doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com New sxs advice

Open until in position to shoot is the rule many places including preserve were I do most of my dog training all target clubs I know of and a couple of Quail Plantations were I have been a guest. In theory it may wear the lug but considering I rotate between fair number of SxS guns doubt very much if one is going to show any wear in my lifetime. Target guns shot extremely high round count have been carried that way the whole time. Slamming open and closed is the biggest cause of problems

I don't think there is any other way to be sure the firing pin can't come Into contact with the primer with a Hammer gun

Boats

Don't write off buying a fine antique British hammer gun for $4,000, particularly if you are willing to buy quality and not the name, Damascus or sleeved rather than original steel barrels. No one offers a more reliable product in this space than Toby Barclay of Heritage Guns. Here is a very nice hammergun for under $4000:

http://www.heritageguns.co.uk/Williamson%20RUL%2012/Williamson%20RUL%2012%20Details.htm

You have to do what you feel is right, Boats, but I would not hunt in a place that told me I had to walk in the brush and behind dogs with my doublegun open. When I shoot sporting, or five stand, or wobble trap, or any clay bird games I stand there with my O/U open, as you must. When I get back in my cart I close the action and stow the gun in a ScabbardTech holder. But, there is a big difference between that and walking around in vines, briars, slippery mud and who knows what else with an open gun, IMO.

Best, SRH

I don't carry a hammer-gun with the barrels down. If I do I seem to drop shells all over the woods. If I carried open but cocked i would worry about falling and the gun going off. I carry with the hammers down and cock one side when a bird gets up. When I have a point I will cock both hammers. I don't know what the old guys used to do, but I suspect they did just like I do...Geo

Absolutely true. I bought a very nice Birmingham hammer gun from a member here a few years ago for less than $2K. It is a Lacey with twist barrels, no info ever found about the maker. When I took it in to an old school gunsmith for a strip/clean/inspection/pad, he pronounced it one of the best-made guns he had worked on. I will add that the hammers on that old Brummie are a lot easier to cock than the hammers on my American, Italian, Spanish, and Belgian hammer doubles. The Brit gun does feel different.

"Claycrusher1900," if I were in search of a hammer-gun within the price range you suggest, my focus would be on branded guns from makers or retailers W & C Scott, Army & Navy, and Charles Daly. You will probably locate more damascus-barreled guns than those affixed with steel sets, but there is nothing wrong with that attractively patterned barrel material or limiting when combined with their usual 2.5-inch (the elder 2-5/8 inch chambered gun will work too) chambers. I shoot the 2.5-inch cartridge (and in 2-5/8 inch chambers) more than the 2-3/4 inch cartridge, even in guns originally chambered for the longer cartridge. Beware of guns that have had their chambers lengthened; personally, I summarily reject them. The short cartridge, which was and is still to-day chambered in a number of bore sizes, is available commercially and in a wide selection of loadings that match most needs.

Have careful measurements (or request them to be) taken of barrel wall thicknesses and also look carefully for dents or for signs of them having been raised, and for riveling along barrel surfaces, examine the barrel set as well for loose ribs and rust and for its remotest indication, and consider the quality and extent of repair work, if any, and determine if it has been too excessive or extensive for safety concerns more than for the consideration of aesthetics. A famous gun-writer once wrote when asked about the three most important aspects to be inspected when considering a double-barreled gun on offer. I paraphrase his informed response: "the barrels, the barrels, and the barrels."

By the way, because 10-bore guns were not employed as much as the smaller bores of their heyday or thereafter, these larger bore guns are usually in better condition than their contemporaries, and their chambers can be reduced and re-chambered anew to accept the 12-bore (2-1/2 inch, 2-3/4 inch, etcetera) cartridge by chamber sleeves, if the gun is reasonably light enough (and not a rarity or highly valued collectible) to make it a sensible conversion.

I would further recommend that you buy the English-made gun here rather than overseas. It will be less expensive and more convenient to buy domestically, especially if you are careful about from what auction or retail company, or from whomever, you make your purchase. You will find your Daly gun here, of course.

If you are not comfortable making your purchase without expert advice, or perhaps feel you are not familiar enough with hammer-guns or a particular one to take a decision, you might consider consulting a gunsmith or gun-maker in the States who is known to be expert, or alternatively expert as a purchasing / condition review agent on behalf of a potential purchaser, and also one that will help you for a reasonable dollar amount.

I have personally purchased excellent though carefully chosen exemplars of the aforementioned makes over the years and have not only greatly enjoyed pride of ownership, but also the indefinable excitement of putting them to purposeful use afield, and to the challenge at the range; so I feel quite confident in commending them for your consideration. And surely, the romance of owning and using a fine hammer-gun to good purpose is not to be discounted.

Good luck with your search and final selection. Please post photographs of your ultimate choice.


Regards,

Edwardian

I recall meeting Gene Hill many years back at the Iowa Governor's Pheasant Hunt. Chatting with him after lunch, I asked him the hammergun question, knowing that he hunted with them from time to time. In my case, I'd started with a hammer single, which isn't the easiest thing for a kid to cock, especially on a cold day with gloves on. But we never cocked those until the bird was in the air. Hill said he carried his hammerguns loaded, cocked, and open. Hunting something like prairie grouse, where cover is typically shin high, I think that can work. But the problem of stress on the gun aside, clearly if you're hunting grouse and woodcock, or even pheasants in heavier cover, what's likely to happen is that you're going to get some crud in your gun and you'll find that it won't close when you want it to.

Thank you all for the advice, you have given me lots to think over. I would primarily be using the gun for various types of clays, and a day or two of hunting a year. I'm primarily a deer hunter so don't bird hunt much. I've been looking at many dozens of English hammer guns, and while I like them, I keep getting drawn back to the Beretta 627 EELL and the AyA 53 or 56. I know they are hammerless, but they both greatly appeal to me. So I think I will go in that direction, and perhaps down the road get a solid shooter hammer of lesser make. Of course, none of the above models are easy to find, especially an AyA with anything other than an English grip! And some of the AyA engraving looks nice, others not as much too me.

So if anyone sees or knows of a 627 EELL or a 53/56 for sale I'd greatly appreciate hearing about it!

Thank you all for the excellent advice and thoughts!

Good decision you won't regret. Let the hammer gun come along in due time.

This #56 has the engraving pattern I want, but is a single selective trigger. I've read that these are far less ideal as there are reliability problems. Is that correct?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=509506659

And another question. I measured my Clabrough which fits me well, and it has drops of 1 5/8" and 2.75". How much variation can I go or do I need those exact numbers? For example, I saw a Beretta with 1 3/8" and 2" measurements- would that much difference make it fit significantly worse? Thanks!!