doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Rookie Question

I've seen a number of modern hammer guns built with safety's, maybe that's what's needed if you don't like the other options. It seems to me that it wouldn't be too hard for a gunsmith to retrofit a trigger interference safety on many of the older hammer guns, of course that might hurt the guns value ("I can't buy this gun" gasp "it has a safety!").
Steve

I sold my hammer guns and bought hammerless guns with block safeties. I never felt totally comfortable{safe} until I started hunting with guns with reliable safeties.
Justin

Thanks gents,

Thanks gents,

Cocking ONE hammer isn't an issue. I learned to hunt with an old hammer Stevens single shot. The problem, as noted above, is trying to cock BOTH once a bird's in the air. With something like a 12ga in particular, you'd probably need a hand like a gorilla. No, make that an NBA center, since a gorilla doesn't have an opposable thumb. Cocking both when the dog goes on point is a decent idea . . . but it means that guys with hammerguns had better be hunting with pointing dogs--which, of course, is a good idea anyhow.

I'm with the group that walks with a hammer gun cocked and open. Obviously, if the gun design doesn't allow that, you can't do it that way. DUH! I would not walk with it cocked and closed. Some guns are relatively easy to cock (both hammers) while raising the gun to shoot, others are not. Walking up to the dog with hammers cocked and gun closed is as unsafe as walking up with the safety off. Don't do it!

While I agree with Legg in principle, I haven't found a better remedy for the problem of getting the hammers back on a covey rise. Walking around with the gun cocked and broke means two things: you're going to 'sweep' the dogs when you close the gun (or drop the shells out if you hold the barrels up); and you're just asking for an accidental discharge when you trip and fall and the barrels come back 'in battery' as you do. At least when you cock the gun at a point, you can point it in a safe direction. If the dogs point and you have to negotiate a briar patch, don't cock it till you see you have safe footing...Geo

While there are some good reminders on safety here, it's probably also a good idea to remember this: with the exception of those guns with intercepting sears--which are a definite minority, most of them sidelocks--about the only thing the safety guarantees is that you can't pull the trigger(s). If you stumble and fall, when presumably you would not have your finger on the trigger(s), a gun without intercepting sears is about as likely to discharge accidentally whether the safety is engaged or not. Not being a hammergun specialist in any way, shape or form, I can't comment on how likely a gun with the hammer down would be to fire as a result of a similar fall, but I do remember the old cowboy rule about keeping an empty chamber under the hammer in a Colt SAA.

Muzzle control is the only real safety...Geo

i never cared for them old rabbit ear guns. most had no safety or ejectors that's like having a car w/o ac or heat and breaks. modern higher quality italian ones have safety, rebounding hammers and ejectors so they're probably worth owning. as someone famous once said italians do it better.