I have heard ads on the radio up here in NH, just wondered if anyone had dealt with Mr James Cook @ vermont Gunbroker?
I have a couple I might want to sell, so I sent him a email with some details.
I will also do the same here on the sale page
Just wondering
I have a Belgian SLE from 1929
& a WW Greener 1901 steel sleeved bbls w re proof, jones under lever
both Pigeon guns I guess..
cheers
franc

OK, time for my continuing education class on guns to start.
Franc, why did you say "....both pigeon guns I guess." What would make a gun a pigeon gun? What would one see that would bring that conclusion? I have heard this phrase used before in gun descriptions but never really new what a pigeon gun was, and your comment made me decide to ask.

This is a good resource

http://www.hallowellco.com/abbrevia.htm#P

For use in live pigeon events, I would assume.

Hi Perry,
By Pigeon Gun, I guess I mean that they are both heavier than your average game gun, in my case 7 1/2lbs (Belgian) & 7lb 12oz(Greener)..also the stock dimensions for drop @ heel & comb are on the "thin side" such that the gun will pattern on the high side...you see a good bit more of the rib when mounted.Ribs are wide & flat, with long (30") bbls.A wee bit muzzle heavy too.Usually pretty well built, as some reputations were on the line when shooting live pigeon shoots
Perhaps Pigeon gun means different things to different folk, but those are what I kinda of think of when a P gun is mentioned.
Also my Greener has a "blue rock" pigeon engraved on the rib at the breech.
They seem to make good sporting clay guns,thats what i use em for.. pass shooting duck too, perhaps
cheers
franc

Thanks Franc. What you say makes perfect sense but as I was thinking about it the term "pigeon grade" came to mind and I thought it was time to ask. Again, thanks for the continuing education. Anyone who thinks we are too old to learn obviously never joined this board!!!

They usually have a file cut rib as well.
That is a rib that has straight lines across it at about 45 to the inch.
O.M

Most purpose-built live pigeon guns were fairly heavy, tightly choked, and had no safety, and they often had long barrels of 32", 34", and even longer. The heavy weight was desired because of the recoil and number of heavy loads fired. Toward the end of the days of live pigeon shooting, the gun weight was limited to 8 lbs. Supposedly, the reason for no safety was due to the large amount of money wagered in these events. No ardent competitor wanted to miss even a single bird due to forgetting to disengage a safety. This was also a reason why Syracuse Lefevers were built with a feature to disable the safety.

And also one of the reasons several of my doubles have the automatic safety feature disabled. I would be perfectly happy with no safety slide at all on my doubles. My finger never enters the trigger guard until the microsecond before I trigger the gun anyway.

SRH

We all differ in good ways. I wouldn't have a gun without automatic safety. Feeble as my brain is if I had a mix of them--auto and non auto--I'd be a blathering idiot trying to remember which was what. Sliding a safety off is just an automatic reflex of mine. I even shoot skeet with safety on when calling for the bird.

Me too. Gun down, as well. Shot with 7 time state skeet champ, and he noted I was rubbing my chin when I called for my bird.

He said I got it. Hey, practice on clay birds is just practice for hunting, right?

I have a mix of guns with, and without auto safeties. Never think much about them. The auto safety hangs up on an Italian double I own, and I didn't figure it out for a year or two, because I always put it on myself before breaking the gun.

Now, I wonder if I should fix it, or not?


Best,
Ted

Do you have any problem with switching from a double trigger gun to a single trigger? I don't, and I can't tell you why. I can even pull the rear trigger first and then go to the front without a conscious thought, though some tell me they struggle with that. I shoot a mixture of double triggers and singles, and don't ever think about it. It just works for me. Same thing for me with safeties.

All my best, SRH