doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - Hunting with a hammergun?

I've tried this before with a light, little 20-bore 1892 Thomas Bland. That gun had rebounding hammers (and sadly, splotchy patterns) and I only tried it a few times on grouse before I knew it was pointless for me to continue. Jump forward 20 plus years, I'm in a different place now (in oh... so-many ways) and I'm going to try it again, this time with a converted Lang pinfire in 12. Light and surprisingly slim for a hammer-gun, it's been very effective for me on clays. Upon first use, the hammers (which do not drop out of sight) bothered me a little but... after shooting it on sporting clays with the Vintagers a few weeks ago, they completely disappeared for me and I really started shooting it very well (to say that I was pleasantly surprised would be putting it mildly). Mind you, most of those targets were closer, with lots of incomers and crossers. Longer shots will likely be more of a challenge as this gun has no chokes (not an option in 1866!). Game farm birds over dogs will likely be a no-brainer and cocking one hammer before a shot is actually quite a seamless process. However, follow-up shots are painfully slow with those non-rebounders (surprisingly slow for someone who's used to modern ejector guns). Bridging both hammers with my thumb from half-cock isn't exactly easy, but it is quite doable. With practice (& good gloves) I believe that it will almost become second-nature, but we'll see. Since it's a side-lever variant, I can even open it with the hammers fully-cocked (which adds yet another option). Since I'm usually hunting alone, I can always just walk with the barrels up in a "hot" gun situation (in only the most "grousey" of covers!) and then being very-mindful of my footing & circumstances, but I'd rather not get too-comfortable with that set of challenges. What says the cognoscenti here on the subject?

Exactly. I know people who hunt with old pigeons guns, no safeties. Manufrance Ideals (terrible safety design, better to not use it at all in most instances), Darnes, etc. Muzzle control, safe handling, unloading, opening the action, lowering the hammers or putting on the safety when crossing obstacles, etc and above all, using the safety between your ears is vastly more important than putting your faith into a mechanical safety. Like you said…most safeties block the triggers from being pulled, they don’t do anything to prevent a sear from being accidentally jarred or knocked out of bent.

Only risk in snapping a gun closed with the hammers cocked is the possibility of jarring them off if the gun is a bit worn. I carry cocked and at the port. Lagopus.....

GFY Brent. 😂

Here’s a George Daw with Huns and a Webley with ruffed grouse…

It must be remembered that most hammerless guns are carried cocked. On most, if there are no intercepting sears, the safety only blocks the triggers and are no different to a cocked hammer gun being carried. Lagopus.....

I grew up hunting with a hammer SxS, never knew better than to be intimidated by hammer and flushing birds. I killed my first grouse on the wing with one near Stevens Point and my first pheasant near Racine and pretty much everything I killed was with a hammer gun. Reach pulled the right hammer as I was bringing tthe gun to my shoulder. IF I needed another round it wasn't that slow to reach up and pull the second hammer. Wish I had some pictures from the 50's and 60's. I hunted a number of years with a Beretta O/U percussion shotgun and it worked on grouse and ducks in MN and N. WI.. I still rely on a hammer shotgun for ducks. I used a hammer drilling doing control work in southern WI in the 1960's and still kill some coyotes with it.



Mine aren't fancy but still do the job



The hammer shotgun from my youth, it hung in my BinL's country grocery store with my old-time ice harvesting gear and some of my collectable trapping gear until he sold the place, now it all adorns his livingroom and entry way with his big bass and antler collection.


I did gothrough a period of modern equipment but 20 yrs ago started to phase them out again.

It's a somewhat unusual in that it is q pistol grip and was rebarreled in Damascus by James Woodward. My photo is not as detailed as yours but the engraving is very similar in style.

I've shot over 6,500 cartridges in this gun.

I already started today with a Powell up-lever…

Good for you Brent. Nobody cares.

I'll be at the Vintagers next week and will shoot my Joseph Lang hammer gun from 1866. I cock both hammers before calling for the bird, but my non-rebounding 16 gauge is easy to cock both hammers from half-cock to full-cock with a single movement of my thumb.

It's 6# 7.5oz.

hunting with a hammer gun . . . Had a chance to ask the late Gene Hill his opinion. He suggested hammers cocked, but gun broken open. I'd think that might work where you're not walking through cover where getting crud into the action could be a problem.
I had a really nice Husqvarna hammer 16. Windy day on the prairie, and I did walk in on my dog's point with the hammers cocked and the gun closed (just a few last steps very cautiously). The birds held and I took a double. Sometimes wish I'd kept that gun.

I don't hunt with a hammergun. I could never accomplish being a good hunter with one. Maybe at targets if the gun is already cocked. Where I live, there are no quail or grouse. In fact, there are no public grounds to even hunt on. 2 state hunting areas where they release pheasants. And people shoot shoulder to shoulder on the first few days. Guys on here would get after me because I said once that I hunted with the safety off on my Model 21 that I use when I hunted pheasant. I finally saw the light, I guess and changed that. So, good for you guys who practice safety.

When I am alone in a blind I hunt waterfowl with cocked hammers but never when someone else is nearby. In clays, I find that cocking them is a great pre-shot ritual before calling pull.

Got any pics of a limit of wild Chukar, Huns or sharptails with a hammergun?

Cazar con armas de martillos o perrillos es algo muy especial. Se puede cazar al salto siempre que tengamos cuidado y precaución. Yo cacé con una escopeta belga del 16. Llevaba un martillo montado y mi dedo pulgar en el otro preparado por si arrancaba una pieza, siempre con los cañones hacia arriba.

Ahora cazo con una escopeta monotiro del 28 con martillo. Lo hago sin problema cazando al salto y en puesto. Sólo monto el martillo antes de disparar; y si no lo hago lo desmonto con cuidado y fácilmente.

Cazar y tirar con escopetas o rifles de martillos nos da sensaciones muy especiales y distintas.

Saludos y buena caza.

Flychamps: This gun was dated to just a bit earlier than mine (I'd have to read the article again, but something like 1864-65):




Your gun looks (at least to me) to be centerfire all the way (the "coves" on the standing breech are a dead give-a-way). In 1866, things were clearly in a flux, with Lang producing guns on a variety of actions. From what I've read, guns were also being converted from muzzleloading to breechloading there concurrently. Mine dates to 1866 as well (in "the book") but it's clearly been converted from a pinfire. You can't see them here (very cleverly done), but there are filled holes on the tops of the tubes.



If I hadn't shot it so-well on clays I'd likely not bother, but it'll be fun to try it out on wild birds. It is so-thin and lively (for it's type), it should be a pleasure to carry. All I need is a few "dumb" ones to cooperate, or have them "go" in predictable places (which does happen up there on occasion).

Piotti's current hammer gun lock has an intercepting sear as well as the rebound bent:

The only thing interesting here is you continuously flapping your gums, you haven’t said anything useful here since you started gracing us with your presence. There’s gotta be some phycology with this. What happened to you as a kid? Dad didn’t pay enough attention to you? Mom told you to shut up too much? Neighborhood kids pick on you? Older siblings bullied you? Socially retarded? Go get help Brent. So sad.