Shooting hammer guns

[6pt-Sika]

I have a 26” top lever hammer gun in a bigger bore that’s virtually no choke and very little choke that I took on a quail deal in 2023 , the gun isn’t cut it left the factory at 26” and with quite open chokes or rather lack of choke . I carried that gun cracked open with the hammers back and shells in the chambers and had no issues . I’ve done several tower shoots with big bore hammer guns and again I stand with the gun cracked open hammers back and shells in the chambers . I was told to go ahead and close the gun while waiting for the birds by the guy that puts the shoots on but I was never comfortable doing that .

[6pt-Sika]

From the last tower shoot I carried a hammer gun .

[6pt-Sika]

Another tower shoot with a different big bore hammer . The second picture is the first 8 gauge I acquired and the first feathered or furred things I killed with it again in WV at a tower shoot .

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by CraigThompson

Another tower shoot with a different big bore hammer . The second picture is the first 8 gauge I acquired and the first feathered or furred things I killed with it again in WV at a tower shoot .

Wow! Very nice. Great birds and what a nice looking shotgun. The gun I just bought (I think.) looks about like that one. A W.C. Scott F and F. I'm pondering opening the chokes, but I think I'll shoot it first and see what happens. Just for grins, I'd rather not touch the chokes, but I have in the past. Opened my Elsie to Cyl/Mod.

[Researcher]

I've owned two hammer guns for over two decades and have never fired either.

One I bought because of rarity, a Quality 2, from the short-lived Parry Arms Co., Ithaca, NY. Just had to have Parry's rear-acting under-bolt --

46 02 Parry Arms Co..jpg

The other an Ithaca NIG with just too much condition to leave on mumblin' Gary's table at Syracuse --

196095 Ithaca NIG Left.jpg

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Steve McCarty

Wow! Very nice. Great birds and what a nice looking shotgun. The gun I just bought (I think.) looks about like that one. A W.C. Scott F and F. I'm pondering opening the chokes, but I think I'll shoot it first and see what happens. Just for grins, I'd rather not touch the chokes, but I have in the past. Opened my Elsie to Cyl/Mod.

I had three Scott’s a 10 that was my grandfathers and a 12 an 20 that previously were owned by a Mr. Peters of Peters Cartridge fame . But they weren’t hammer guns but rather crystal indicator guns . The 12 and 20 are gone but the 10 will be with u til they throw me in the box .

[Mike of the Mountain]

When we’re guiding a bird hunt and hear a hunter click his safety on and off a lot (usually on a pump or semi), that hunter is asked to leave the field. Trust me, even with hearing loss we can hear the tell-tale clicking of the safety.

I’ve hunted a lot of birds with a hammer gun and it’s carried cocked and action open. Keeps it safe.

[Bill Murphy]

Cocked and action open has been my hammer gun system for many years.

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by CraigThompson

I had three Scott’s a 10 that was my grandfathers and a 12 an 20 that previously were owned by a Mr. Peters of Peters Cartridge fame . But they weren’t hammer guns but rather crystal indicator guns . The 12 and 20 are gone but the 10 will be with u til they throw me in the box .

Years ago I read everything that Ernest Hemingway wrote and I became a fan. Then I read three biographies (Baker, Hoochner and Hemmy himself ("A Moveable Feast") A few years ago I bought the first and then second edition of "Hemingway's Guns". Twenty years ago I started buying guns like Hemingway's. After a while I gave up trying because Hem had just too many, but I got a Winchester Model 12, a 16 gauge Auto 5, a nice engraved O/U, a .22 Winchester model 62, a Mannlicher Schoenauer (In '06), a Winny Model 70 (I'm pretending it's a Griffen and How, Springfield '06). Mine is in 270. Now I have a W.C. Scott which was Hemingway's favorite shotgun and the one he ended his days with. His wasn't a hammer gun. It was a double demascus, side lock engraved Model B. I think it was F & F. He was a great fan of Winchester Model 21s (20 gauge) which today are expensive and I'm not too wild about them. I have a Remy 1900 double which I like. A nice, light 12, steel barrels. BTW the gun that Hemingway blew his brains out with (and all over the little room he did the deed in) is no longer. Mary (his fourth and final wife) gave it to a handyman who cut it up and buried the bits in a field. He kept a few small pieces. People first thought it was a Boss, but it wasn't. It was a W.C. Scott.

As I age my former fascination with E.H. has waned. I think he was essentially a jerk. I read somewhere that all "real men" would like to either be like Hemingway, or be liked by him. Today, I'm not so sure. He owned some nice guns tho.

[William Woods]

Originally Posted by CraigThompson

Another tower shoot with a different big bore hammer . The second picture is the first 8 gauge I acquired and the first feathered or furred things I killed with it again in WV at a tower shoot .

That first gun sure has a nice buttstock. Is it factory or replacement?