looper, noun

/ˈluːpə(r)//ˈlʊəpə(r)/
Forms:
loeper, loperShow more Also loeper, loper, louper, luper, lyper.
Origin:
South African Dutch, DutchShow more South African Dutch, from Dutch looper runner (see quotation 1936).
obs. except in historical contexts
Usually in the plural : Large buckshot. Also attributive.
1822 Game Law Proclamation in Stat. Law of Cape of G.H. (1862) 60A gun loaded with shot of a smaller size that those which are commonly known and called by the name of loopers.
a1827 D. Carmichael in W.J. Hooker Botanical Misc. (1831) II. 275Balls and buckshot are the only kinds of shot they ever use. The latter the call ‘Loupers’.
1835 A. Smith Diary (1939) I. 255He fell from his pack ox in consequence of receiving a lot of lupers in the shoulder.
1852 C. Barter Dorp & Veld 47 (Pettman)With plenty of powder, buck-shot, loepers, or slugs.
1869 J. Montgomery in Friend 22 JulyIt could be seen where the balls had penetrated the head or the ribs; some had looper holes in the side.
1871 J. McKay Reminisc. 32I will put some loopers (ounce ball cut into four parts) into my musket, and if any Kafir comes within range, he will not run far afterwards.
1886 P. Gillmore Hunter’s Arcadia 18I quickly substituted cartridges of lopers (buckshot) for the No. 3 that my chambers had previously contained.
1889 H. Rider Haggard Allan’s Wife 47Now, boy, the gun, no, not the rifle, the shot-gun loaded with loopers.
1893 G. Berkeley in Cape Illust. Mag. Mar. 260A strong leather belt with pockets for ammunition (cartridges for his carbine, and ‘loopers’ for his shot gun).
1907 J.P. Fitzpatrick Jock of Bushveld 49He had taken the big ‘looper’ cartridges from his gun and reloaded with No. 6.
a1928 C. Fuller Louis Trigardt’s Trek (1932) 120They espied a fully armed Native and scared him away with a charge of lopers.
1936 E.C. Llewellyn Influence of Low Dutch 169Looper (1889), a kind of large buckshot, called in Du. looper, runner, because of its greater range than the smaller shot.
1949 L.G. Green In Land of Afternoon 206Buckshot of a large size were called lopers.
1968 W. Smith Shout at Devil (1970) 141Lying beside Flynn was his shotgun, double-loaded with big loopers, lion shot, and he had every intention of using it.
1979 A. Gordon-Brown Settlers’ Press 28He recommended the use of bell-mouthed blunderbusses ‘loaded with loopers or slugs above the ball’.
1986 W. Steenkamp Blake’s Woman 99Bags filled with ‘lopers’, or slugs, instead of single bullets.
Usually in the plural :Large buckshot. Also attributive.
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18221986

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obsolete or obsolescent
loop, verb intransitivev.lootjie, nounn.
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