doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hammerguns are trouble, darn it.

Hammerguns? There’s always this option:

https://www.purdey.com/products/sidelock-hammer-ejector

I didn't see a price? I'm expecting it to be rather shocking.

It is truly the most wonderful shotgun being made today. However, Purdey doesn't understand that a proper pigeon gun, hammer or hammerless, does not have ejectors. My hammer Purdey pigeon gun and my proper Parker pigeon guns, hammer and hammerless, are extractor guns. There is nothing less elegant than a shooter in the ring opening his gun and mindlessly allowing the empties to hit the ground behind him. I am making an assumption that the new Purdey hammer gun is a pigeon gun. Of course it is. Who would order a new Purdey hammer gun in any other specification than a long barrel twelve gauge? I can't imagine why they left off the clipped fences. They probably also deleted the third fastener, both of which would have been less costly than the superfluous ejectors. Oh, well, what do you expect for a hundred grand? Oh my gosh, I just noticed. The hundred grand Purdey has a safety. Those wild and crazy Brits can't do anything right.

Parabola: Imgur is becoming painful to use (damn-it all) but I figured out a workaround. "Free" always seems to have a downside.

So...the Brits never built a boxlock hammer?

Lloyd, whilst I have seen British boxlock percussion pistols with side hammers I can’t think of a British side hammer boxlock breech loading shotgun.

No doubt someone will be along shortly to correct me.

Parabola: I'm not surprised. There might be some provincial maker (or two) that turned out a few boxlock guns, but by the time that the Anson and Deeley design was "free and available", hammers were well on their way out of fashion. Easier to build on the established patterns by that point anyway (for the few holdouts that still preferred them).

I think the same thing holds true on this side of the pond as well. I believe Ithaca was it here, with perhaps the occasional "hardware store" variants floating around. Smith never made them as a boxlock, nor Parker, and certainly not Fox or Lefever. Crescent perhaps, and possibly a few others in that vein, but not many.

Edit to add: now watch and see what turns up. Likely to be European (& mostly Germanic).

Not likely to matter much at this point in time, Lloyd. Hammerless sidelocks are just hammer guns with the hammers on the inside.

Best,
Ted

I personally prefer hammer guns and they are showing up much more at reasonable prices.

I had a Stevens 235 that was a box look hammer sxs like the Ithaca shown. It too had heavy barrels on the chamber end but they were steel barrels. Like a fool my tile guy was a gun nut and I swapped it for the tile work on my fireplace.

I just pick up a pristine supposedly an AyA built sxs hammer 12ga from the 1950s. Spanish proofs and well made. Bluing, case color and stock look nearly new, even the rear trigger is contoured for a right handed shooter. Greener cross bolt, double under lugs and side clips. I need to see if any of the marks on the barrels and receiver flats confirm the AyA heritage.

My very first sxs (1965) was a hammer 16ga.

I have a hard time resisting them.

I still need to find a unique Belgium hammer sxs probably an under lever of some kind. I have Swedish, Italian, German, and Spanish hammer sxs hanging in man nook(small house).

Oscar: Thank you, Stevens 235 eh? I figured there'd be a few variants over here, but not many.

That AyA will be a sidelock gun.

They just keep following me home. 1887 Grade 1, Fishtail, English stock, F/IM, 30-inch twist tubes, 2 5/8 chambers, 7lbs6.

Not fancy (& it could stand a proper cleaning) but seemingly sound and ready to go afield. Should be fun in the Dakotas (& elsewhere).

That makes four of them here now. Colorado's recently-restrictive gun laws can all go hang.

A very light English gun (Lang), this Parker at mid-weight, my D Grade Smith is heavier (7lbs12?), and then the 9lb plus double-breech Ithaca NIG; one for every application.