First Modern Big Bore Air Rifles To Take American Big Game In 1980?

[jetmangd]

 I found the .429 and .510 Caliber quite an interesting choice for the Early 1980s Big Bore Rifle. I never heard of Allen Dicke , A
Arizona man Hunting in the early 1980 with a Big Bore. Nice North American Deer and Corsican Ram in the Pictures that he got.

                                                                              Jetman



                                            http://www.bigboreairguns.com/qog/qog1/AllenDarticle.htm                                                                  

[BigBird]

I wish there was more information about these. I've always wondered how these pumps worked?

[mrbulk]

I wish there was more information about these. I've always wondered how these pumps worked?

Yeah I caught that - "self-generatable" air?!?!?! Pumping it up would be cool to see...

[bduares]

The visible part of the pump was a rod with a flat disc shaped end that could be pulled forward approximately 2 feet from beneath the barrel like the ramrod on a BP rifle but it stayed attached. You then turned the rifle with barrel facing the ground and pumped the entire rifle up and down using the weight of the gun to assist in the pumping. A bit like an upside down PCP hand pump.

He would also take toilet paper and make a little paper wad cartridge filled with lead shot and could shoot it as a shotgun. I remember it being quite loud, and very cool, but that's about all I remember from the one time we met about 40 years ago.

[BigBird]

Wow!  Thats pretty neat!  If you dont mind me asking how did you come about meeting him?  Interested because there arent many articles on him or other early big bore guys.

That would have been quite impressive to see that working and at the time it would have been THE standard way to make a big bore air gun (it was one of the only ones).  I wonder where the guns went to.  I think they should be in a museum if not still being used.

I've always wondered how these worked.
I seem to recall Dennis Quackenbush was offering an air shotgun based on an older design that had an integrated hand pump.  So I'm sure the "technology" was out there even if you had to base the design on an upscaled version of a Crosman 1400 valve.

Thanks for sharing!

[bduares]

It would have been back in 1979 or 1980. I was 14-15 years old and used to like to stop by a local gun store to gawk at the stuff they had inside. He was in there showing a rifle to the owner of the shop, perhaps they were just playing with it,  and they seemed to be friends with each other and from them talking it sounded like the air rifle was a big deal to both of them. He showed me the pumping up process and he made his little shotgun cartridge of tissue paper and lead shot and fired it in the back into some stacked cardboard. He may as well have shot off a PB in there it was that loud. Startled me since I was not expecting that. I remember he said they used something similar in Vietnam or Korea.

[BigBird]

Thats cool!  I never thought Id find any information on that since there is limited press that I have seen on it.  I've always liked historical over the newest featured item cause you can get all you want of new and high production stuff.  The "rediscovery" of bigbore airguns is really interesting.  It has taken quite a long time with a recent crescendo into now having tons of them.  As far as the technology goes manufacturing a modern big bore airgun could have probably been done around the turn of the 20th century with the improvements in steel. Pretty nerdy but I find that really interesting.  I keep thinking to myself, man if I had access to a lathe when I was a kid and knew about the workings of an airgun (and pumps) at least as much as I do now I would've had some real fun! However, I wasn't a real smart kid and I've matured to réach the verge of "questionable". So....