doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com New AyA Hammer Gun

Griffin & Howe is currently taking orders for a Purdey 12 gauge hammergun selling for 48,500 pounds sterling. There is a 2 year waiting period. Notice, the price is not denominated in greenbacks. Purdey plans to do a run of 20s and 28s in the future. They will cost more, I assume.

JKBvF

The gun is correctly made without safety. The safety on high quality Italian guns not only looks like a goose turd on a collard leaf, but it is not functionally correct. Even a self cocking hammer gun should be made without a safety like hammer guns have been made for way more than a century. A more interesting feature would be a self cocking hammer gun that could be made to cock to full cock or half cock by manipulating a selector. I have no interest in hunting with a person using a fully cocked hammer gun with safety engaged. Sorry, that's just me.

Just ordered one, price will be approx $16k, specs to your choice, quality AYA No.1, Homeless Joe, I am one of your stupid people best, Mike

Eightbore, what is your reasoning for this opinion? Personally I like them with and without, but would like to hear from a "without" partisan.

I agree, 1000%, that no hammer gun should have a safety.

If a shotgunner can't learn to walk around with the hammers down, then cock them as he shoulders the gun, he doesn't need to be shooting.

A hammer gun on full cock can be fired by bumping the exposed hammer against a tree or fence post or by dropping it. The presence of a tang safety does not change this. The half cock notch is built stronger than the full cock notch to prevent just such an accident. A hammerless gun is safer than a hammer gun on full cock with safety on because there is no external hammer to be struck by a hard object. I agree with GregSY's post. We should raise exposed hammers from half cock on the flush or point. On one hundred year old hammer guns, muzzle control is very important, no mechanical device to be trusted to prevent an accidental discharge.

Eightbore, thanks, that's a well-reasoned argument against safeties on traditional hammerguns.

But doesn't that same argument obviate the existence of self-cocking hammerguns altogether?

Or, if not, it seems to leave room for a safety, as you are then faced with having a gun w/o a safety on full cock all the time, or if you have to lower it to half-cock what is the point of self-cocking in the first place? Not trying to be argumentative, rather explore an issue.

I think a self cocking hammer gun is a nice engineering exercise, and also nice for clay target or driven bird shooting. I did say that a hammer gun that selectively self cocks to half cock or full cock with a choice would be quite nice. A hammerless gun with a non automatic safety self cocks to full cock, firing position, until the shooter decides to activate the safety. So, in that situation, a hammerless non automatic safety gun is very similar to a self cocking hammer gun without a safety. Both guns should be made safe, either before closing or after closing with the muzzle clearly pointed in a safe position.

I have a 1998 12Ga SIACE self cocking ejector hammer gun that also has a manual tang safety. So far, I've used the gun on 5 Stand and Sporting Clays only. I leave the manual safety in the off position. This 27" barreled gun fits and shatters the clays nicely, if I do my part - the right barrel is choked 0.013 and the left 0.036.

When quail hunting I walk around with hammers at full cock with the action open. Seems pretty safe to me.