doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Who made SxS trap guns?

Who besides Winchester and Iver made a dedicated SxS trap gun?

I have seen pictures of an Ithaca NID set up for trap

Did Stevens make a SxS trap?

Wow. All the big names that had a reputation to protect made double trap guns. To my knowledge, Stevens did not come under that heading. Anyone else know for certain?

Up until about 1915 s trap gun was just a gun used at the traps - it differed little from a field gun, which differed little from the live bird guns. After that point in time the makers began to tailor their guns for the increasingly popular, high volume clay target game, which meant the addition of recoil pads, single triggers, vent ribs, and beavertail forends. A maker's reputation could be significantly enhanced by success at the traps, so Parker, Smith, and Ithaca were at the forefront of the fray. Winchester came in on the tailend of the double era, and others like Fox and Iver were minor players.

Double trap guns are relatively scarce items. Keep in mind that prior to WW II the trap game was vested primarily in 16 yard birds, and by about 1920 the main players were offering a single barrel for the job. Not a lot of handicap was shot. Very few doubles were thrown, probably because of the tedium of dealing with the mechanically actuated, hand set traps of the day. Thus, if you were one of the many who didn't even bother with double birds, there was little point in spending the money on a fine side by side when a cheaper single or infernal magazine gun would do the job.

Hello Lou,
I strongly suggest you treat yourself to a copy of "The Road to Yesterday" by the late Dick Baldwin. Dick was the managing director of the Trapshooting Hall of Fame. The book is a treasure chest of stories about old trap shooters and their guns. Tons of photos.
Here is a 4E set up for trap. Vent rib does not show but it is there.


or if you would like a bit of an upgrade--

L C Smith made a double called 'Trap grade' with vent rib and bt also with Smith's special barrel boring for trap. Weighed 8-8 1/2 lbs.

http://www.gunsinternational.com/LC-SMITH-12-GA-TRAP-GRADE-SXS-SPORTING-GUN.cfm?gun_id=100035975
http://www.lcsmith.org/shotguns/1913grades.html

Both Parker and winchester made trap guns utilizing their side bys. Go on the link for Guns International, which is one of the sponsors and advertisers, and you will see them. They fetch a pretty penny. There are a fair amount of Model 21s out there and a few Parkers. A fair amout of the 21 trap guns have straight gripped stocks, instead of pistol grips. Rather a unique combination.

The Winchester 21's are kinda funny that way. They made a Trap Grade, which you can sometimes find choked WS 1 & 2.

Although LC Smith did call it a "Trap Grade", it was only a moniker for the level of engraving and wood/checkering.

I have a 20g Trap Grade without the vent rib but with 32" bbls. I've seen a 26" bbl'd Trap Grade.

However, that's not to say a Trap Grade counldn't be configured to be a dedicated trap gun.

I had a LC Smith Hammer gun that the buttplate was marked "trap". It did seem to have higher dimensions than a typical Smith of the period. Another member on the forum owned the gun the last I knew.

The Remington Model 1894 Trap Gun, Grade F, was normally configured like the trap gun of the day, but this was pre 1910, before the day of the vent rib and beavertail forend. Although only marketed in this country but manufactured in Europe, the occasional late Charles Daly marked gun shows up with a vent rib and long barrels. These may have been made by Sauer who also spit out the occasional vent rib trap gun in the same era. These were also assumed to have been made for the American market. Both Parker Brothers and Smith made hammer guns with buttplates marked Trap Gun, largely for marketing purposes, not because they were dedicated trap guns.

I once saw an E grade Lefever configured for either trap or pigeons. It had Krupp bbls, straight stock & no safety. I don't recall now if the bbls were 30" or 32". Unfortunatly some idiot had ruined it by heavily sanding the wood off the gun with every corner rounded off, so no more wood to metal fit. They then daubed it in with some kind of wood putty or similar which was not even a close color match, looked simply horrendous, but wasn't priced that way.