doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Using a hammergun?

Damascus: That Adams looks great! I especially love the musical case for it. Something like that is where I'd like to start down this particular road.

BrentD: I suspect that non-rebounders are easier to cock, but I haven't had a chance to test out that theory. As far as a trip to Tulsa goes, I'd love it(!) but something else always rears it's ugly head first around here about that time (usually taxes). I'll get there someday.

Lloyd3 I do not see any correlation with reboundingness. If anything, I would expect the reverse.

Both of those guns are rebounders.

I shoot with a black powder percussion muzzle loader exclusively (due to a brief lapse in judgement many years ago), so I have to deal with cocking hammers on grouse (and everything else). Personally, I can't double cock a gun in the field anything like quick enough to shoot a chukar, much less a grouse. I have had pretty considerable success hunting with my right thumb on the hammer at half cock, and just cocking that barrel when mounting the gun. Since I have never made a meaningful (i.e. close) second shot on a grouse even with a cartridge gun, I've concluded that it's not limiting me much. When I miss, I can switch to the left barrel to try for a second flush. I suspect that cocking both hammers at once is more a driven shoot technique.

I love all the comments here as I use a hammergun for almost all of my shooting and I am also left-handed. Most guns fit me even ones with lots of cast off. I believe they are elegant works of art that still perform superbly in the field. I have over 90 sxs shotguns from 4 gauge to .410 and lower. About 70 of them are hammerguns. I have acquired all of the gauges even the weird ones like 24 and 32 gauge. I obviously don't need anymore but that hasn't stopped me from buying at least 4 or 5 per year. I love the different action and locking mechanisms of the Victorian era where every maker seemed to be trying to get an edge on the competition by building a better mousetrap. I am a sucker for side levers, snap actions, thumb levers, Horsley and Pape patent guns, etc. I use them in vintage shooting competitions and exclusively for upland birds. I generally only look for damascus barreled guns. I mostly shoot low pressure smokeless but I love to shoot black powder shells at the gun club and wake everybody up with that first shot especially if they don't know it is coming. I don't think there is anything more elegant than an 1870's era hammergun with tall hammers, heel and toe plates, and spectacular wood. Long live the hammergun!

If I were to find myself walking a lonely grouse trail with a hammergun, I'd likely have to consider cocking both hammers (with the barrels safely pointed up) in the more "grousey" places as a preparatory move. I wouldn't do that if I had a companion, nor would I in the more-awkward places...

Presuming that I was to get comfortable with the concept (yet again), then a true game-gun weighted option would be the next step. A proper single-barrel hammergun would also be fun to try out sometime (sadly, I probably have more "wants" than the time to actually pursue them). All great fun to contemplate, right?

DerAmi: Funny that you should compare them to clutch operated vehicles. We have two of them here and inevitably when I climb into one I have to stop and think about it for a minute and then go right back to when that was "normal". The older one (from the 60s) is much easier as the pedals are big and well spaced apart. The newer one always gives me fits with my big feet (size 14).

two brands come to mind...

W&C Scott and Parker...

nice ones can be had for around $2000...

Lloyd you best be damn careful walking lonely grouse trails by yourself with a cocked hammergun. If you cock it at least open the action

Lloyd, loop your thumb over the hammers when your dog gets birds, if the footing is good.

Gentlemen: I'm used to pretty civilized trails up in the "Nort" country. I wouldn't mess with a hammergun in anything much less stable than that.



This one was unmowed last year and I'd use modern stuff here...



Saw my only woodcock on this one last year.

No hammerguns here either...

I hunted grouse for the first time with a 16 bore top lever damascus hammer double from the 1890's. Many of the issues discussed here crossed my mind when I gave some thought to my approach for these hunts. At first, I decided to carry the gun loaded, closed, and uncocked. A couple of flushes later, I decided to cock one hammer as the dog went on point. After a couple of muffs, I decided to cock both hammers on point. This was successful, but then there were wild flushes I wasn't prepared for and I began carrying the gun with one hammer cocked at all times. Alomst as soon as I resolved to carry thusly, I tripped over a partially buried single strand barbed wire fence rushing into a point and dropped my gun. Fortunately it did not go off and no damage to the gun. I began to carry it uncocked from that point out and actually switched over to hammerless guns for the remainder of the season!

I did hunt pheasant in SD with my 11 bore M/L double this year. I mention this because it was actually useful to have a non-rebounding lock. I found it much easier to engage from half-cock as a bird flushed than a rebounding lock. Of course pheasants will often give you a second more than a grouse from flush to shot, but I actually did enjoy the muzzle loader in the upland scenario and did not feel hampered by the hammers.