There is always a lot of talk among sportsmen who enjoy shooting older guns about the merits of various actions. One hot topic is the speed of the loading-firing cyscle.
Some guns, it is claimed, are too slow or fiddly to be practical on driven shoots. So, here at the Vintage Gun Journal we decided to test the realities of these claims. How many driven pheasants can be shot in one minute using various types of action and lock combination?
The first test features the type of gun many sportsmen would have been using from the mid 1860s to the mid 1870s. It is a W. Thorn, 12-bore hammer gun, made in 1874 with non-rebounding bar locks and a Jones patent (1859) rotary under-lever with screw-grip.
Testing was carried out at the Griffin Lloyd Shooting Ground in Powys, Wales, using Express 21g loads and the targets were medium driven pheasant pairs.
Published by Vintage Guns Ltd on (modified )
