# Had an opportunity to shoot something rather odd today...



## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I was with a friend today that was just beaming because he had just found an old shotgun in his grandpa's basement.

When he first pulled it out, I thought it was a rifle. It's barrel was far too small in diameter to even be a 410. I seriously thought he was goofing with me til he showed me the cartridge. They were made by Fiocci and called a *9mm Flobert* which in my short research appears to have been initially designed by Winchester as a short range garden gun. After playing with it for a few minutes, we determined that the effective range with #8 shot was only about 15-25 yards. After that, the shot spread out a bit too much and we weren't too sure that the shot carried enough energy past that distance due to the amazingly low recoil and the fact that Fiocci advertises the load with a MV of 600 fps.

Ammo was ordered from Cheaper than Dirt for $21.00 per box of 50 which wasnt cheap, but not terribly priced. http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/3-0305024#

My friend wasn't exactly sure who made the shotgun, but he thinks it is made by a company called Alfa. Unfortunately the stamp with the name is scratched and beaten up so we can't make out the manufacturer's name but it looks strikingly similar to this one he found on Gun Broker
[attachment=0:310bqct3]pix099742872.jpg[/attachment:310bqct3]

In a strange way, I wish that this was a more common place cartridge for teaching kids to shoot. But with the growing popularity of the 410, shells have dramatically dropped in price to shoot the 410 so the 9mm Flobert is virtually identical in cost to shoot now.

Fun experience though to shoot something I had never heard of until today.


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## Squigie (Aug 4, 2012)

*Re: Had an opportunity to shoot something rather odd today..*

Very cool.
I bet you were really feeling it in the shoulder, afterward. 

There used to be a whole class of shotguns and shot shells almost universally referred to as "Garden Guns". (Sometimes "Mole guns" or "rat guns".)
The most common bore diameter was 9mm, with quite a variety of different cartridges offered by different companies. Some were interchangeable; some were not.

They were intended for exactly what you described above: pest control around the house ... but with limited range and power.

They were generally cheap, "disposable", single-shots; and not many survived to be passed on to future generations.

Just the other day, I thinking about trying to track down one of the old Webley & Scott "Garden Gun" handguns chambered for one of the centerfire 9mm shotshells (so I can reload). It would make a great Grouse gun for big game hunts. But, considering they're quite rare... I didn't get much farther than thinking about it.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

*Re: Had an opportunity to shoot something rather odd today..*

sounds like a fun lil gun. bout like shooting snake shot out a .44 handirifle? was it single shot?


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

*Re: Had an opportunity to shoot something rather odd today..*

Here is a picture of a rimfire 9mm Flobert from my cartridge collection. It was given to me by a friend though I didn't know what it was until I posted it on the 'name that cartridge' thread on this forum. I wasn't aware they still made ammo for it.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

*Re: Had an opportunity to shoot something rather odd today..*

i think i've seen those before. they a rimfire?


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

*Re: Had an opportunity to shoot something rather odd today..*



35whelen said:


> i think i've seen those before. they a rimfire?


The one that I shot was a rimfire. Im not sure if there are any other variations of the cartridge?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Had an opportunity to shoot something rather odd today..*

That's cool.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

*Re: Had an opportunity to shoot something rather odd today..*

That's pretty **** cool! I've never heard of those.


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