doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com hammer guns

Some of those European hammer doubles from first half of 1900s are really hard to beat for balance, ease of handling and carrying and sheer deadliness on birds and clays. They may also have nice scroll or simple line engraving and elegant lines. They will have sling swivels, essential for a hunting double.

I currently have two that I shoot better than any other shotguns I have ever owned. One is Sauer M2 in 16X67, one a Husqvarna M48 in 12X65 (both weigh a bit under 6,2 lbs with 75 cm barrels). I have others that I shoot almost as well and which have each accounted for lots of birds, save for most recent one (that has been deadly on clays).

Niklas

I'll agree with NiklasP above. One of my very favorites is a Max Fischer 16 bore hammer gun made in Berlin (it appears to be a Sauer barreled action finished up by the well known Fischer and marked with his name) that is a very trim round action, weighs in at just under 6 pounds, and is a delight on upland birds of all kinds. It's very quick handleing. It dates to about the turn of the century. (1900) I also agree that sling swivels are very desirable for a hunting double. Another heavier hammer gun I enjoy is a stout Griefelt 12 gauge gun with very thick breech walls, and .060 chokes in both tubes. It's an excellent high dove gun. The early German guns are hard to beat, IMO.

I sure love my Greener Hammer Pigeon Gun..made in 1901...steel bbls & Jones Underlever.
Hammer Guns are the Balls!
I bought my first one ..a modern Bernardelli....then I got my lovely old Greener.......I think that any gun I buy from now on , might well be a Hammered....they are so ...so cool...& Ijust love the looks the autoloader shooters give me!!!!!!!!
cheers
Franc

I have recently taken an interest in hammer guns, both breech and muzzleloaders. I don't know if I will be able to get either before the upcoming season but I would be surprised if I didn't get one before the following year. I have some issues, primarily that I am a walk-up hunter and speed is of the essence. Even a fraction of a second delay to cock hammer concerns me, and yet the challenge also intrigues me.

Skip

Just what is a Hammer Pigeon Gun? Is any long, heavy barreled SXS with hammers a pigeon gun? I know hammerless pigeon guns typically have longer barrels, possibly no safety but the term seems to be tossed around to describe any old heavy gun. Am I thinking too hard about this one?

Skip,

Years ago, when I first switched to hammer doubles for desert quail hunting, I had a few unexpected flushs when my thumb was trying to push off safety instead of cock hammers. Now, it cocks at least one hammer automatically, usually, both. Do look for hammer doubles with tall, vertically standing, hammers that cock easily, both on same pass of thumb -- easy with most 16s. Avoid those with low, back sloping, hammers, at least for hunting.

SOP for me when I expect a flush is to have thumb hooked in front of both hammers. As I rotate barrels forward from more or less vertical, I keep thumb and hand fixed, which causes barrels to become long cocking lever. This keeps hand in more or less same position as it will be when gun is mounted. It maybe takes me longer to mount and shoot, than with internal hammers gun, which is enough to keep me from shooting too fast.

I now find myself trying to cock hammers............... on hammerless guns.....

Niklas

Some of the attributes of a pigeon gun will be as follows. It will be something on the order of a pound heavier than a game gun, say 7 1/2 to 8 pounds. Balance (teeter-totter point) will be about the same to maybe a 1/4" farther forward. Swing will require something like 20-30% more effort than a game gun. The action will be strong enough for 2 3/4 - 3" hulls and 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 oz loads, significantly more powerful than game loads. Stock drop tends to be a bit less than a game gun as a pigeon tends to be a rising target, but is not absolutely so as in trap clays. Lack of a safety is a strong indicator. Many pigeon guns were built to high original quality standards. Many will depict a pigeon somewhere on the gun and some are marked as pigeon guns. Purpose built pigeon guns were in both hammer and hammerless.

Modern guns of better finish are sometimes marked as "pigeon grade."

They will usually be tightly choked in both barrels.

jOe

I found my other horn buttplate. Do you want it?

gdisharoon@allianzmadvac.com

I finally got around to looking for it.

Let me know, Gordon