Darne "Canardière Portative" Shoulder-Fired Punt Gun

In the days when market hunting was a normal practice, hunters would use pretty huge shotguns to harvest large numbers of waterfowl. These were called punt guns, named after the small shallow-draft boats which they were used on - punts. The largest punt guns had bores of up to 50mm (2 inches) and cannon-type breech mechanisms, and could only be fired from their boat mounts. However, smaller punt guns were also made which could be fired from the shoulder, and this is one of those.
This is a French Darne “Canardière Portatif”, or mobile fowling gun. It is a nominal 4-bore (1 inch) shotgun (although its .920 inch bore actually makes it closer to a 6-bore) with a 1.2m (48 inch) barrel and a rolling block action. It could be fired from the shoulder or mounted to a rope breeching rig on a boat to help absorb recoil. This type was manufactured form 1905 until the 1930s, when market hunting fell out of common practice.
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[@Mace2.0]

I remember reading an old Cracked article about overpowered hunting weapons. The Punt Gun was no. 1 on the list, and I remember this line: "So what is this thing for? Assassinating Continents? Mugging the moon? Nope. Ducks."

[@asedecraft]

Mace 2.0 lol how did you remeber that?

[@Mace2.0]

Memory is a powerful thing, boy. The quote is more of a paraphrase. To be specific, here's sauce: www.cracked.com/article_19038_the-7-most-stupidly-overpowered-hunting-weapons.html

[@asedecraft]

I see i was thinking its a old paper you read a long time ago

[@YukonWilleh]

I as well remembered that article. did you know they basically fired all the funny people from cracked?

[@Dja05]

Haaaa 2011... When the site didn't go full "everyone disagreeing with out leftie politics is literally hitler".

[@athodyd]

If you loaded it with slugs you could probably stop nine out of ten tanks designed in the 30s

[@willh8950]

athodyd and so, the early antitank rifle was invented

[@jamesparrant7030]

I reckon you'd be about right

[@HaraldSjellose]

slugs are made of lead so I dont think so, even with steel slugs I believe it lacks enough pressure and velocity to penetrate any kind of vehicle armor

[@gustavgnoettgen]

@@HaraldSjellose watch taofledermaus and what their shred into pieces with shotguns and lead ammo. But most importantly, most tanks in the thirties could actually be penetrated fairly easily.

[@sonicknuckleswomble8927]

@@HaraldSjellose Eh, not too sure tbh, it would definitely smash the shit out of some of the rivets, can sheer blunt force stop a tank?

[@dragonbutt]

This is my truck gun. I hunt trucks with it :D

[@johnthomas-km2bf]

from the hood of my truck boat truck.

[@Around_blax_dont_relax]

@@Thoroughly_Wet wow a comment section that comes up with hilarious jokes related to the video. Truly Ian brings out the best in us all.

[@isaiahcampbell488]

@@Thoroughly_Wet You are a poet, be proud! You deserve to be!

[@smithwesson1896]

@@Thoroughly_Wet WE GON EAT GUD TONIGHT BOIS!

[@Activated_Complex]

Shhhh... be vewwy qwiet. I’m hunting Wesserschmitts.”

[@Rambonii]

But a ww1 airplane. Loaded with these strafing trenches

[@jeremymcadam7400]

@@Rambonii the plane could propel itself with the recoil

[@ticTHEhero]

@@jeremymcadam7400 rofl

[@Rambonii]

@@jeremymcadam7400 it might I was thinking line up the shot and volley them bitches all at once

[@alexdoescrazystuff]

jeremy mcadam 1920s version of project orion

[@friedchicken297]

50mm punt gun. I can see the hunting expedition now. Just you and Hanz in your Panzer III. Prowling for ducks.

[@thatscaryperson4127]

Your later on j mod panzer 3 because even the germans, inventers of the 800mm (31.5 inch) rail artillary nuke gun thought 50mm was a bit too much for killing tanks at the start of ww2. (I know it was originally designed for it and they put the 37 in cuz it wasnt ready but just go with it)

[@samiamrg7]

Now imagine there’s a whole team of panzer punts lined up for optimum enfilade fire. That’s how commercial hunting went at it’s peak.

