Harnser Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 I first shot a shot gun when I was about 12 years old . The first gun I ever shot was a westly richards hammer gun . This gun belonged to my mates grandfather and was kept in the shed on his allotment . The said gun can only be described as an old nail as it had a 4 inch split along the right barrel and the hammer had been removed to prevent that barrel being fired . The left barrel was badly pitted throught out the whole lenth of the tube and dibnt have a firing pin . We used to carry a nail in a match box for a firing pin and poke it into the firing pin hole prior to shooting ,cock the hammer and hope the nail didnt fall out . My mates grandfather had a smiths crisp tin full ofpaper cartridges that said home guard stamped on the head but unfortunately all the print had come off the tubes and we never knew what cartridge we were loading into the gun . There were slugs ,game cartridges , tracers ,ssg .Lg and some that had the shot inside a tube made from wire what the hell they were for i dont know . We used to go down to the ozzy -carr and shoot ducks and rabbits . We never knew what type of cartridge we had loaded in the gun ,what the hell it was fun and we are both very lucky not to have this gun let go on us . I shudder when I think back to shooting this old nail . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Nice story Harnser, I like the idea of things being easier going back in the day. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennym Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 (edited) HA laugh out loud...... I don't write to many post but read PW just about every day....... You Harnser, although I dont really know you, are on my select list of A) People who obviously know what there doing B ) People whom I would ask advice off C)People who seam to be responsible & of good judgment in the gun world that scribbling sound is your name been scored from my list....... Edited February 15, 2010 by kennym Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted February 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 On reflection the gun was proberbly stronger than a hatson escort . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beretta28g Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Dontya mean HAT STAND escort Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Not in the same league, but I had to take a picture of this proper 'keepers gun' I saw the other day. I didn't shoot it, I didn't even want to be near it when it was fired but it seemed to do the job OK. You can't see the stock but it really is held together with gaffer tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philm Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Stood next to a farmer who got a 410 that had been stood in barn for 10 years, didn't clean it, loaded it and fired it into ground. didn't even give us time to move away, **** my self. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beretta28g Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Whats the matter with it theres years more life in that! My Old Lanbers near Sh2222d after 15000 rounds. whereas the old baikal stillas good as new, that will still be being used in 100 years time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted February 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 It looks like a porch gun stuart . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christy Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Hanrser I am with you. My mate Ronnie built a 410 from a tube. 1977. Welded a handle on, drilled a hole to put the fuse in, emptied the shot and powder in and...BANG. His first experiments were to say the least- dangerous. One day, I got to his place and his face was covered in blood. He had a great big grin... Later he set up a cord pull system, whereby, he could stand in one outbuilding, the gun (ho-ho), in another and simply pull a string-we all ducked and...survived. That was progress. Happy silly days. The man was a maniac or genius, but great fun to be around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 On reflection the gun was proberbly stronger than a hatson escort .Harnser . Is that because it was made from metal instead of cardboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune82 Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Years ago a friend had a gun that neede getting rid of, old farm gun in a barn type thing i think. It was a single barrel and was rusted and pitted to hell! Anyway he thought a good thing to to was to crimp the barrel shut in a vice, tie it to a plough, tie a piece of string to the trigger, load her up hide and yank the string! Anyway when he yanked the string there was one hell of a boom and we went to investigate only to find the shot had opened the barrel out again!!! Couldnt believe it was still in one piece after what we are warned about with snow / mud etc! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmaxphil Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 harnser nice to hear boys were aloud to be boys then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bb Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 harnser nice to hear boys were aloud to be boys then I bet you played with weedkiller and sugar as well............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted February 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 I bet you played with weedkiller and sugar as well............... Yes . and we played with the girls as well . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter-peter Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 I first shot a shot gun when I was about 12 years old . The first gun I ever shot was a westly richards hammer gun . This gun belonged to my mates grandfather and was kept in the shed on his allotment . The said gun can only be described as an old nail as it had a 4 inch split along the right barrel and the hammer had been removed to prevent that barrel being fired . The left barrel was badly pitted throught out the whole lenth of the tube and dibnt have a firing pin . We used to carry a nail in a match box for a firing pin and poke it into the firing pin hole prior to shooting ,cock the hammer and hope the nail didnt fall out . My mates grandfather had a smiths crisp tin full ofpaper cartridges that said home guard stamped on the head but unfortunately all the print had come off the tubes and we never knew what cartridge we were loading into the gun . There were slugs ,game cartridges , tracers ,ssg .Lg and some that had the shot inside a tube made from wire what the hell they were for i dont know . We used to go down to the ozzy -carr and shoot ducks and rabbits . We never knew what type of cartridge we had loaded in the gun ,what the hell it was fun and we are both very lucky not to have this gun let go on us . I shudder when I think back to shooting this old nail . Harnser . when we where kids we made 410s out of 1/2 inch steel conduit we screwed a socket onto the threaded end plugging it with a bit of steel bar and solder drilling a hole through the middle to take a 2 inch nail, then mounting it on an old airifle stock fastened down with hoseclips. the hammer was made of wood and fastened with a hinge to the stock with an elastic band attached we had to screw the barrel out to load a cart. we fired by pulling the hammer back with our thumbs we had a lot of rabbit pie back in those days. The same gun today would get you 5 years.in pokey. but back in the 50's nobody bothered us. we roamed the fields as free es a bird so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobba Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 At 16 yrs of age (1959!!) I acquired a .455 which took rimless cartridges. No ammo was available. In those days .410 catridges were cardboard / spun paper? so with a razor I was able to both shorten the cartridge and reduce the thickness of the front end to enter rebated chamber. The load was the counter weight from piano keys broken up for scout jumble sale. and as the gun took rimless cartridges I filed away the backplate to accept the .410's. As in a previous post, I too tied the gun to a tree, cocked the hammer, tied a long piece of string to the trigger and pulled from a great distance. Yippeee. It was really good. Wild Bill Hickock of Bristol. The only problem was the projectile was smaller than the bore so it spiralled out of the barrell and you were likely to hit someon in the next field or county, it was so inaccurate. But great fun at 16. Kept the gun for years, then took advantage of the amnesty C'est La Vie Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 A chap a shoot with a couple of times a year has an old side by side .410 that's held together with gaffer tape. I've used it a couple of times and it's always held together but the more I think about it the more I cringe at the thought! I bet you played with weedkiller and sugar as well............... Hmm. You can get in a lot of trouble with that stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune82 Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 Has anyone actually seen or heard of an old gun such as these letting go? Only time I have seen a gun blow up was when someone loaded a duff hand load and the gun was an o/u in perfect condition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floating Chamber Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 It was 1962; I was 15. It was a double 14 bore back-action side-lever B'Ham trade gun. The striker threads were worn, so Evo-Stik and cotton was used to build up the threads. The stock/action had a Cornflake box shim to fill the gap but it would still move a quarter inch each way at the barrel ends. The ammunition I used was 16 gauge, but I had to wrap thin paper round each shell before I went shooting so that the shells did not pass through the extractors. JESUS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackinbox99 Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Christ, makes my childhood of sitting in front of a telly playing with my Sinclair ZX81 seem really boring in comparison to some of the tales on here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Some posts have been removed, please don't post bomb making anecdotes (with details) on the Forum. ZB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuck. Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet boy Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 I would love to shoot a 50 Cal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeh Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 I would love to shoot a 50 Cal! It's disapointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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