doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gene Hill's H.J. Hussey hammergun???

I came across some of Mr. Hill's wonderful writing the other day.In one piece he mentions owning a hammergun made by H.J. Hussey.

Does anyone know anything about this gun?

Is Mr Hill still around? If he is, I would like to contact him about this gun.

If he isn't, does anyone know what happened to his Hussey?

Thanks

OWD

Mr. Hill has passed on....he was a great writer and has given me many a chuckle. I have no idea the location of his Hussey. The story about smuggling newly acquired guns into his house hidden in a rolled up old carpet brings a smile to my face each and every time I think of it.
Steve

I believe, not sure, that Mr. Hills Hussey is owned by a chap living somewhere in the great state of Kansas.......Next time you are over Steve, maybe you can visit it...

LD-

Have you seen the gun?

I'm interested in it because I've never seen or heard of another H.J. Hussey hammergun.

H.J. Hussey made some beautiful guns. I'm sure this one is very nice and I would love to learn more about it.

Thanks for the replies.

OWD

OWD, sent you an email.........

Got it. Thanks.

Enjoy those roosters.

OWD

Hill was president of the Philadelphia Gun Club for several years before his death. Was just there shooting pigeons over the weekend and talked to some of the members who knew him. He must have been quite a guy, I love his work.

Destry

I hadn't thought of this for years, but my great uncle George Bryant collected single shot rifles in the DC area in the 60s. He converted his old basement coal chute into a padded gun ramp. He would come in at night, open the hatch and slide in the latest treasure. My aunt never discovered the hidden path.

I just use the same cases, only the contents change.
Joe

I smuggled my newest Parker into the house last night....I just waited until my wife fell asleep then I went out and got it from the trunk of the car.

The beauty of having a bunch of guns is she doesn't recognize a new one in the safe.

OWD,
I'm a bit jealous - finding Gene Hill's writing for the first time! His essays are like a DiMaggio running catch, so smooth and simple one thinks it must be easy to write in that style.

Good description, Yeti. Hill made it look easy, but 99.9% of all outdoor writers would tell you that to write as well as he did is VERY hard!

Wasn't one of the books he wrote something like "Angels Flying Low" about woodcock hunting? I have never personally read any of his work but probably should. Was he an avid upland hunter or was his favorite bird the woodcock?

LD-

Thank you for your note. I responded, but for some reason my email kicked back to me as undeliverable.


Anyway, I would appreciate any info you would be kind enough to pass along.

As I said in earlier post, I'm interested in this gun because it may be one of a kind. I'm very interested in guns by Hussey (Lang & Hussey, H.J. Hussey, Harrison & Hussey, & Ogden, Smith & Hussey).

I've never seen or heard about a hammergun with the Hussey name on it.

Thanks again.

OWD

BTW: Lefevers & wild pheasants - yeah, your life is good. I'm envious. Take care.

"Angels Flying Low" is currently advertised in DGJ. Not by Hill. He and Steve Smith did a book on woodcock for the Ruffed Grouse Society: "The Whispering Wings of Autumn". Highly recommended.

Perry, Gene Hill was 'avid' in about everything he did in the realm of shooting & fishing... mostly shooting, though. Trap, skeet, upland, waterfowl, all of it and he did them all well too. Some readers here knew him personally and enjoyed his friendship. Unfortunately, I was not one of them though I have most of his books and as well as bringing a good chuckle his writing often brings a tear to my eye too.

I have "Angels Flying Low" also and it was written by Jim Tebben and illustrated by Josh Brooke Cote', son (I believe) of DGJ publisher Daniel Cote'.

Is the Hussey the gun Gene's wife shot at him?

She hit the car but missed Gene.

That's why I said shot AT, but was that the gun? A Mercedes I believe?
MMc would know, wonder where crossedchisels has been?

Several years ago, there was a Hussey hammer gun, two barrel set, fluid steel pigeon gun offered for sale at the Baltimore Show. As I recall, one set of barrels was slightly different from the other, markings or something. It was a wonderful big gun. I wonder if it's the same gun that Hill shot?

Gene's hammer gun was on sale at the Vintagers also several years ago. I may be wrong but I think Gary Downey had it. Gene was shooting here in England with me and he left the gun with me for me to make an extra pair of barrels for it. The next time I saw it was at the Vintagers.