[@Dekko-chan]

That makes me think, could you put buck in a tank shell?

[@samiamrg7]

@@Dekko-chan Oh, I'm sure you could. They did that in the old days with canister shot, it just fell out of favor by the 20th century.

[@Dekko-chan]

samiamrg7 i wanna see that obliterate a truckload of wooden pellets or something.

[@therealdirtydan6467]

2:40 my immersion is broken, I thought the logo was real

[@franciscoschwarz6451]

Good observation 👍 I only remarked that watching like the third time 🥴

[@simionusatov8056]

Time to unsubscribe

[@DerpDoesBF3]

Now I can completely obliterate that dog from duck hunt

[@doggy7210]

And obliterate your nintendo, your tv, your wall, and your neighbor's house.

[@aturkishgamer9790]

And destroy the tanks in the national guard base nearby

[@DerpDoesBF3]

@ODST Wannabe who says i can't mod the gun in

[@rabbitwithm2495]

Your username gave me a mild stroke thnx

[@archimaede]

The name is a pun. "Canard" means "duck", but "canarder" means "to spray with bullets". Pretty fitting when the goal is to hunt loads of birds.

[@charlesprokopp276]

The French do have a way with words, ne c'est pas?

[@NyanNyanification]

n'est-ce pas*

[@Olivier-C]

I suspect canarder comes from this way of shooting many ducks at once, so the other way around. So more like the gun came first, then probably inspired the verb.

[@hendrikvanleeuwen9110]

So it's a pun gun, not a punt gun?

[@randywatson8347]

Darne-it... That breachblock action looks so satisfying.

[@baron8107]

Synthusiast I could see it being used in a single-shot .22

[@danieldeak9141]

Its an anti air cannon. Also perfect for home defense

[@johnoneil9188]

For when you want to tell those darn kids to not get only get off your lawn but leave town and move to another county.

[@AntonEugeneLanthier]

*Darne

[@loddude5706]

KABOOM! - what lawn?

[@HaloFTW55]

With this, it looks like you can also tell the kids to move to a different continent.

[@jeffengland2791]

Now that's REALLY a gun that would make Elmer Fudd blush. lol

[@Horseshoecrabwarrior]

Jeff England Rabbit season, Duck season, this does it all.

[@TRabbit1970]

...or Marvin the Martian.

[@GetsugaTensho85]

Be wevy wevy quite! I'm hunting low flying aircraft! HaHaHaHaH!!!

[@dapsapsrp]

It would make him bwush.

[@criffermaclennan]

You'd get some funny looks if you rocked up with that beast to shoot some clays 😂😂

[@docgonzodotcom]

I was just thinking : hey, that would be a nice clay gun for me :D

[@criffermaclennan]

Doc Gonzo even doubles wouldn't be an issue, one shot for both lol

[@natemmerson6849]

Laird Cummings even the one yet to be launched, which would crumble from fear

[@Tinblitz]

Perfect with my aim...

[@cudwieser3952]

Laird Cummings. Try his bigger brother kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIW0gpmBrdCNps0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGOxhnaAhL6Fe5o

[@KingKhalid888]

I love large bore shotguns, honestly my favorite kind of firearms. Hope to see more 8 and 4 gauge double barrels in the future

[@VashGames]

Brave of those sport shooters to mess with a hunter who can obliterate them and their boat with one shot.

[@sorrenblitz805]

Avast ye land lubbin squib these be my waterfowl turn back now and ye may yet avoid Davey Jones Locker!

[@pumaman8827]

I’ve seen an example out on the Eastern Shore of a punt with 5 or 6 shotgun barrels mounted to it in, ironically, a duckfoot arrangement.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

To be a little nerdy (we live in the fens where punt guns were used), almost all punt guns were shot prone (rope breached or not). Punts are curious boats, they are flat bottomed & have no keel. Most original punt guns were muzzle loaders. This meant you fired one shot & returned to shore. The shooter loaded the gun, lay prone, and aimed the whole punt using small paddles like ping pong paddles. After firing the punt would skim backwards over the water absorbing the recoil because, having little draft, punts experience very little friction on the water.

