16ga.com ~ View topic

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2350 Location: West MI

Welcome aboard! All good info so far and I'll add (if I missed it being mentioned) if all you have is the internet and pictures to shop with. Make certain whatever you purchase has an inspection/return clause included in the description. And ask the seller if it is truly an inspection period not a "I'll accept returns only if it was grossly under or miss described" return period. That gets into grey water that can cause trouble especially if you're looking at older doubles that need an experienced trained eye to tell if decent and safe to shoot.

Do you have a shooting club nearby? If so you could go and talk with the proprietors or some members who might be generous enough to share their sxs's with you or maybe they host a vintagers shoot where a bunch of sxs's show up. Gunshows anytime soon in your area?

Again welcome aboard, best of luck in your hunt...

Joined: 24 Nov 2013 Posts: 77 Location: Glendale AZ

Not hammer guns but fun. There are bargains out there.
Here in Az I see many deals on 16ga SXS's
Lefever Nitro Specials all over for 5-6 hundred. They are stout guns.
I bought a nice Springfield 16ga SXS for $200.00 at a gun show a few mo's ago. Had a crack in the stock but I was able to repair it easily.
Spend a little more and you might find a Fox Sterlingworth 16ga for a grand or so.

(Ugh, I don't believe that I wasn't logged in - so I get to rewrite my reply)

I find this to be an interesting topic - as our friend just recently divested of an old 16 GA hammer gun and I can honestly say none of us was sad to see it go, including him.

I don't recall any particulars of that gun except that it was a high quality gun that was over a hundred years old with short chambers that needed restoration when he bought it. He spent the price of a modern good quality field gun between the purchase price and restoration costs, and it was in the shop for a while being brought back from wall hangar status.

He too was reliant on RST for short chamber/low chamber pressure ammo. To me that's like buying a REALLY old car that only runs on naphtha.

Now let's talk about its application on pheasants. It would be unsafe to walk around with the hammers cocked - so that pretty much rules out wild unexpected flushes.

Which brings us to working over dogs - and there are two types of field dogs: flushers and pointers. Flushers flush birds, so that is akin to snap shots, you might pull it off once, or twice, or even a few times but eventually that's going to get old.

Which brings us to pointers - which would be the only ethical application I can think of.

Which brings us to the next question - would you be shooting over your dog(s), or somebody else's ?

If it's your dog, then have it and disregard any negativity I may infer.

If you plan to hunt over someone else's dog(s) - listen up.

My buddy and I have the price of a good used car invested in our two English Setters. They are beloved family members, incredibly focused athletes, venerated hunting companions, and esteemed members of our extended hunting party. Because they are the wondrous creatures that they are we enjoy the zenith of the upland hunting experience and can thereby jokingly tolerate the "44 weeks off with pay" of the off season.

So when it came to the topic of our buddy shooting over our dogs with his hammer gun I cringed and my buddy outright refused.

Upland hunting is a vigorous endeavor, akin to a gunfight. Its difficult enough with a modern gun. If you study the sport you will see that there are specifically made upland guns which offer faster handling than typical "general purpose duck & pheasant blasters". With that hammer gun you'd be like Wild Bill Hickok armed with a cap & ball revolver taking on a group of well-armed modern day terrorists - you might get lucky, but odds are you aren't.

The reality is you'd be buying the equivalent of a hundred year old Ford Model T and trying to use it as a daily driver for highway commute.

As nostalgic as it maybe don't do it.

Joined: 22 Jan 2015 Posts: 345

I love hammer guns and Simpson Ltd has a fantastic inventory to browse. Whether Damascus or not, look for "bright, shiny bores" in the item description. After you purchase, obtain 50 rounds of RST 9's and get yourself a lesson with a pro, should be around $80 for 1 hour. I prefer a female instructer since she doesn't act like a know-it-all. My experience with 16's has been a work in progress - each gun a different chapter with its own meaning and purpose. It may take time but will be worth it.
Best,
Jamie

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Joined: 20 Jan 2015 Posts: 59

under the gun section is an old bayard for sale in your range and for me the RST shells are cheaper including shipping that buying at the store. Check vintage doubles and Laib gunsmith in Minnesota can tighten up an old action easy enough. I like the intrigue of hammer double but say you may want to start with something else first, lets face it you can have just one shotgun. As with anything get whats comfortable for you and that you enjoy.. also I find that the older guns tend to be lighter also my old 16 is still a touch under albs with 29.5 barrels thats within ounces of my 28

Check out the Spaniah guns on Simpson like this Laurona without hammers:
http://www.simpsonltd.com/product_info.php?products_id=26009

Joined: 14 Oct 2011 Posts: 110 Location: Eastern Washington

Sound advice from the members of this forum. Another non-hammer gun option to consider is a post war german side by side. Modern stock dimensions, solid build and reliable. Cabelas has a Simson BLNE in good condition made in 1951 for a reasonable (and probably negotiable) price.

Evidently I've been doing it wrong with hammer guns for 45 years...still haven't shot a dog and always took a share of the birds. Upland bird hunting is relaxing. Hunting elk & sheep at 9000 ft. plus is a vigorous endeavor but I probably did that wrong too using an 1874 Sharps hammer gun.

Joined: 19 Feb 2009 Posts: 85 Location: mo

I would suggest doing everything possible to up your budget. This will make buying a decent gun much easier. If you can save $500, then you can certainly save up $750-$1K. It might take another year or two of saving but $10 here $20 there adds up. You can use the time for research.