doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hammergun affliction?

Two entry-level American sidelock hammerguns. 1901 Smith Grade F and a 1887 Parker Brothers O-grade, both with 30-inch tubes & lots of choke.



Shallow pistol and a straight grip. A nicer forend release on the Parker.



The Parker needs a little more of a "clean-up", but it works just fine otherwise. The more "shined-up" Smith looks better.



A "Fishtail" and "Twist" versus a more-standard toplever and 2-Bar Damascus.

Comparing and then contrasting these two guns is enlightening for me. On both guns, the hammers fall below line-of-sight (is that an American thing?). The Smith actually fits me a little better (longer LOP and less drop) but...the Parker is lighter by about a half a pound (which makes a surprising difference) and the straight grip makes it seem faster to mount. The Parker has some nice touches (like that Deeley-Edge[?] forend release, retracting firing pins and the "fishtail" which allows for opening with the hammers cocked) but...it desperately needs a more thorough clean-up (to get that bedamnedable brown "mung" off of everything). It is also heavily overbored (likely from the factory) and is in reality an 11-gauge gun. Good barrel wall thickness in both guns so I'm comfortable using light(er) but modern 12-gauge loads. I had been using the Smith for targets (but my recent Ithaca NIG hammer acquisition seems to have replaced it there). I bought the lighter Parker (largely out of curiosity) but also to hunt with on prairie birds (lots of walking there). Neither of these guns were very expensive, but are both very-fun to use. I'll hunt both this Fall and see which one stays with me.

Any tips here for cleaning up the old Parker? It was suggested that I just hose it down with brake cleaner but...I'm hesitant to do that.

Try methylated spirits and 0000 steel (or even better bronze) wool. Should lift off the crud without harming the patina.

I kind of know what you mean by affliction. Killed my first turkey with a Wild hammer gun, been gone a long time. Last weekend at Woods and Meadows SxS shoot I saw a guy shooting modern Poli hammer gun and I thought , damn I would like that.

May the force be with you

My Remington 1889 is the highest quality American made vintage external hammer doublegun I own. I sought a 32" barreled English pigeon gun for many years but gave up on finding one I could afford without selling off a lot of my other guns, which I was unwilling to do. The Remington is built like a tank, AFA the action and locks go. And, I kinda like the "semi-circular" hammers. Very solid lockup, good triggers and good damascus barrels.

That one sounds like a winner Stan, much like my big Ithaca. I knew when I picked it up it would be a great target gun.

A shotgun just seems incomplete without beautiful sculpted hammers. I love them too…

Love the elegant hammers on the Webley.

Did Fox ever make a hammer gun, or Lefever? I know some of the earlier iterations of the Lefever partnerships produced a few hammers but how far did they carry that option along?

As far as the major manufacturers (on this side of the pond), it was seemingly just Parker, Smith, Remington, & Ithaca. Minor players like Crescent, Baker, and perhaps Tobin made a few as well (I'm sure I'm missing some here, Stevens was one as well).

Of the majors mentioned, Parker and Smith seem to be the most prolific, producing even highly-graded guns as well (I suspect Remington produced a few here too).