doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A Brief History of the "Brush Gun"

"Brush" Anglo-French bruce "brushwood", Old North French broche, "bush, thicket, undergrowth"

Was the Winchester 1897 Brush introduced in the fall of 1897 the first "Brush Gun"? Was this a uniquely American term?

October 16, 1897 Sporting Life



Oct. 23, 1897 Sporting Life
https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/44707/rec/1
Rolla Heikes using the "latest model Winchester brush gun"

Dec. 4, 1897 Sporting Life
The latest gun which the Winchester Co. have placed on the market for sportsmen is the "Brush gun," and, as its name implies, is designed expressly for bird shooting in the field. It is a very desirable gun for this kind of shooting, owing to it light weight, strong shooting qualities, and also on account of being a magazine gun with five cartridges at command of the shooter, a feature that most successful hunters highly endorse. The gun is listed at $27, which places it within the reach of everyone.
The "Brush" gun is made with a blued frame and a 26-inch, light-weight, rolled steel cylinder bore barrel. The magazine is shorter than that of the regular Model 1897 shotgun, holding, four instead of five cartridges. The Stock is made of plain wood, unchecked, and has a small, well shaped pistol grip. It is 13 3/8 inches long, has a drop of 1 5/8 inches at the comb, and 2 1/2 inches at the heel, and is finished with a rubber butt plate.

The "Takedown" Model was introduced in 1898
https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/45796/rec/7

July 23, 1898 Sporting Life



Recreation, 1899
https://books.google.com/books?id=ytyfAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PR29&lpg
Ithaca Brush Gun?? Was this listed in Ithaca catalogs?

No mention of a "brush gun" in Henry Sharp, The Gun: Afield & Afloat, 1904
http://books.google.com/books?id=BFRDAAAAIAAJ

Forest & Stream, 1906
https://books.google.com/books?id=r0gcAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA928&lpg
Greener Crown Quality Ejector, Westley Richards, Newman & Ithaca "Brush" guns for sale. Did that just mean shorter barrels and open chokes?

In 1909 Baker Gun & Forging Co. offered the Batavia Brush with 26-inch Twist barrels and a straight-grip stock at $24.

No mention of a "brush gun" George Bird Grinnell, American Game-bird Shooting, 1910
http://books.google.com/books?id=bZcyAAAAMAAJ

February 24, 1912 Sporting Life Parker Brush Gun? Was this ever listed in a Parker catalog?
"the finest brush gun made."



Outdoor Recreation, 1918
"Parker Brush Gun"
https://books.google.com/books?id=0Hs7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA379&lpg

Hunter Arms never had a "Brush Gun" but initially the Skeet Special was called the L.C. Smith "Skeet Upland Special", with double triggers, pistol grip stock, and splinter forend.

The A.H. Fox Skeeter was introduced in 1931 and the Sterlingworth Skeet and Upland in 1935, with automatic ejectors, Fox-Kautzky selective single trigger, beavertail forend, recoil pad, and ivory beads. Savage later offered a Sterlingworth Ejector Brush.

In 1937, the Stevens No. 500 Skeet Single Trigger Double Barrel Hammerless Shotgun was introduced with either 26- or 28-inch barrels in 12 and 16 gauges and 26-inch barrels in 20 gauge with "special Skeet boring for Skeet, Brush or Upland Shooting."

Any British or Continental "Brush Guns", or just Churchill's XXV with open chokes?
Were swamp rib French guns, possibly with "canon raye dispersant" chokes referred to as "brush guns" or just Fusil Bécasse?

1929 "Upland With the Shotgun", H.G. Wilson
"20 gauge brush gun"
https://books.google.com/books?id=q0TlAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA11-PA38&lpg

Drew, the French "becassier" models certainly fit the description. Either OU or sxs. I have a Verney-Carron catalog from about 20 years ago showing a 12ga OU with 61cm barrels, weight of 2.5 kg. The "Grand Becassier". Bottom barrel canon raye dispersant, top with choke tubes. They are especially designed for woodcock hunting, but I think they could be called "brush guns". Similar guns also available from Italian makers.

A hunting buddy has one of the Baker brush guns hanging on a wall at his house, along with an LC Smith. Both are 16s with twist barrels.
There was a different Baker brush, also a 16, with swivels and a sling, at a few shows, most of a decade ago.
They are nice handling guns, but, I wouldn�t be in any hurry to make it mine. Very low grade.

Best,
Ted

The Baker Brush model was one of their Batavia lines. As such it lacked the draw bolt & firing pin blocks of the higher grade Baker lines. I have had a couple of the Batavia guns over the years, a 12 gauge Batavia Special & a 16 ga Black Beauty, both with steel barrels. Even though on the low end of the Totem Pole as far as Bakers go, they're not bad guns. Certainly well above the myriad of JABC's which infiltrated the country in the same era.

This illustration of the Baker Batavia Brush appears in Charles Askins, The American Shotgun, 1921
https://books.google.com/books?id=fYsoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA87



April 1912 Hunter - Trader - Trapper
https://books.google.com/books?id=Uy7OAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA81

"The latest Batavia model..."



Batavia Brush is on the 1908 Price List

Huh??? From 1911 to the end of production the 26-inch barrel Sterlingworth was referred to as "Brush". When the Sterlingworth was introduced by the bogus The Sterlingworth Co. in 1910 there were two versions -- a heavy gun with 30-inch barrels called "Standard" and a lighter weight gun with 28-inch barrels called "Field". When the Sterlingworth was added to the A.H. Fox Gun Co. 1911 "Campfire" catalog the 26-inch barrel "Brush" was added to the offerings. From the A.H. Fox Gun Co. "Campfire" Catalogue No. 24 (1911) --





The 32-inch barrel Sterlingworth Trap was added by 1913 --



Any of them - Brush, Field, Standard or Trap - could be had with extractors as a Sterlingworth Brush, Sterlingworth Field, Sterlingworth Standard or Sterlingworth Trap, or with ejectors as a Sterlingworth Ejector Brush, Sterlingworth Ejector Field, Sterlingworth Ejector Standard or Sterlingworth Ejector Trap.

The straight grip and skeet choked (skeet cylinder and quarter choke) Fox-Sterlingworth Skeet & Upland Game Gun was introduced in 1935 with 26-inch barrels. It was a double trigger, plain extractor gun, but it could be ordered with most any of the regular options -- ejectors, Fox-Kautzky Single Selective Trigger, beavertail forearm, twin ivory sights and a recoil pad.



By 1937 the Fox-Sterlingworth Skeet & Upland Game Gun was also catalogued with 28-inch barrels and the twin ivory sights had become part of the package.

Thanks for the correction Dave.

Hopefully Bro. Walt can clarify if Ithaca listed a "Brush" gun, or if it was simply a descriptive term

So far it appears Baker G&F offered the first named U.S. "Brush" double

Not brush, but nothing tougher than early season standing corn. This fella appears to have surrendered, and lost his gun and dog

A.B. Frost, "A Snap Shot at Woodcock" Harper's Weekly 1897