8 bore

[3] Early British settlers of the Cape Colony in the 18th century also found specialist firearms were required for the local game.

After extensive testing and lengthy discussions with returned hunters and adventurers, including Sir Samuel Baker, he concluded the 8 bore was the largest practical calibre required for hunting dangerous game.

A larger version utilising a thin brass case was also available, although it fired .875 in (22.2 mm) projectiles, in reality making it a 7 bore.

It has been used to knock down overhangs in mines or quarries, break up bridging or stoppages in silos, to desist boiler tubes, and remove slag deposits from rotary kilns, by blasting away at them from a safe distance.

method, the chamber pressure for the 8 bore industrial shotgun shell is 32,000 psi (220 MPa)[6][7] In the 2008 American Western film Appaloosa starring, co-written and directed by actor Ed Harris, supporting actor Viggo Mortensen's character carries an 8 gauge shotgun.