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

Welcome, Seth. Glad to have you.

I like to begin with an extended ultrasonic cleaning of all metal parts, doing the action assembled and whole. It is nothing short of amazing how much the original case colors can sometimes be restored. And, how clean you can get the action's working parts without disassembly.

I then proceed as you, with gentle cleaning with mineral spirits or kerosene as needed.

Over the years I've acquired a few hammer sxs's and early this spring I realized how many I had, some given to me for work done, just a random colection so I decided to display them in the man nook(too small to call a cave). So I decided to do it by country and have one each from the eight major producers of hammer shotguns. Nothing is collectable, most are huntable so it is nothing special. But I have hammer shotguns from Germany, Belgium, France, Sweden, Italy, England, Spain, and the USA . The last was a stroke of luck finding an LC Smith in solid condition although the Damascus has been cold blued over.

These all have hammers, that’s why I like them…

My lovely 28ga W&E single shot. Strong and alive since the 19th century. I'm in love...

Greener 12 gauge 2 1/2 inch damascus, still getting it done since the 1880’s..

Great to have you posting again, Campero! Are those wood pigeons?

That's right, earlyriser. These are resident wood pigeons, and I'm waiting for the migratory ones to arrive for the winter.

Cheers and good hunting to everyone!

For Ted and others, courtesy of John Eurom, here's the extremely rare Tobin hammer gun.



Another rare one, a Wilkes-Barre hammer gunl.



While we are at it, only a few hundred Wesson hammer guns were made. They were very expensive.



On the same end of the scale as the Tobin hammer gun, the Syracuse Arms hammer gun with Tripplett Fluid Steel barrels.

As Lloyd said, this is a Dangerfield and Lefever gun.

It ended up selling for $1675.00 plus $60.00 shipping, which I felt was too much considering the overall condition. One hammer spur was poorly repaired, and the trigger guard tang appears to have a solder repair. The forend wood is uncheckered, not orignal, and a poor match for grain figure and color. The small wood patch behind the tang is cracked, suggesting the frame is loose in the stock. Right muzzle appears quite thin. Numerous other blemishess too, but it is over 150 years old. It does have rarity going for it though. The buyer is a longtime Lefever student, so it's going to someone who can really appreciate it, and perhaps restore some of the major warts. I'd start with the forend wood and the hammer spur...

The frame and locks are very different from some other Dangerfield and Lefever guns, so I believe there is a good chance this was a percussion conversion or maybe something started by Dangerfield prior to the partnership. He is listed as a machinist prior to partnering with Lefever, but not a gun maker.