doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Grip safeties in 1875? 16 bore Dickson

There was a pretty and interesting John Dickson hammer double auctioned last month. In addition to be a high quality 16 gauge gun, #1 of a pair built in 1875, it also has a grip safety. You don't see many of these, or at least I don't. Anyone have an older double with a grip safety?

You see the a lot on percussion guns but not so much on breech loaders. The Dickson is very fine example.

I very much like the lines of the Dickson, and the shape of the hammers, which seem similar to percussion rifles by Alexander Henry.

Drew, thank you for the link to the other thread. Excellent reading.

Regards,
Chris

A grip safety on a hammergun makes perfect sense to me (now) and would be a huge benefit to anyone trying to hunt the uplands with an "eared" gun. Something I'd never fully considered before and really, pretty neat.

Edit to add: A ~6lb 16-bore hammer Dickson with a grip safety would be the coolest walk-up grouse gun that I could imagine. What's the French for that..."N'est ce-pas"? What'd that gun go for BTW?

When I'm using my converted pinfire Lang on grouse, I tend to carry it cocked. Mind you, I only do this in very controlled conditions (perfect weather, level dry ground, alone, and well-rested). I'd almost consider a grip safety as good as a "regular" safety in such a situation, but I'd have to use one for a while to confirm that, of course.

It went for 1,900 EUR, so roughly 2,400 with commission, or $2500 USD. Figure another $400 to get it to the US. Under $3K for a very cool gun (assuming the wall thicknesses aren't shite.)

Damn...just what I need, another thing to look for.

Right? Isn't that the danger of looking at auctions...you find something you didn't know you needed.

Here's a thumbhole underlever Stephen Grant with a grip safety. Sold at the December 4 Rock Island Auction in 2020. Darn it.

Steel tubes (sleeved probably) but...you can't have everything, right?

The safety in most double shotguns merely blocks the triggers from tripping the sears. I am assuming most grip safeties like the ones described here are the same, i.e., they only block the triggers, and do nothing more to keep the tumbler in bent. So it seems a similar arrangement on an exposed hammer gun wouldn't do much more to prevent an accidental discharge in the event of a fall, than on a cocked hammerless gun that doesn't have intercepting sears. It would only prevent the shooter from accidentally pulling the triggers. And even intercepting sears are no guarantee against an accidental discharge.

The stalking safeties we sometimes see on exposed hammer double rifles would be an exception since they mechanically block the hammers from dropping.