it takes to make one pound.

So a 12 bore/gauge shotgun barrel would pass a lead ball of a size that it would take 12 of them to weigh a pound.

A 120 bore would be smaller lead balls that would take 120 of them to make a pound.

One of the ancient 4-bore safari double-rifles would take only four balls the size of it's bore diameter to equal one pound.

The one notable exception in shotguns is the ".410 gauge". It's realy a normal decimal inch caliber designation, but because it's a shotgun the word "bore" or "gauge" is commonly used, even though in true terms of bore it's a meningless designation. I'm guessing, but a .410 shotgun would probably be somethng like 36 bore/gauge.

To further complicate the term "bore", the "pound" that's used to measure the lead balls might be different depending on the historical time period or country. So the designation of Napoleon's 120 bore rifle might not match up with it's more modern use.

 

[spooney]

Actually a .410 is something like a 67 gauge if it were weighed out, the old 36 gauge name is nothing but a marketing technique.

 

[Old Fud]

Thank you.
I suspected, but didn't know for sure, and certainly had never heard the term applied in exactly that way.

Fud

 

[Vex]

My P229 40S&W is a 72-gauge

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