Shooting hammer guns

[Bill Murphy]

That's the best looking swamped rib I have ever seen.

[Lloyd McKissick]

Let me see what I can do...







It's been through proof 4 times...

I don't have a muzzle shot handy I'm afraid. IIRC it looks quite standard at the front end.

FWIW: that recoil pad is covered in elephant hide.

[Lloyd McKissick]

ok, here we go...







30-inch 3-Bar Damascus but only 6lbs2. The action is very petite (almost like a Skimin & Woods gun) with a very thin "diamond" shaped wrist and tapering action-bars under the tubes. As I mentioned earlier, it has been thru proof 4 times since 1882 (in both houses in England) and it's been honed mercilessly. The tubes are at 17 thou at one spot about a foot from the muzzles, so it needs careful (& prudent) use. But on a bluebird day in the grouse woods up north...it's almost magic.

[Seth Mackay-Smith]

I'm interested that pretty much everyone carries their hammer guns open and cocked because, of course, a hammerless gun is cocked when opened and will still be cocked when closed.

General question: do you also carry your hammerless guns open? I'm not making a case for changing your habits, but more interested in the reasoning if you carry your hammerless gun closed during a hunt but carry your hammer guns open during a hunt.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Seth Mackay-Smith

I'm interested that pretty much everyone carries their hammer guns open and cocked because, of course, a hammerless gun is cocked when opened and will still be cocked when closed.

General question: do you also carry your hammerless guns open? I'm not making a case for changing your habits, but more interested in the reasoning if you carry your hammerless gun closed during a hunt but carry your hammer guns open during a hunt.

I’ve had a couple hammerless no safety guns and I’ve used them at tower shoots . Standing at the peg typically I have the muzzles resting on the toe of my boot with the gun cracked open . And typically if the gun has a safety I wait with the gun closed not on my boot toe and the safety on .

[Bill Murphy]

OK, here it is. Some of us hunt with hammer guns cocked because they are slow to cock on the rise. They are open because hammer guns do not have a safety. Kind of end of the story. However, a hammer gun (closed) is pretty fast to get into action on the rise if the shooter cocks the left hammer on the flush and cocks the right hammer once the gun is at the shoulder. This is the system I choose to use.

[Dean Romig]

BEAUTIFUL example of a British swamped rib gun!!





.

[Lloyd McKissick]

Thankyou Mr. Romig.

Seth: I discoursed on this subject earlier here. I mainly carry my hammers cocked and locked. There are modifiers to all that and I discussed them back on page 5 here.

[Seth Mackay-Smith]

Lloyd: thanks, yes, I had read that but per my question I was more looking for discussion on the reasoning behind hunting with a hammer gun broken if you hunt with a hammerless gun closed.

What I read from you was more a discussion of hunting grouse with a hammer gun cocked and closed, correct?

[Dean Romig]

Carrying a hammer gun cocked and open is safer than carrying a hammerless gun closed with the safety “on”(?).





.