[@SNOUPS4]

Thanks for a very interesting video, I didn't know such guns existed! As regards the details of the gun name, "canardière" being a feminine word in french, the adjective "carryable" should be "portative" (with -VE at the end) and not the masculine adjective "portatif", normally... Fun fact now, in french, of course, "canard" means duck (not to be mixed with "connard" meaning "prick"...), but the slang verb "canarder" (to "duckize") means to intensively shoot a relatively large amount of ammunition at something.

[@superdupergrover9857]

i imagine it was a typo no one bothered to correct as it was being sold to english speaking Americans anyway. however, i would like to hear the opinion of a historian familiar with the subjects as french grammar at the time may have been less strict, amongst other things.

[@SNOUPS4]

No, I'm french, and I can assure you positively that at this time french grammar was exactly the same regarding this, if not stricter. Maybe a marketing idea from an American of the time, though...

[@tdugong]

Daffy Duck's worst nightmare.

[@MrBioniclefan1]

LMAO so true

[@korblborp]

it'll spin his bill right round

[@ThePwnageHobo]

It looks like a darne good gun

[@TheCHEOCUPEY]

ThePwnageHobo nice Punt

[@miguelvaca-estrada9622]

ThePwnageHobo I heard its good for squirrel hunting.

[@bogglemeister4204]

If I ever end up living in England and need a shotgun this will be it

[@ollieb9875]

Punts, (the boat) are generally punted, hence the name 😂😁 you punt it with a long pole, like 20ft long, stand on the back of the punt with the pole, push it down to the bottom and push yourself along. You can still go punting in many places in England, Oxford and Cambridge being the most famous I would think.

[@chrispza]

Ollie B The hunters would lie prone and paddle with small paddles like pingpong bats. The whole stalk-and-fire process was quite arduous.

[@51WCDodge]

See punt in action kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqioqHlti6aUe6M

[@LtJackboot]

Punt guns are illegal in the Chesapeake Bay area due to overhunting. I suppose the boats are still legal though.

[@ollieb9875]

Punt guns were illegal by around 1920 here.. "punting" as an activity is a nice day out on the river.. take a bottle of wine and a picnic and punt around on a nice day. Good times! i.imgur.com/4pSXEak.jpg

[@chinesesparrows]

Gun Jesus looking gangsta (classic ver.) with all those tommys in back

[@rhaivaen]

Yea I was also ogling those sweet gangsters organs ;)

[@mooncabbagere]

Someone get Taofledermaus one of those things!

[@Pathaholic]

yesss!!

[@Maddin1313]

shooting a 50mm wax slug from a punt gun! where's the clay gone???

[@MegaRazorback]

I think he'd only do a single video with it lol, to test it out....can't really fire anything but loose buckshot from these guns im afraid, not designed to fire wax projectiles and the shells are super rare and don't last as long as a plastic shell due to them being made out of paper.

[@Maddin1313]

Yeah, I imagine shooting some slug thing would blow the jeezeless thing to smithereens.

[@MegaRazorback]

Yep, they were never designed with wax/slugs in mind....

[@jerkfudgewater147]

For those that don’t know: the idea behind punt guns was to shoot every bird on the lake in one blast... that’s why it’s fired from what amounts to a kayak 🚣‍♂️ powered by ping pong paddles 🏓 from a prone position. -the record (as I recall) is 160 ducks 🦆 killed in one shot

[@Maddin1313]

The "nuke from orbit" option for hunting fowl.

[@Keatononame13]

Easily the best and most diverse year yet Ian, keep up the awesome work and providing unique learning experiences.

[@Jaydoggy531]

"Yeah! good shot! Now to find the damn thing.... I think it landed two states over."

