The 8 Bore: http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/ma...58-c-65b44fe829

The 4 bore: http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/ma...59-c-c5f44229ba

I'm glad the current bids are already to high to prevent me from wanting too bid on them.

Chantry, your tag line says it all! I have been addicted to hammer guns for around the last ten years. I am an addict and we probably need a "Hammer Gun" Help Group. First in the line is a nice Edward Whistler 12 ga. Damascus back action. Latest acquisition is a Greener 10 ga. Laminated bar action. I corrupted a good friend and he is also addicted now. Most of the time on the clay's course we are using English hammer guns. Last season hunts saw us fielding the hammer guns. I don't think there is a cure once you get bitten! Knees get weak and hearts go mushy and you start thinking what to sell to raise the necessary asking price to be a caretaker for another one. Well, it does make life interesting!

I'm up to 4, two of which are arriving later today. Currently I have Isaac Hollis and Sons 10g and a W&C Scott & Sons in 16g that someone did a nice job on doing a partial restoration on.

I'm a barbarian and use the I. Hollis at cowboy shoots sometimes, something all of them will see use at a couple of times a year. I'll itching to try the W&C Scott at trap with light blackpowder loads.

I am up to 5 and enjoy all of them! For Black Powder loads: 2&3/4 chambers use Federal paper with two and a half or three drams of GOEX 2 FG, 1 or 1&1/8 oz. shot and fold crimp. 2&1/2 use trimmed Federal paper with the same charges and the same shot amount and roll crimper. Wad column is hard nitro cards with fiber or felt fillers and a overshot card for the roll crimped loads. 16ga. loads is plastic hull. two and a half drams 3 FG, 7/8 oz. shot and roll crimp (New primed Cheddite hulls)nitro cards and felt filler. 10ga. uses 4 or 4&1/4 drams of GOEX 2FG, 1&1/8 or 1&1/4 oz. shot, (New primed Cheddite hulls cut to 2&7/8 inch) cards and fillers finished with a roll crimp. This is great fun and shooters are really surprised when any of these loads touch off! I usually shoot 2 stations with light smokeless loads to clean out the tubes (or you can just brush) during a round of 50 clays. Having the maximum amount of fun is a requirement!

I've been using the MagTech 2 1/2" brass hulls for the 16g with 60grs (by volume) of 2F and 1 oz of shot using fiber and overshot cards and Elemer's wood glue to seal the mouth. I've been using plasticfor the 10 and the I. Hollis gets 60grs of 2f or coarser
also with fiber wads and those are roll crimped.

The 10g loads for my modern hammerless double is 120grs of 2F or coarser and 1 1/2 oz of shot. When I light that off, everybody notices and sometimes I fire both barrels at once. Inside and around the some of the building props both barrels at once is.........rather noticeable

anyone know the hammer price on them?

The 4-Bore went for $14,950 and the 8 bore went for $13,800

Welp, that easily put both of them out of my play pen. I admit to lusting for a 10 or 8 bore but don't believe it will ever come to fruition.

Eric, you & Chantry aren't helping any. Eric, as far as a "help group" for hammer gun addiction I believe it would be a waste of time....unless your intent was a "help group" to help us find more hammer guns!!!

I've loved them since I was a kid...a long time ago. I was going to list them but stopped counting at an even dozen...and that doesn't count muzzleloaders, real muzzleloaders.

You know, THERE IS NO CURE for a hammer gun addiction. But a help group would be a nice place to gather and talk about and show off the latest acquisition! At a dozen, you have me beat but there is still time and there are still nice hammer guns waiting to be found. Love cocking my own hammers and they just look so damn neat on the course or in the field! I try to get different action and bolting types just to make it interesting. Although, I am quite fond of the back action, side lever or under levers. They have that race horse kind of style.

I'm not trying to help, I am trying to enable

And a 10 gauge shotgun is doable, patience and some careful shopping can get you a 10 gauge for under a $1000

I'm not looking for a cure...I'm doing what one of you mentioned and peering through my gun safe to see which hammerless firearms I'm willing to part with!!!!....(to acquire more hammer guns....naturally!). My sort of collection is mostly Jones Underlever or top lever with one Lefaucheux. I wouldn't be averse to a side lever, just haven't found one that trips my trigger.....yet.

I have seen some what appeared to be decent 10 bores for around a grand. My problem is there's either a kiplauf or Scheutzen rifle at the head of the line. When the search begins in earnest it will have to have Damascus barrels.

For better or worse, I see to have settled on English hammered shotguns. I wouldn't mind a nice drilling, but rifle barrel tends to be chambered in some obscure caliber and the prices are higher then I would like for a gun that real serves no practical purpose for me since I don't hunt or shoot clay birds on a regular basis.

Stop right there and never get involved with English rifles.....

SKB has a good point there. One was all I could afford so I crossed the channel for the same quality for less money.

Reference the drillings I rather like the obscure cartridges. That's why I bought most of mine, no one had ever heard of the cartridge they were chambered to...but I admit to be a bit twisted. However, those are mostly older drillings. There is a pile of them out there in common cartridges: 7 X 57R, 8 X 57R, 9.3 X 74R, 9.3 X 72R is readily available also. Occasionally one is seen in 30-30 WCF or 25-35 WCF and even 22 Hornet.

If you are looking for a drilling chambered in an "American" caliber, you might keep an eye out for a nice Prussian Daly drilling (SD&G made both hammer and hammerless model). Schoverling, Daly, and Gales sourced drilling from Suhl (almost exclusively from Sauer), but chambered them in calibers familiar to US sportsmen - from 25-35 WCF to to 45-70.

It is sometimes amusing to see an auction catalog description of a Prussian Daly drilling where the catalog author assumes what he is looking at is an obscure Eurpoean caliber when, in fact, he has a 30-30 WCF in his hands.

Ken