doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Trigger guard safety

When I first started hunting my friend occaisionally loaned me his dad's side by side and it had a safety operated by the trigger guard. The trigger guard was composed of wood and metal, if i remember corretly. The trigger guard hung down and when you wanted to shoot, you squeezed it tight to the stock. That was about 40 years ago. I am thinking the gun was French. I keep thinking I will run into that type of safety again, but I have not. What kind of gun was that? Thanks, Dan

Meffert of Suhl had one but I think the safety was of French origin and right off I can't remember a specific maker.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Several guns have had "grip safetyies". Ones I've seen were usually a small bar behind the trigger guard and needed to be squeezed against the underside of the grip, usually a straight one, before the triggers would operate. A friend of mine has one, on an original muzzle-loader, don't remember the maker. Definitely not an idea from the geniuses in Washington!

DeeKay,
Meffert made one. I did an article on mine for the Winter 2002 issue of Der Waffenschmied, the journal of the German Gun Collectors Association. They are generally marked "Hubertus Gewehr 32200." They were available in a number of grades with both top lever and Lefaucheux style openers. It is a very 'cool' system. It isn't the trigger guard that moves -- it's the tang behind the trigger guard. It's not "wood and metal', it's horn and metal.

William H. Whitney of Florence, Mass. has a 1890 patent #451191 of a similar device but I still think the origin to be with the French:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=zK1HAAA...;q=&f=false


I too think Brenneke to have had a similar device. Early on he witnessed a terrible event involving a shotgun/gun(If anyone is interested I'll see if I can find the details) and this lead to his over-design for safety. Have a gander at any of his examples and they are very, very robust to say the least.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

I have a Purdey Bar-in-Wood 16b in stock with a grip safety. At rest, it bolts both trigger blades. Here is a photo of the external lever.
The gun dates from 1877 but I am unable to pinpoint any patent. However, this style of grip safety goes back at least to the muzzle loading era. Dasvid Baker in Volume One of the British Shotgun doesn't credit the grip safety to anyone but does mention is twice.

I have a very early Clark and Sneider, Baltimore 8 gauge breech gun with a grip safety. See photos...there is a patent number on the bottom..which I am looking into. Jeff

http://www.facebook.com/canvasback.gallery#!/photo.php?pid=5616118&id=349488306398

Toby, that's an unusual style of Purdey for one made as late as 1877. I have seen that type on Purdeys before as well. I have a Turner hammer gun with a small type grip safety which is probably of the type that Jim mentions. They were certainly around in the muzzle loading days as these are the guns I have seen most on. I would think my Turner is early to mid 1860's so an early centre fire breech loader. Lagopus.....

Here's a John Dickson with a Brazier snap bolt and a grip safety. Made in 1863 but sporting rebounding locks. Also a Whitney Safety Hammerless.