need idea

[etat]

I need an idea about how to display grandaddy's old double barrel shotgun in my living room.  And also an idea about how to lock it to the wall so it couldn't be easily snatched off of that wall.  When I was about 6 or so and at his house he'd let me use it to go squirrel hunting.  When I was about 7 or 8 I made the mistake of backing both hammers and of course when I pulled one of the triggers the other also went off taking me for a pretty good back flip.  He used to keep it behind the door of his bedroom.  Many's the time he'd let me get that ole gun out and clean it up and polish it up.  He brought it to my house a few weeks before he died and gave it to me.  Said he knew there'd be a fight over it and wanted me to have it.  Of course I don't hunt with it anymore and I'd like to have it out where I could display it safely, and where someone couldn't easily snatch it off the wall.  

[CHARLIE]

In my opinion, the gun should be the primary focus and not what is displaying it.  What I'd do is get a nice  board that is wider and longer than the gun and stock. Route a cove around the edges. Fasten on a couple of hangers out of the same kind of wood which would cradle the gun. To lock the gun into place, you could run some brass brazing rod over the top of the gun at both hangers. Bolt the gunrack to the wall.  Keep it simple and let the gun be the star.  You might also put a brass plaque under the gun stating it was your grandfather's gun.  You might also write a letter about your experiences with the gun, put it in an envelope and fasten the envelope to the back of the gun rack. It will be hidden but the history of the gun will be there for the next generation.    

[J_T]

Ck make you a fancey set of mounts sorty like they they got in a cop car only pertery.Them mounts don't know if they are standing up or laying down .If you got a buddy at a machine shop he could cut a peice of brass stock that the barrell fit thru and a brass pin for the trigger gaurd to slid over with a hole for a brass lock in it .I had the mecanical drawings for this in the filing cabnet with all them CFI papers I burned so I wish you the best .If you wanted to you could put these parts on a solid walnut board which if you come after I will donate to the cause

[Tom]

Hollow out a log from the side and make a great big "Shadow Box" .  The log would get light enough to hang and you could even put glass across the front to hold down the dust, etc.

You might even be able to find a really neat log.  

[J_T]

Ck you naped out on us me Charlie and Tom all sitting up poundering on this and we an't even charging you by the hour  ???

[etat]

 Sorry JT, was a loong day yesterday.   Hey guys, those are some good ideas.  Most defiantly something good to ponder over while waiting for the exact right inspiration. For some reason making and attaching it to a plaque and then bolting that plaque to the wall has never entered my ole head.  Thanks to you guys there's some ideas starting to circle around now.  Thanks!!!!!!

It'll be going on this wall just up above or to the right of the clock.  

 


The clock was my great great grandmothers, as was the mirror.  It 's a really heavy old oak framed mirror probably at one time part of a piece of furniture.  I haven't figured out where it's home is a gonna be.  The clock still keeps perfect time if you keep it all wound up. Some day I'd like to wind up with a fire place and a mantle in this spot, along with the clock and the gun.  That'll be someday later.  .

[J_T]

Ck know about the long day been to McAllen Tex and back since monday got in Wed. eving left Mon.at eleven .I would lock it on the wall and also devise a way to display a few shells with the key in a concealed place only I knew about tell avery it is only a display .Only you would know in dire need it would be handy. ;D Boy Scout be prepared 8)

[SwampDonkey]

That clock looks like one my great grand mother had too. Has a pendulum and chimes every 1/2 hour. Grand mother never wound it much because she didn't want it going bong bong bong all night up stairs in the hall. Sometimes when the old folks get asked why its not used , the response is, because its broke. Meaning they don't want to here it. Myself, I like them old wind ups. I have a Howard Miller Millenium Edition with wind up key that chimes every quarter hour. That doesn't bother me a bit and I sleep in my den downstairs in the next room from it. I also have a Bulova, but quartz, which chimes every hour in the same room and I also have a Dutch Zaan clock (Zaan is the region they are made in Holland). But the Dutch clock needs a new suspension spring. Item 23 at this site. ;)

http://members.ruralnet.org/clocks/5.html

Cktate, I know a man with your talents will figure something out to display grampa's gun. I'de like to show ya a picture of me when I was four years old holding grampa's Ithica 20 guage and a ruffed grouse in the other. Be good for some forum members to poke fun at. :D The picture is at my uncles', maybe I can sneak it out. ;)