John Foster.

Me Too-Gene Hill was the best writer of our time, with Corey Ford a close second. Best of all his best? Hard to say, but I'll go with "The Stranger" by Gene Hill and "The Road To Tinkhamtown" by Corey Ford. Loved Gene's "advice" about sneaking in a new Perrazi or Purdey.

Many years ago, when $40.00 was something to talk about, our nickel-dime-quarter three-raise limit Friday game. Ed hosted, had an old hammer double over the mantle, a late uncle left him. Ed had a red-hot night, won over $40, but his wife had the nasty habit of ransacking his wallet from time to time, so he told me he had stashed two Twenties- one in each barrel of the old beater shotgun- the one place his wife, who apparently hated guns, would ever look.

Ed came home from work, sat down, and said to his wife "Hey, Honey, did you take the old gun down from over the mantle?", as it was missing. "Nope", she replied, "I got tired of looking at it so I gave it to the trash man when he made the pickup today"..

I think Gene would have chuckled a bit at that sad but true story. Women, clever little minxes, and as the team leader said in "The Bridge On The River Kwai"- well, there's always the unexpected, isn't there..

Thanks for all the replies. Does anyone know if Mr. Hill's Hussey was a pigeon gun or a game gun?

Mr. Foster, do you remember?

Eightbore, is the Foster/Hill 2bbl set the same gun that you saw at the Balitmore show?

Or was the one you spotted another one? Was the one you save top quality and fully engraved?

Thanks again.

OWD

I have no idea whether the gun I saw at Baltimore was Gene Hill's gun. I discussed the gun with the seller and he didn't make any claims about its provenance. It was definitely a big pigeon gun with at least one set of barrels 30" or 32" and fluid steel in both sets. I tried to get a friend to buy it because I couldn't and I wanted to know where it was going to be.

WHY,? did his wife shhot at him?

OWD. The gun I rebarreled for Gene was a pigeon gun a very nice one with full engraving. When I saw the gun again at the Vintagers it didn't look so good, it had a broken stock that was poorly repaired. A friend of mine that was with me at the Vintagers asked me to look at the gun for him and I told him that it was Gene's. When I told my friend that he remembered it from when he shot with Gene and I in England about 25 years ago.It's a small world.

Mr. Hill's Hussey hammer pigeon gun is alive and well. It was back in action at Hausman's Great Northeast SXS shoot and the Fall Southern SXS this year. It was sold by Griffin & Howe a decade ago and changed hands this past year. It looks in fine shape, though with a replacement stock. The original stock is being looked at for restoration. It has 31" original long chamber barrels and 28" modern proofed barrels. Hill wrote a chapter entitled "Hammers" about the gun in his book A Listening Walk.

The chapter was also reprinted in Field & Stream: http://books.google.com/books?id=6v3PyL--_GIC&pg=PA15&dq=%22gene+hill%22+hammers&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nas7Uu-tEI7u8ASF4oGADA&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22gene%20hill%22%20hammers&f=false

The artist's sketch in the article doesn't really look like the gun, which has very fine scroll engraving.

Not long before my son was born in Feb. of 1983, I boxed up all my Gene Hill books and mailed them to him along with a quart of Va Gentleman bourbon,some Peychard bitters and a long letter. ( There were nine of them, some purchasedi in the early 70's) He returned them along with a hand written letter. They all had personal inscriptions such as " To TM, the greatest shot in the Confredacy". They reside on my " special" book shelf along with my other personally inscribed books. I communicated several times with his widow who was working with a friiend in Selma who had country sport books at the time. She promised me one of his pipes but I never pursed it,much to my regret.

There was a Hussey gun for sale last year on Gunbroker with two barrels like the one described. I bid over 8k on it but ended up losing the auction. There was another Hussey hammer gun a yera ago at Jaquas for sale. I beleive I know where it is and the dealer who has that one. I remember looking at that one in person at an event. It needed some work and was quite heavy if I remember correctly.

DGM showed me and several others this gun at a Virginia Vintagers event this summer. At the time I did not know its provenance. Very nice gun. Makes me want one too.

Very interesting thread, this is the kind of thing I like to see on here.

DLH