Fishing and Shooting Sketches

[Hammer Gun]

Mr. Grover Cleveland, indeed was a hunter, he was the recipient of the 8 ga Colt made for him and I believe the only 8 ga made by Colt, He named the gun " Death and Destruction" I have a 20 ga hammer gun that the late Austin Hogan belived had a connection to mr Cleveland, it is also the very first 20 ga hammer gun made, a 250 or 300.00 dollar grade, but never could substantiate it . An article will be in the Double gun Journal sometimes in 2022, Gary

[Milton C Starr]

Originally Posted by Gary Carmichael Sr

Mr. Grover Cleveland, indeed was a hunter, he was the recipient of the 8 ga Colt made for him and I believe the only 8 ga made by Colt, He named the gun " Death and Destruction" I have a 20 ga hammer gun that the late Austin Hogan belived had a connection to mr Cleveland, it is also the very first 20 ga hammer gun made, a 250 or 300.00 dollar grade, but never could substantiate it . An article will be in the Double gun Journal sometimes in 2022, Gary

I get the feeling Cleveland could talk about every specific detail of all his guns and loads but didnt want to get side tracked off the focus of his book. He does mention how he enjoys sitting around at camp talking all day about shotgun loads and reloading methods. He would have loved the reloading forum we have here. Who knows that 20 ga hammer gun could have been one of his shore bird guns does seem like he preferred a hammerless, however I think Cleveland would enjoy any fine American double.

Theres a picture of him holding a shotgun I read was indeed the Colt but wasnt sure. The Colt looks slim for a 8 gauge, man I wish we had some notes from the Colt guys on how they went about building it. I guess im kind of a nerd when it comes to big doubles I could spend all day measuring every part of them with a caliper. At one time I was keeping notes on the breech measurements I could find of 10 and 8 ga guns from the period.