doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Rebounding Hammers ?

Anyone know when the first rebounding hammers were introduced...and who perfected them ?

Page 149 of Greener's "The Gun and its Development" has this: "About 1866, the rebounding lock was introduced, and it was further improved in 1869". Doesn't say by whom. I have to imagine it wasn't by Greener or he would have bragged about it.
jl

Try "Crudgington & Baker Vol. 1&2"The British Shotgun"1850-1890. Its got 'Corking Info'Lots of Jolly Old Brit Inventions,Baker is the best with all those Patent's and his Vol 3 is near to Publication,(That the Word down at the Pub "The Queens Legs")..But I'm sure Michael Petrov will have the answer before we know it!! (By the way MP. many thanks for the James Woodward Pat. Drawing. I have framed it with the "Grip")....Slow day in the Workshop!!)cc/dt

Stanton in 1867, further perfected under another Stanton patent in 1869.

From The British Shotgun, V 1, C &B (as note by Mr. T).

Lots of non-rebounders were converted,too. It was a pretty common thing to do.

OWD

OWD has it pegged.
Good to see that he is on the ball and here.
Nice to see that he gives Mr.T. credit. What would the shotgun world do without his having archived the history that he was/is so much a part of?
Best,
John

A recent article in Shooting Times gives the initial patent to William Bardell and William Powell from Aston, Birmingham, with patent No. 2287 of 6 September 1866.

The article goes on to say:

"However, Stanton undoubtedly takes the credit for the type of rebounding lock almost universally adopted by the English gun trade and found on most hammerguns encountered nowadays. Stanton produced three designs.

The first, No. 49 of 8 January 1867, received only provisional protection and used an external spring to lift the hammer to half-cock. Very shortly after this he secured a second patent, No. 367 of 9 February 1867, in which the hammer is returned to half-cock by the mainspring. This he achieved by lengthening one limb of the mainspring the top in a bar-action lock and the bottom in a back-action lock — off which the tumbler bounces. And it was this design that was widely adopted, appearing in both new guns and as conversions to existing locks. In his third patent, No. 3774 of 30 December 1869, Stanton reverses the location of the projections on the mainspring limbs for bar-action and back-action locks, adding a characteristic curve to the end of the spring".

The full article can be seen at:

http://www.shootingtimes.co.uk/features/125060/Reviving_the_trend_for_hammerguns.html

Ian Forrester

Some Stanton goodies courtesy of CC



John Stanton locks
TOP - Small Rebounding lock LOWER - Large NON-Rebounding lock See http://www.wolverhampton-gunlocks.fslife.co.uk/

What brought the question up was my recent purchase of a 1871 Scott with rebounding Stanton marked locks. A fellow I shoot with has an unmarked British hammer gun that came out of Australia complete with the Kangaroo on the butt plate.
There is no way to age his gun because it is not marked by a maker.
We were talking and he thought his gun older than the Scott. I wasn't sure on the patent dates for rebounding locks but figured it was shortly before the production date of my Scott.
Thanks for the info.

Check out these locks off a Scott Premier:

[url="http://www.hunt101.com/?p=465584&c=500&z=1"][/url]


OWD

Are they maker marked or just serial numbered ?





Here's some non-rebounding J. Brazier locks on a John Blissett muzzle loader I used to own.
Alot of similarity with the Scott.