[@stevelewis7263]

" Mick he's got a gun"....." That's not a gun....THIS is a gun"

[@josephmercel1146]

In french we get an expression from that too: "canarder" or shooting (everywhere) or blasting at.

[@apathetk]

I think Ian should try running this in a 2 gun match. He did it with a 1 shot (Martini?) shotgun already, this is just a bigger one.

[@coltenmeyer2775]

Its actions like these that keep me coming back. One day i wanna build a falling block big bore or like the action of the wall gun with just a big steel block.

[@YukonWilleh]

He finally did a punt gun . the occasional comments of "do a punt gun" should now subside.

[@isacandersson947]

Imagine being a German soldier in France during ww 2 and a resistance member threatens to shoot you with this beast

[@loddude5706]

"Herr Ronnend?" "Ja."

[@deathmetalmiri]

Matztertaler French Resistance members had bigger balls than you ever will.

[@iaminyourwalls2211]

Remember though, the Frenchman would surrender first.

[@iaminyourwalls2211]

Damned be the consequences of that joke. And I know... I know... The soldiers and people weren't the problem, but instead the problem was/is the leaders that didn't/don't believe in risk.

[@lyc0h]

Not only the leaders. Maybe the more than hundred differents wars we fought against maybe every european nations at a time, when they were not allied vs us. And yes, theses jokes do have consequences on french people opinions of americans peoples. Not every american peoples are "joking" and for us, it is hard to be mocked on our military past, wich is in every other places in the world very well known, especially by a country we helped getting it independance and who started it's history thousand years after ours. I've respected the average american peoples during my early life, i've alway respected us military troops (because curiously after some nato training they are not the one who bash french people, don't know why) , but since a decade... it's hard for us to tolerate french bashing. Just sayin.

[@sebastianriz4703]

"You can tie it to the prow of the punt- ship....uh..boat" Another great Ianism

[@fujikawu]

lol i live in quebec city (old french colony) and there is a boulevard called "la Canardière" i understand now where it sort of come from :D!!! thanks!

[@MrPanzerDragoon]

Interesting! Keep these classic and forgotten guns coming! Thanks!

[@SuperSecretSquirell]

That's a Darne nice shotgun. I'll see myself out now.

[@docgonzodotcom]

Love puntguns :) Thanks Ian!

[@DanielTitley]

I've never seen a breach-opening mechanism like that before. Are there any other guns like that?

[@executor0145]

I think Ian referred to it as a rolling or falling block action

[@ukaszwalczak1154]

@@executor0145 Similar, yeah, but not really the same. It basically acts like a mix of the rolling block and bolt action systems, the only other gun with a similar mechanism is the PTRD, which has a self-ejecting system, despite being a single-shot bolt action Anti-Tank rifle.

[@ukaszwalczak1154]

The PTRD coms to mind.

[@MegaBoilermaker]

Used to use my Uncle's 16 gauge Darne as a teenager. A beautiful gun..

[@SolidTaylor]

I cannot watch on this thompsons on background anymore. They are there long enough to deserve their own series of videos about tommy-guns. Yes this not forgotten weapon at all, but it is always nice to listen something about guns from Ian and to see all the way that the weapon had from start to an end.

[@outdoorfreedom9778]

On a wildlife refuge today 12 ga is as large as you can use. This brought on the 3.5 inch mag when steel shot was being developed. It simply fires a larger amount of shot to compensate for the weight of the less effective steel shot. Known as road flares or roman candles they didn't become too popular. I had one friend that went to the 10ga at our duck club. James A. Michener wrote about market hunting and the punt guns in his novel Chesapeake. Great book and informative. Punt gunning was also done at night when the birds were rafted up and sleeping. Think about going into a restaurant today and having duck for dinner and spitting out the lead shot as you eat.

[@nemergix1707]

I love the way you prononce french names

[@howler6490]

Beautiful piece of work, still sounds smooth as silk.

[@pennydome5051]

Great job Ian!

[@lucaspnst4209]

ca canarde ! super video comme d'habitude ! love your work Forgotten Weapons !

[@Jaydoog04]

Looks like a really satisfying action to use.

