doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com History of early grip safety

Manton percussion and possibly flintlock guns have surfaced with a grip safety allowing the gun to stay on safety at full cock until the shooter's hand grips the wrist releasing the safety. I have read somewhere that this was not Joe or John Manton's patent but was a safety that they occasionally used. Does anyone know who patented this early grip safety? Thanks.

Rich, I have no idea who came up with the grip safety but here is mine. I believe the gun was likely made by Alexander Wilson who worked for Joe Manton but left to go into business for himself. Obviously it is a late flint gun, likely from the 1820’s. The safety is sort of neat but the “flaw” is that when the gun is carried normally—the right hand around the wrist and left on the forend I find myself inadvertently squeezing the grip safety, rendering it useless. But it’s a nice touch and since mine is a self priming flinter it sure adds a bit of safety while loading even though the gun is supposed to be on half cock.

I realize the following is much later but it contains the >>Manton<< central theme:





So the Belgians adopted Manton's novel addition.

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https://www.doublegunshop.com/forum...;Words=clinch&Search=true#Post597076

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

The grip safety is an interesting appendage, but in use it's just plain silly for reasons given by Joe Wood.

Thanks for the information. Although silly to carry a gun with this kind of grip safety in the field for the reason given by Joe Wood, the mechanism could have been useful in a duck blind. You could lean the gun against the wall of the blind at full cock waiting for the ducks to decoy. Picking it up to swing and in the process gripping the wrist and releasing the safety would be natural in that setting. I say this because I have seen this grip safety on an 8 1/2 lb. John Manton duck gun (a flintlock conversion) with shackles for a strap to carry the gun likely back and forth to a blind.

Thanks for this post: very interesting!

I've seen this feature on a coupe of percussion guns that Kirby Hoyt had for sale, and on a gun I tried to bid on at Amoskeag auctions. It's certainly interesting. Never actually seen one live though.

Here is a scan of some pictures of a Charles Lancaster .500 ML conversion I sold a few years ago with a grip safety. It was a wonderful gun. I had better pics but cannot find them right now.
Steve

There was a Parker with a grip safety floating around a few years ago. I don't remember seeing a PGCA letter on that gun. My opinion is that it was a retrofit.

I own and have held other Stephen Grant shotguns from the 1890 to 1910 era with grip safeties in hammer and hammerless configurations.