doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hunting with Hammer guns

Thanks gentleman. I wasn't expecting so many replies. Seems like with everything, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Also seems that to a certain extent the individual gun plays a part in it. I wouldn't have thought about that.

One of the reasons I asked is because here in Massachusetts deer hunting is limited to shotguns. You can use a fully rifled barrel though and some of the old bore rifles are gorgeous. Been thinking about picking one up to replace, or at least augment, my hammerless paradox. The majority of hunting is done by driving and/or still hunting though and there often isn't much time for a shot. Looks like I'd probably be limited to one shot with a somewhat slower followup, unless I went with the cocked and open approach, which I don't think would work well for me.

The interesting facet of hammer gun safe carry/using is the apparent reliance on the safety of hammerless guns.

A cocked action is a cocked action, the safety does nothing to prevent a discharge from a fall or worn parts.

Interesting that the French army ordered guns with no safeties, training their soldiers to rely on empty chambers instead of the safety.

As for flintlocks, the few I have dismantled, English, Austrian and German, had stout springs, thicker than the typical hammer gun spring. They were all made in the last quarter of the 18th century and that might explain the spring dimensions.

I have in the past hunted with both hammer & hammerless guns. The hammer guns were both muzzle & breech loaders, though I never hunted with a flintlock fowler, only a long rifle.
One point that "Virtually Everyone" seems to be forgetting.
The main danger of an accidental firing is not truly the hammer "Jarring" off. The main danger is from the hammer striking an object in a fall hard enough to bust the sear or its notch. The hammer of the hammerless is covered, not exposed to hitting or being hit. I recall once while navigating a hillside stepping on a loose rock covered by leaves. I took a very severe fall while clutching my 12ga FE grade hammerless Lefever. It has a few scratches as a reminder, but Did Not fire. Now I can't say for certain that a hammer gun would have either but the chances would have been far greater.

Also the way I fell had it been carried in an open condition there is a very strong possibility of the strain twisting the lug & causing damage, I "Never Ever" carry a gun open in any kind of rough terrain. If I feel it unsafe to navigate with a loaded & closed gun, I unload, reclose, & then reload & close when on better footing. If approached by other hunters afield I will stop & unload & leave the gun open as long as I am standing, but when I start moving again it is reloaded & closed.

I do not carry the hammer guns cocked if I am moving with it, I would not even if they had a trigger safety. If I were stationary as in a blind or on a stand & see game approaching then & only then will I precock. may have cost me a few shots over the years but at least I'm still here to talk about it & have not been responsible for harming any fellow hunter. I hope & Pray that I never shoot anyone, but should it happen I want it to be intentional as in self defence or defence of a loved one.

Whether hammer or hammerless I do not handle a gun carelessly with dependance upon its safety but try my best to be always aware of where it is pointing. In most cases I would likely have nothing out of the way happen if carrying the gun loaded closed & cocked, ready to fire. There is however always the "UNEXPECTED" which one must take into consideration.

You have brought up a great point. When you are shooting the bull with other shooters, you unload and stand with an open gun. Some people don't seem to familiar enough with their guns to comfortably unload without an instruction book.

This past Sat 19th-- I attended our pheasant club's tower (aka- Euro) shoot. I shot Dad's (mine since 1981) M12 -30" full solid rib field gun- my "money gun" with the Winchester grey AA Handicap Trap shells- 7&1/2 size shot. But for the apres lunch pick-up, I had the great pleasure to partner with a member, just working with a 2 year old male Drattharr (Blitz) he adopted- and he is a straight-up double gun man. He offered me a T. Bland 12 bore hammer gun- Nitro proof barrels choked 1/4 and 3/4- 29" file cut rib, double triggers and straight handed grip. And it is a hammer gun. He showed me the drill- you carry the gun un-breached, with either the right hand or both hammers cocked back, and you only close it when the bird flushes in front of the dog. I did get a shot, last bird of the five the 3 of us shot over rock-solid points- a left to right, flushed a bit early, I never recalled closing the gun, mounting it and swinging the muzzles ahead of the rooster-it dropped in heavy cover, not quite deceased, but no longer airborne either, and Blitz was on it like down-town Charlie Brown. Wow--I had to re-read my copy of Gene Hill's book- Shotgunner's Notebook. I have searched both GI and Gunz'and Roses websites, no listing at for a Bland- London maker. My friend bought it a few years ago at the Vintager's shootfest.

It would be very gauche to ask what he paid for it, I doubt if he would wish to sell it- he also has a no. 2 of a matched pair of 12 bore Woodwards-which I have also shot while in his company afield at the club. But I fell in love with it. The only aspect of such a field carry might be, that when you bring the muzzles upward toward the sky with the gun opened, the shells can drop out. Oh-- this Bland has 2.5" chambers, so I was shooting RST 1 ounce. 7&1/2 shot- I love RST shells.

The trick to keeping the shells in the chambers when you carry cocked and open is to bite the end of the shell hard enough to make it stick in the gun when you bring the muzzles up...Geo

Run with the Fox:
Thomas Bland
Woodcock Hill Inc  
Address: 192 Spencers Rd, Benton, PA 17814
Phone:(570) 864-3242
Glen Baker is the owner

Still makes no sense to me to hunt with the gun open and hammers cocked. Put them on half cock and go hunting! Grouse hunting in Michigan is too heavy cover for such nonsense as an open action.

The whole world does not hunt grouse in MICHIGAN !

SRH

I haven't hunted grouse here in MI since 1980--ditto woodcock. I am not sure about your suggestion as to putting the hammers on the half-cock position. This was my first time rough shooting and using a friend's hammer double gun, so, as they say about when in Rome-etc. Do all English hammer guns such as this Bland have a half-cock hammer position? I can still close my eyes and see the rooster drop, feathers still in the air-Gene Hill had it right, in his story about a gentleman on his deathbed uttering-- "But, I have shot a hellofalot of birds." The stuff of which dreams are made, no doubt. And a fine gun like that Bland--wow!!