[@wookie_wagen]

I've been waiting on some type of punt gun on forgotten weapons

[@gavintriggs9944]

I remember reading a book about Chesapeake bay and its history and the punt gun was banned and part of its history was how the last punt gun was hidden over and over from the park rangers-great piece of history

[@charlesprokopp276]

I read about these in Michener's "Chesapeake". It's nice finally to see one!

[@prozacjunkie112]

Woah, Ian's Punt Gun is matching!

[@2000MKC1]

The way the gun reloads is cool af

[@lesmup2159]

A very big punt gun forms an important part of the plot in Desmond Bagley's cold-war thriller "The Tightrope Men". Delighted to have seen one now.

[@bradleyjames1340]

The waterfowl version of fishing with dynamite. Not very sportsmanlike, but think of what a different world it was back when this gun would have been used. Nobody thought we could possibly decimate wildlife the way we have.

[@matthewadami9092]

This is the best Home Defence Shotgun, change my mind.

[@doggy7210]

I dunno. You might blow half of your house away, right along with the intruder. It'd be a hell of a mess to clean up.

[@shawnr771]

There used to be a couple of these at the Texas Ranger Musuem in Waco, Texas. The also have numerous other historic weapons including many of the weapons used by Bonnie and Clyde. The museum is well worth the price of admission.

[@DFX2KX]

I like that mechanism. I'll have to remember that bit.

[@JayDMusic]

Ian you're a national treasure

[@andyrihn1]

A lot of our modern hunting laws and national parks were created to shut down commercial hunters. Teddy Roosevelt particularly hated them. Partly because of conservationism, partly because he felt that hunting should be a recreational sport reserved for wealthy gentlemen

[@GurpreetSingh-eu7mr]

Thanks for showing history

[@AutismIsUnstoppable]

looks like a good home defense gun.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

+Autism Is Unstoppable If there is a home left after shooting this indoors.

[@AutismIsUnstoppable]

I'm sure everything behind you will be fine.

[@i_dodge_trees]

I guess if a home is attacking you, this oughta stop it.

[@codyjackalope8464]

Just aim in their general direction

[@gasmaskguys4965]

Very nice! Great video!

[@gunnerr8476]

The best title so far in this channel.

[@1fanger]

Years ago, I was at an auction and saw a punt gun there. The owner of the estate told us that they used to float in the waterways down in the Great Swamp in NJ and hunt ducks in what they call "sneak boats" and just place the butt plate of the gun against the REAR of the boat to kill as many ducks on the water as possible. They said they used small pieces of sheet lead for ammo when it was available. When they had no lead, they used nails and screws.

[@thelonerider5644]

holy crap I ride through the great swamp all the time it's like five minutes away! That is so weird! Of course nowadays I think i'd get in trouble for toting that thing lol...

[@andysway6011]

those thompsons in the background are like supermodels walking past. I cant stay focused

[@kevinradtke3767]

One of my dads friends found one while diving, and donated it to a museum. Then he got a letter thanking him, and threatening lawsuit if he did it again, because of salvage laws.

[@jamesaldridge4381]

Thanks for showing me this, I wondered if these were breach or mussel loaders.

[@Full_Otto_Bismarck]

That's a really Darne big shotgun.

[@kennynoble1223]

That's a big Darne gun!

[@oceannavagator]

James Michener described the use of punt guns in his novel "Chesapeake". Market hunting just about wiped out the Canvasback around the turn of the century. Ducks harvested in the lower Chesapeake Bay were sold in Baltimore by the barrel.

[@peter4210]

In french we have an expression we have that means getting shot by a large amount of projectiles. The word is canarder, no doubt in origine from this type of gun

[@davidhoran7116]

Up to 50mm!? What are those ducks in tanks?!?

[@Shaun_Jones]

No, you just want to take down at least a platoon with one shot.

[@joshuahadams]

It’s a shotgun to kill an entire flock of waterfowl in one shot. You can fit a *lot* of birdshot in a 50mm cartridge.

