So just what did the Wizzard of hammer guns tell you?

I don't have a lot of hammer gun experience. The first time out, I carried loaded, closed, hammers down. I was hunting alone. You might guess what happened on the very first flush - a lot of fumbling trying to cock one hammer. The spring was in very good condition, so I watched the rooster fly away, as I didn't even get the gun cocked. I feel pretty nervous, even alone, having the gun closed with hammers cocked, so the only time I do that is when I am expecting a flush. I'll be practicing hammer cocking during the shoulder mount. I did drop one nice rooster on a surprise flush using that method. Not sure who was more surprised with the outcome. Anyway, the hammer gun experience is a whole new dimension for upland shooting. I'm awaiting arrival of a nice 10ga hammer gun that will be put through its paces in October. Seems a bit of overkill for pheasants but this gun needs to be shot again !

im like you jack i keep the gun closed hammers down...if im expecting something to be shot at such as squirl or crow i keep my thumb on the hammer still down till i see the critter... jack no such thing as over kill.... charlie

Austin Hogan showed me at a New Years Day shoot how to reach over the right hammer to the left and cock both in one motion...he demonstrated on a pair with low gun hammers down....by the way I still haven't mastered it.

I was hunting last season with an old GE Lewis hammer gun and ran into this very problem. I was hunting with 2 friends and I really felt stange about the cocked gun. I was paranoid about it unitl I finally got my 20ga repro. I was carrying loaded and hammer down but still ran into the problem of decocking safely. For me the answer is only when alone or with one other person I'm familiar with.

This evening we will have a reading from "Tranquility" by Col. H. P. Sheldon where he recounts an episode when he is grouse or woodcock shooting without a dog and his companion the portly "Judge" is shooting a hammer gun. I will quote verbatim when I have the book in hand.

And I quote from page 103 of "Tranquility" (1940) in the story Ghost Birds about shooting woodcock in the snow.

""There ain't a woodcock in there," declared the Captain positively. "Look at it! But it's a pretty sight, just the same, and the fire'll feel mighty comfortable when we get back to it after sloshing around in this mess for an hour or two."

The judge had lost some of his earlier assurance, even though he wouldn't admit it. After all, it was a long way back to that day in 1901 with Old Bill Ward, and it might just be that it hadn't snowed quite so hard on that occasion as he thought it had. But he dropped a couple of 9's into his old double, raised the hammers and stepped in among the stems. "Come on," he ordered.

The other did as he was bade. There was a ghostly appearance about the environment that the lean sportsman never forgot afterwards. A thin vapor rose from the earth and mingled with the flakes. In it the dark figure of the Judge, thirty paces distant, became vague, distorted and grotesque. He might have been one of Rip Van Winkle's strange Little Men of the Kaatskills finding his way back to the glen above the Hudson through the murk that enshrouded the hills.

Dean,
That's some good reading. I have Tranquility and one other one (either Regained or Revisited). I've got to get the third one. When I read them, it's like stepping into another world where life is simpler.
This thread is interesting to me because I've yet to use my hammer guns hunting.


Jack Kuzepski

I have hunted with hammer guns for many years and I never cock the hammer until I am ready to shoot.Anyone who hunts with the hammers cocked or the barrels open is just a accident waiting to happen.Cock the right barrel as you shoulder your weapon.This is usually the modified or open barrel and upon discharging that barrel cock the left for your next shot.I have seen several people who received shotgun wounds at close range and they don't stand much of a chance for recovery.The one thing that you must watch with a hammer gun is the cover that you are walking through.I have accidently caught the hammers on brush and cocked the weapon.

track of the wolf is having sale on their repro parker brass shells and reloading supplies...

Mr. Black,

In the interests of being safe, I would like to further explore your point above. I have recently purchased my first two hammer guns, and have been reading this thread with interest. Can you explain further how a gun with open barrels is dangerous? What is the difference between closing the barrels on the way up and cocking the hammers on the way up? Furthering that, if you have personally seen brush result in accidentally cocked hammers, then I fail to see how the open barrel/hammers cocked technique is more dangerous than closed with hammers down.

So the danger with walking around with the barrels closed and hammers back is obvious. Barrels closed and hammers down could result in a discharge by virtue of brush cocking the hammers, or even partially lifting them for a brief second before dropping them again on the primer. How does a gun with an open breech discharge?

Just from my own experience, and of course only with my own hammerguns - all of which are Parkers - it is enough of a chore to cock the hammers on my guns with my thumbs... I can't even imagine "brush" accidentally cocking a hammer on my gun. Why, I would have to literally crash into or stumble and fall against a small tree to provide enough force to cock one of these hammers. Just sayin'...

Yup, open breech with cocked hammers is the way I do it. I'll close the gun and carry it with muzzles up when I expect a bird to flush and open it again when the possibility of an imminent flush is past.

I have had a Winchester 1886 cock on me while crawling through the brush to get close to a moose... twice. Very unnerving. Can't see that happening with a hammer shotgun though. I agree with Dean on that one. I saw a hammer gun designed to cock just as Austin showed someone here. The hammer ears each had a jog that brought them very close together over the center of the gun so it was easy to get your right thumb across both. I thought that was brilliant. That was one nice little hammer gun. Too bad the bbls were only about .010" thick in places.

When Dean posted the quote from the Tranquility series it inspired me to get out my books and reread them again. In Tranqulility is a story called "Odd or Even", where a southern acquaintence John Armistead Bristol sends the Captain a letter announcing his impending arrival to sample hunting Vermont style that was mentioned when they were hunting down south. Johnny is driving up to invade the north and bringing his 2 hammer Parkers to hunt with. Because this is Johnny's first trip north, the Captain is giving him instructions on how best to hunt birds he never hunted before. These words of wisdom seem to be as true today as when they were written. This quote comes from Tranquility pp154:

"Woodcock lie pretty well, but the grouse mostly are too smart to let a dog come up on 'em, unless it happens to be a wet, misty sort of day. When it's like this-bright and clear- and when the leaves are falling, these birds will lie more often for a man than they will for his dog. When you shoot, mark your bird down and don't lose anytime in getting to him."
He continues his instruction.
"You'll find an old cow path following along the brook. Keep right along that and cock both barrels and peel your eyes. The Judge will be 50 yards on the other side and I'll be an equal distance on this side. Whistle if you lose us, so we'll know where everyone is and no one'll get shot."
They left him and Johnny, pulling both hammers to the oily snick of full cock, advanced down a black dirt path where the yellow leaves of hazel lay. The pungent smell of it's golden blossom was sharp in his nostrils. It was bird country........


Jack kuzepski

Yes indeed Jack, that's how I do it in my Vermont coverts. Thanks for that quote... I just read it a few weeks ago again for the umpteenth time.

Dean