A most unusual and rare weapon to turn up on the market! The punt or market gun was widely used in late 19th century and early 20th century America for the commercial hunting of waterfowl especially on the Chesapeake Bay and the Susquehanna River. The large size of these guns made them literally small cannons which were mounted to the gunwales of the punt boat, which was a square shaped flat bottomed boat which was pulled in close to duck or geese flocks quietly until within range. Once the piece was fired it could often kill several dozen birds at one firing. Federal legislation in the early part of the 20th century outlawed this hunting practice which caused most of these weapons to be destroyed as they became illegal for use which makes this punt gun highly desirable. These weapons are usually only found in a few museums which makes this a highly desirable firearm to own due to its connection to American waterfowl hunting. This weapon is of Italian manufacture (marked on barrel) and was imported into the US for market hunting use. Has a massive percussion lock and trigger mechanism along with equally massive wooden stock which has circular opening for mounting to gunwale pedestal of punt boat along with notched forward stock so the barrel could be tied down to boat to help absorb the recoil when fired. This piece is some 96” long (8 feet long) with a barrel 77” long (over 6 feet in length!) with a bore of 1 - ½ inches and a half octagon/half round iron barrel and very good condition. The size of this piece alone makes it a novel item along with its connection to history. The action is working. Nipple and barrel are clear. Gun weighs 60 pounds!