[ARKANSAWYER]

  Honor your GrandDaddy and his shotgun by taking it hunting from time to time and share it with a younger generation.  Just last year I got my Grandpa's Browing Auto 12 Ga and this spring I took it turkey hunting.  My guess is it had not been in the woods since he died back in the 70's because my Uncle who took it before the funeral thought it would be worth millions since it was a high grade Belgin made model.  I sware the cost was worth it because I felt like some one watched me the whole hunt.  I bet Grandpa rested easier in his grave knowing that was being used for what it was made to do and will be in the family for years to come.
  You may look for a small door to mount it to since it spent so much time there it would feel at home.
ARKANSAWYER

[etat]

Thanks for the ideas.  For some reason I'd never been able to work this out.  The ideas yall throwed out is just what I needed to get my gears turning. I liked the board idea a lot but the stock is so dark on the gun I was afraid it wouldn't show like I wanted it to.  I really liked JT's idea about being able to lock it, and also be able to remove it from time to time. I especially liked the be prepared part!  I also agreed with Charlie that the gun should be the primary focus, not the mount.

SO,  this evening me and the wife did a bit of blacksmithing.  I took some pieces of square rod and heated and beated and formed me some custom hardware.  I predrilled undersized holes in studs in the wall and shot a bit of epoxy in em before driving in the mounts.  I'm pretty sure they won't be easily removed.  One of the pieces I made has a hole formed for a lock.  Tomorrow I'll either put a lock on it or build a custom made locking device for the eye.  The other curves around the barrel just enough that you have to twist the gun a certain way to hang or remove it.  Both pieces were heated and tempered before installing.  I trimmed em with some small pieces of copper. Both  were treated with Chemprime, rewarmed in the oven, allowed to cool,  and then coated with shellac.  

The gun does not have the twisted Damacus barrels and I wouldn't be afraid to shoot it.  Though not with high powered shells. The last time I did take it out was about 10 years ago dove hunting.  Made a couple of guys with Browning automatic shotguns look real bad!!!!

I really doubt I could do that now!

[SwampDonkey]

CK:

Looks like ya figured it out. You could probably get a trigger lock if it weren't too expensive. My shotgun (20 guage) has two triggers too, its not an antique but I've had it 21 years. ;) One barrel is full choke, one modified. A 20 guage doesn't have much kick and its a fairly heavy gun, which absorbs the recoil good. A friend of mine says you can't pull both triggers at once, there must be some kind of safety mechanism to prevent it. I says load it and have a try. He didn't bite. ;D

[Weekend_Sawyer]

Nice and simple, just like me! ;)

I think a nice antique lock in the trigger guard would finish it and keep someone from snatching your gun.

[J_T]

Nice shooting iron Ck glar for you that you got it .Got a few guns too , gave them all to my boy when he gets put I want him to take them with him. Need about thurty of them mounts. Just kidding my wife would stroke out.

[SwampDonkey]

It's...

....one.........two.......three strokes your out at the
... old.... gun....show :D

cheers

[isawlogs]

CK
  Nice way to honor the gun  , how old is the gun I know that you said it was your grandpap's , what make is it , I have a 20 gauge that looks a lot like that,

[etat]

It's an ole 12 guage, one barrel full choke, one modified.  I believe on one side is stamped Manchester, I can't remember what else.  I cleaned it up before I hung it up but didn't think to look.  Now thinking about checking further.  I do remember mama saying that grandaddy had traded somebody for the gun 'used' and had to ride horseback a long way to get it.  That's about the best I can remember what she said and I don't know how old he was at the time.  I know my dad said grandaddy had it when he was a kid.  

By the way, I put a lock on it today.  I wanted an really old antique lock but since I didn't have one I put an old brass craftsman lock on it.  Wasn't NO problem talking Daddy out of it when I told him what I wanted it for.  

[J_T]

Grandaddy's gun Dad's lock an't life good ??? 8)

[rebocardo]

Run 3/4 rod through the trigger, use a small piece of flat bar across the trigger guard, going over the rod, drill a hole in the rod big enough to put a shackle of a lock through.