doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com When closing vintage doubles,

…barrels to frame or frame to barrels?

And why?

I use my left hand to slowly raise the barrels to frame. Keeps my right hand grip in a more ready to mount position. Longtime mentor told me to close a double “as quietly as possible”. By that he meant in a fluid motion without slamming things shut. Less wear on the gun and if you need to slam anything hard to close it needs to be properly joined.

I normally close barrels to frame out of habit. Those that would chose frame to barrels probably do so with barrels pointing down out of safety. I would think either is acceptable provided gun safety awareness is practiced religiously.
Karl

FWIW- I close my doubleguns just like the late gun writer Paul A. Curtis showed in his 1934 book Guns & Gunning--100% muzzles down toward the ground, and never ever close to a man's feet or his dog-- RWTF

I try to remember to close break open guns by lifting the stock to the barrels as being both safer and putting less stress on the gun.

If an accidental discharge is going to happen it is most likely to occur when the gun is shut.

Many years ago I was shooting with a Spanish SLE by a well regarded Spanish maker. I will not mention his name as I have otherwise had his guns well spoken of by knowledgeable friends. I had bought it, a self opener, with 2 pairs of barrels at Weller and Dufty.

I came to a ditch to be crossed by a muddy plank, unloaded and then shut it to make a more rigid balancing pole.

When I opened it on the far side one of the ejectors sprang open.

This fortunately alerted me, and when I closed the gun I did so with the barrels pointing down into an empty bit of ploughed field.
Basil, a very large Black Labrador, wandered over to sniff the resulting hole in the ground clearly puzzled as to what I had found to shoot down there?

The fault was with some difficulties finally diagnosed as poor lock geometry in that the lock on that side was set up so the breast of the tumbler was striking the edge of the bridle, thus giving the bridle screws a sideways clout that soon loosened them.

I had it fixed, curing the problem, but by that time I no longer felt the same about it and I know my gunsmith was happy when I replaced it with a pre-war BSA BLE.

Robert Churchill says frame to barrels. As long as the gun is held pointed down range in a safe manner I don’t think it makes a difference. I close barrels to frame while holding the top lever.

Common sense says action to barrels but I’m a creature of long time habit so it’s invariably barrels to action. But with barrels always pointing in a safe direction, often towards ground except when feathers are flying.

Never thought about it, and .......... I don't put much importance on it, either way. What does the bolting care?

It doesn't.

And a snap action gun should be allowed to snap. It properly engages the bolting surfaces that way.

This is not a good idea, and Shotgunjones beat me to the punch with an explanation why:


As far as which method is best from a safety standpoint, I would suggest asking actor Alec Baldwin what he recommends... and then do the opposite.