Got my sights on............

[lighthorseman]

A visit to a gun builder friend of mine (Lloyd Mole) who has built a couple of flinters that I own, offered to sell me a "poachers gun" for my wife. As Lloyd explained to me a "poacher's gun" was a breakdown fowler built to be carried under the seat of a coach by a "gentleman" who was invited to hunt a landed gentleman's estate for birds. These were very simple short barreled shotguns/fowlers which when broke down via a hooked breech were stored in a case under the seat of the coach.......considered "carry on baggage" like today's overheads in the airlines.....which like today's overhead baggage was not charged. Any baggage carried on top or in the "boot" in the rear of the coach was subject to fees. Anything carried under the seat was carried for free. Because these gentlemen were city folk, they were not "technically" allowed to hunt under crown law. However the land owner would invite his city gentle folk in order to garner favor among the wealthy of the larger cities. These gentlemen were often referred to "humorously" as "poachers". Additionally these guns were often lightened by gouging out the butt stock as seen in the first photo. So light and easily handled, game keepers often carried them to apprehend real "poachers". A leather sling was passed through the hole in the stock and then carried under his oil cloth coat to keep it out of the rain and kept hidden for the last minute arrest........or murder. :shock:
First photo of originals with gouged out butt stocks:

Here's Lloyd's reproduction......16ga with full choke, hooked breech, Queen Anne lock.

 

[Randy Johnson]

Ya learn something new every day.
I have heard the term "poacher's gun" before, but in almost fifty years of shooting and being around muzzleloaders I had never seen the stock cut out like that.

 

[exMember]

old timey assault rifles with them cut out stocks!

 

[lighthorseman]

I have to be honest...if Lloyd had built it with a cutout stock, I wouldn't be interested........but mostly the weight is perfectly suited for my "scientifically weak" wife....and she won't care what it looks like.

 

[Randy Johnson]

On my phone I can't respond to specific posts.
My first thought when I saw that photo was a flintlock assault rifle too.

 

[lighthorseman]

From the standpoint of being carried by a game keeper......very much like a later sawed off shotgun........remember the assault weapon of the day was a 42"-46" King's Musket......the reason why the British Marines, grenadiers and Light Infantry  marched on Lexington/Concord to capture and destroy the "assault weapons" in militia arsenals. :Salute: