God Save the Queen —The Punt Gun Salutes of Cowbit, Lincolnshire,Punt guns were essentially la

God Save the Queen —The Punt Gun Salutes of Cowbit, Lincolnshire,Punt guns were essentially large bore shotguns, typically 6, 4, or even 2 gauge in caliber.  In the 19th century they were used for duck and goose hunting, no kidding.  They were mounted on boats, and the hunter would use them to kill whole flocks at a time while they were in the water.  These weren’t your ordinary hunters, but commercial hunters or “market hunters”, who would hunt game for a profit selling the meat and down to companies.  The age of the punt gun came to an end when governments enacted laws restricting or banning market hunting. Today punt guns are little more than rare collectibles.In Cowbit, Lincolnshire, England an old tradition has arisen involving punt guns.  On Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee the hunters of the town fired off a volley from their punt guns in celebration.  Since then, the people of Cowbit have fire their punt guns at every coronation and jubilee since. Today, the tradition is still strong as these punt guns were passed down to continue the tradition.  Often, these old firearms had replacement stocks and part, or are fired with special safety stocks — after all, these guns sure give a strong kick.  However, they are the same old punt gun used by their forefathers generations past.  Since punt gun ammunition has been produced in a hundred years, specialty ammunition has to be made for those that aren’t muzzleloaders.   -- source link

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