doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com American Double Guns RE: Rabbits

Growing up I was introduced to hunting, with my Dad, Grandpap, and Uncles, while following beagles chasing rabbits around Allegheny Co PA. It holds a special place in my memories. I am curious if anyone has any insight about the lack of rabbits on American doubles. I assume it is directly related to class and social status.
Does anyone have photos of a rabbit gun?
I have seen exactly 4
1.) Early Crass Ithaca Grade 6 with a "peter cottontail style head"
2.) The Ithaca 20ga grade 3 I have attached a photo of.
3.) DGJ article about an Ithaca embellished AH Fox with the exact same rabbit as this 20
4.) A Baker Sterling Grade single barrel with what may have been this exact same (McGraw??) rabbit.

That is a great question. I don't know why I never thought about it. Hear in Cambria County PA, small game hunting was rabbit hunting. I think every house in my neighborhood had a dog house house in the back yard with a beagle in it. When someone asked how a hunt went the standard answer was four and a bird. I think an old double with a few beagles chasing a rabbit engraving on it would be way cool.
terc

There is a back issue of DGJ that has a story and pictures of a 16 gauge LC Smith with rabbit engraving.Bobby

I love it! Very nice

I'm engraving an L.C. Smith 20 now with rabbits on one side.

It makes sense to me ,since moving here to NH 30 years ago from England/Ireland I have seen just 3 rabbits.
Back home you'd have to drive round them on the back roads.Some people used to "Road hunt" them, & there was no gun involved :),just Dunlops.
I'd love to shoot n eat a nice brace o' coney
franc

Not a double gun, but a Baker Superba single barrel trap by Rudolph Kornbrath ca. 1913.

Nice topic, I'm also a beagler.

Thanks for posting pics of the guns. Mr. Kornbrath was a genius.

Sam, please share when you finish your work.

Bobby, any idea of an approximate year of DGJ on that Smith with rabbit engraving?

Thanks for the replies.. Daryl thanks for the pic. I would still love to see some more from anyone! I will be hunting for that LC DGJ article as well... it escapes my memory at this time, but I am happy to have en excuse to flip through them all again.

Great topic.

Daryl,

Is that moon & star a Turkish emblem? Any thoughts on it?

Pete

The emblem is that of the Schriners--see http://www.shrinershq.org/

Berrien Moore

Sorry.I have no idea which back issue has the rabbit engraved Smith. Bobby

Sam,

I hope you post pictures of your rabbit engraving. Your work is always a treat for the eyes.

Roger

I'm waiting for an OK from the owner Roger...S.

Berrien is right, Pete, it is a Shriner's emblem. The opposite side of the gun is a highly three dimensional gold elk's head as the owner belonged to both organizations. In correspondence between Kornbrath and Baker Gun and Forging Co. during Baker making the gun, Baker wanted to know the diameter of the milled out spots for the emblems Kornbrath was to make. Kornbrath replied the milled circles should be the size of a 3 cent piece. That was about exactly 100 years ago.

We always used a .22. Isn't that the reason?
Just kidding, but one might think shotgun were intended for our feathered friends.

I have done rabbits on several guns, all of them small bore singleshot rifles...here is the Smith I am working on.



Here is a close up of the hunter...there are some who might recognize him and perhaps the gun he holds.

I have seen rabbits engraved on Parker hammer guns and a friend just bought an AH 16 with deep relief rabbits on the floor plate.

Wow Thanks for posting the pic of your engraving Sam.

I think rabbits are entirely appropriate for bird guns. Just this weekend at a field trial my Brittney Ginger chased a cottontail through the gallery, reported to me to only be inches off its tail.

Yeah Mike, but did Ginger win the field trial or was she 'picked up' for running that rabbit? Frankly, I don't really care if my dogs run a rabbit and sort of look at it as just another sort of game, but deer and hogs are a different matter. And porcupines too!! Had a nasty encounter with a porcupine this year. Our trapper caught us one this yr and we left in in the trap moving the trap to a different spot both days. We got each dog close on a check cord and the sec they tried to point or acknowledge the porci.......electricity. By 3rd day most dogs tried to avoid that porcupine at ALL cost. There may be 1-2 hard headed dummy's left, but I think most dogs were cured of wanting to hunt porcupine.

In NSTRA that is not a "pick up" offense. Just lowered her obedience score. What ya'll did with the porcupine was a great idea. Sent you a PM.