doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hammer gun for youngsters

Starting a young 13 year old with an exposed hammer gun is a bad idea, Mark. It's asking him to do too much when the shot comes. Choose something with a safety. I don't even trust myself with a hammer gun for field use.
JR

I agree with John Roberts. A child's hands, even a 13 year old, cannot handle the exposed hammer like an adult's. Dangerous to me.

I started with a bolt action 410, which has a safety and seems safer. It was clip fed and worked most of the time while putting a new shell into the chamber.

Don't sell kids short. Kids can work computers way better than most of us. I began shooting with a hammer single and had no trouble...Geo

George, computers and guns are quite different. Many hammer guns require a certain hand size, and some hand strength.

I grew up on a small rural farm in the hills of Southern TN. I din't know what a "Skeet" was until my late teens. The first shotgun I ever shot was an H&R small frame single shot 28 gauge hammer single which belonged to an uncle by marriage, weighed 4 lb 2 oz. Next was a 16 gauge H&A hammer single of my Dad's, followed by a borrowed, from a neighbor, 20 gauge Stevens model 24 hammer single. The first shotgun I actually owned was a J Stevens Arms & Tool Co 12 gauge hammer-less double. I have never felt handicapped in any way by these early guns I shot. To this day I would much prefer to cock a hammer than use one of those "Stupid" cross trigger guard safeties. Control of the shot belongs to the thumb in my "Not Too Humble" opinion. Might as well learn right to begin with.

me too and still have mine

I can�t use a hammer double and I�ve been hunting for 60 years. It might as well be a single shot. Start a youngster with a hanmerless double with auto safety and allow him to hunt with one round only.

The problem starts when a kid has to let down the hammer on a loaded round ?

I don't know about all hammerguns, but usually dropping the hammer will not fire the gun unless the finger is still on the trigger...Geo

So, when dropping the hammer behind an unfired shell, when does the youngster take his finger off of the trigger ? Somewhere between releasing the hammer catch, but before the hammer is lowered ? Scary thought. I'll bet, too, the youngster is paying more attention to looking at the hammer during this process than where the barrel points.