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#1 |
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Southeast Florida, USA
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This is a double barrel percussion fired black powder trap gun. It dates from the mid 19th century and was likely designed to kill black bears. There is an anchor ring on one end and a barbed meat hook on the other. The barb acts as a trigger to fire the trap when it is pulled.
Animal Trap Guns were horrid devices, but being attacked by a large black bear couldn't have been much fun either. Trap guns like this one were outlawed in the United States along time ago and they are rarely seen today. Many commercially made trap guns date from same era and can be identified, but this one seems unique and handmade, has anyone seen one like it? Weight: 5 lb, 6 oz Approximate Overall Dimensions: 19" x 5" x 5" The barrels are .68 inches in diameter at the muzzle All images are copyright (c) 2016 Dana K. Williams. All rights are reserved. Last edited by dana_w; 2nd July 2016 at 12:03 AM. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Louisiana
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When I was a kid my grandfather told me about this kind of trap. As he would have had to be a teenager or thereabouts, this would have been sometime in the first decade of the 20th century that he saw it being used.
The torch weld visible in the photos tells it is from no earlier than about the third quarter of the 19th. |
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#3 | |
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Southeast Florida, USA
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
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Here, Another.
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#5 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Nov 2004
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I would think ones like Dana's example would have been popular with Cattle Ranchers back in the day.
Bait, chain to tree about 3-4 feet off the ground; one less threat to the herd. |
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#6 | |
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Location: Southeast Florida, USA
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The F. REUTH cast-iron model and a few other mass-produced Antique Trap Guns are listed in section VII-C of Flayderman's Guide, but the guide hasn't been updated in many years. https://books.google.com/books?id=7pyVTm2PibUC&lpg=PA399&dq=flayderman's%20 guide%20animal%20trap&pg=PA399#v=onepage&q=flayder man's%20guide%20animal%20trap&f=false It seems likely the one that begun this post is unique, but I'd love to find another one. There are marks on each barrel which could be proof or maker marks, but they are undecipherable to me. |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
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And...
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