The ball and shot gun, often also known by the marketing name paradox gun, is a shotgun capable of firing both

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 f ...

and solid projectiles. First built by Holland and Holland, the term paradox is a proprietary name applied to these guns by Holland and Holland.

Design

Ball and shot guns resemble side by side

double-barrelled shotgun A double-barreled shotgun is a break-action shotgun with two parallel barrels, allowing two single shots to be fired in quick succession or simultaneously. Construction Modern double-barreled shotguns, often known as ''doubles'', are almost un ...

s, typically with pistol grips and flip up sights. The ball and shot gun has broad, shallow rifling in the chokes of smoothbore shotgun barrels. Ball and shot retained the ability to fire shotgun shells, whilst being able to fire useful bullets accurately at short ranges, in a gun of manageable weight. A typical 12 bore ball and shot gun weighed , whilst a fully rifled 12 bore rifle would weigh over more than . Ball and shot guns were available in a variety of calibres, from

8 bore The 8 bore, also known as the 8 gauge, is an obsolete caliber used commonly in the 19th-century black-powder firearms. Design An 8 bore is a caliber firearm. Historically it was used to fire solid projectiles from smoothbores, rifles, and part ...

to 28 bore. The original 12 bore loading from Holland and Holland fired a pure lead bullet that was accurate to ranges up to ,

Westley Richards Westley Richards is a British manufacturer of guns and rifles and also a well established gunsmith. The company was founded in 1812 by William Westley Richards, who was responsible for the early innovation of many rifles used in wars featuring ...

developed a 12 bore loading that fired a LT-capped bullet at slightly over which was accurate to ranges up to . Westley Richards 20 bore ball and shot guns fired bullets accurately to , whilst their 28 bore ball and shot guns fired bullets at at ranges of .

History

The ball and shot gun was invented by COL George Fosbery, VC, who in 1885 took out the English patent (patent number 7565) for a system of very shallow rifling in the chokes of smoothbore shotgun barrels. Fosbery immediately offered the patent to Holland and Holland, who bought it and from 1886 until 1899, when the patent expired, had exclusive rights to build this class of firearm, marketing it as the Paradox gun. After the expiry of the patent, most of Britain's larger firearm makers offered similar firearms, some retaining the name paradox gun, others opting for new names such as the Jungle gun, Colindian or Cosmos, although the most famous of these was the Westley Richards' Explora (for 12 bore and above) and Faucita (for 20 bore and 28 bore).

Use

The 8 bore and 10 bore guns were considered suitable for dangerous game, whilst the most common 12 bore was suitable for medium game. In his ''Thirty-seven years of big game shooting in Cooch Behar, the Duars, and Assam'' Nripendra Narayan, the Maharajah of Cooch Behar, states the 12 bore Paradox "is an excellent weapon for

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

, Bear or Leopard at short ranges up to 100 yards." In his ''African Rifles and Cartridges'',

John "Pondoro" Taylor John Howard "Pondoro" Taylor (1904–1969) was a big-game hunter and ivory poacher of Irish descent. Born in Dublin as the son of a surgeon he developed an urge to go to Africa and become a professional hunter. Taylor mainly hunted for his own ...

wrote that the 8 bore and particularly the 10 bore ball and shot guns were popular as stand by backups to smaller calibre rifles for lion shooting. He states he used a paradox gun chiefly for shooting leopard, loading one barrel with a 750 gr solid lead bullet and the second with of buckshot. In his ''Wild Beasts and Their Ways'', Sir Samuel Baker described the 12 bore paradox gun as "a most useful weapon ..... wonderfully accurate within a range of 100 yards" and that "the penetration and shock are most formidable". Harold G.C. Swayne used an 8 bore paradox gun by Holland & Holland extensively in Africa and India, in his ''Seventeen trips through Somalialand'' he states he believed it to be "the best weapon in the market for heavy game such as elephant or rhino."

Great War service

In the early stages of the First World War, Holland and Holland paradox guns were pressed into service to combat the threat from

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

s. Holland and Holland developed a special 12 bore incendiary round, known as the "Holland Buckingham .707 inch Incendiary shell", designed to ignite the airship's hydrogen cells. At least 12 paradox guns were purchased by the Royal Naval Air Service for use by UK based patrol aircraft and they remained in use until suitable

.303 British The .303 British (designated as the 303 British by the C.I.P. and SAAMI) or 7.7×56mmR, is a calibre rimmed rifle cartridge. The .303 inch bore diameter is measured between rifling lands as is the common practice in Europe which follows th ...

incendiary ammunition was developed.

Notes

References

External links

Imperial War Museums, "10 bore cartridge, Paradox, Eley", ''iwm.org.uk''
retrieved 20 August 2017.
Imperial War Museums, "12 bore rifle, Westley Richards Explora Super Magnum", ''iwm.org.uk''
retrieved 20 August 2017. {{Multiple Barrel Firearms Multiple-barrel firearms Double-barreled shotguns Rifles