[@mohbou3924]

It's now I understand the origin of the French expression, canarder

[@Moonstalker]

Yeah that came from that I believe.

[@simonmunden5046]

Take a drink every time Ian says ‘this thing’!

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

😂😂😂 'Portable Ducker'!!!😂😂😂

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

Laird Cummings Exactly. I love how in French you can make anything into 'the thing that does X'. Makes them come up with wonderful names like this.😂

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

Abraham Merlo I know, but this is French. =)

[@Spiderslay3r]

Michael Berthelsen You've just demonstrated that the same thing can be done in English as well, something tells me it can probably be done in most languages.

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

Spiderslay3r Yeah, but it's not a common thing to do in 'good' English. Correctly, you'd describe what it does in English. 'Ducker' isn't considered an official word in English, I just created it, and people can sort of understand from context what it means. In French, it's proper French to say 'Canardière' for 'the thing that does [something, here 'kills'] ducks' the 'proper' English equivalent. It's not the same thing being able to make up words, and having a standardized grammatical conjugation function to describe something as a verb acting on an object as the noun.

[@basheruo4415]

Ugly duck Hunter 🤣

[@nosaltiesandrooshere7488]

👍 excellent, thank you!

[@patsyware1788]

BOOOOOOMMMMMM! There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.

[@stanfordwillis4841]

Hi Ian, Canardiere means duck shooter, we actually have a verb in French, canarder, which is actually the equivalent of "spray" as in shooting a lot of lead kinda all over the place. Thought the francophile you are would be interested to know that. ;) Love the show, keep up the good work and do not hesitate to contact me when in need of translation or anything else, always happy to help mate.

[@Spirit1-]

I like the design of the shotgun

[@charles_wipman]

Very interesting piece of history.

[@ultranitro437]

I would love to see Ian review a Marlin Super Goose bolt action 10 gauge. Mostly because I have one, and not a lot of people have seen them. It is massive!

[@LtJackboot]

Ian, there's a novel by James Mitchner called 'Cheasapeake' which covers these guns rather extensively in a semi-fictional way. Great read for history lovers and gun lovers alike.

[@TheMinecraftfreak668]

Now that is a *Darne* big gun

[@unverifiedbiotic]

One duck disliked this.

[@popscereal1953]

49 other ducks also followed behind that one duck

[@notworthit7708]

I could see a vampire hunter using one of these. Really to hunt just any mythical beast.

[@WAQWBrentwood]

That's one Darne large shotgun!

[@tylerschield8374]

I need this in my life.

[@MannyJazzcats]

its beautiful.

[@jaymassengill3340]

The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum on Harkers Island in North Carolina is an interesting place to visit for more information on the coastal history of this region and guns like this. The 31st Annual Decoy Festival will be held nearby on December 1st and 2nd, 2018. Some amazing artistry on display and for purchase.

[@ahmedarain4176]

So nice gun sir

[@MrK-bw5oh]

"Can I have a shotgun?" "Only a spoonfull."

[@ooloncaluphid]

If you've got a punt gun, and a gun punt, you've got a set.

[@whyjay9959]

This trigger guard could be a sword's knuckle-bow...

[@dcox01]

Brings a whole new meaning to drop back 10 yards and punt......

[@rob9472]

The Portable Duck Cannon, Fantastic, It begs the question if something like this could kill anything bigger like a Elephant however the thickness of its hide might afford it some protection.

[@jordanwong7902]

That's a pretty neat action. looks like a cross between a rolling block and a regular bolt action. was this kind of action used in any other guns?

[@Oklahomie_Friendly]

I like how this is in the “for hunting Dinosaurs” playlist because it shows that we know ducks are Dinos

[@ukaszwalczak1154]

To me, the PTRD seems similar.

[@philrab]

I’m giggling at the idea of duck hunting with a cannon. That would be an interesting bit of history to delve into.

[@leiladekwatro3147]

You know Elmer fudd aint fuckin around anymore when he rolls up with this beast

[@piRaufasertapete]

This is usable for satellite hunting today