Antique Harpoon guns

dingus

dingus

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Ya i was watching the orignal Jaws again :rolleyes: And i noticed that Quint was useing what looked like a Martini Harpoon gun.

The Action was Martini i got a couple good looks at it.
Was this a Fake or did they make Harpoon guns like that??

I would think any big bore rifle with a blank charge and the harpoon made as a tube that fit OVER the barrel then a spear tip on the end of that tube sealing it. Then a ring in there and rope to a 5 gallon drum.

They would be popular around here for seals if that were legal :D
 
They were made and they kick like a mule (I have shot one). The one that I saw used a .38 blank to power it with the blank mounted in the harpoon head and the shaft was a hollow tube. There was a long firing pin down the tube or shaft.
I think there may have been one made that took a 45-70 blank and must have been a terror to shoot.

cheers mooncoon
 
Bowie said:
Ross Seyfried wrote an article about one several years ago in "Rifle" or "Handloader" magazine.
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I saw that article!!:) From what I remember , his comment about the accuracy at 25 yards was "erratic at best, but who needs accuracy for whales?" or something to that effect!:D
Cat
 
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I have a blank cartridge in my collection taht is supposed to be a harpoon gun blank. It is sealed with wax and about the size of a 20 or 16 gauge shell, IIRC.
I don't have it in front of me right now, or i would measure it.
 
There is quite a collection of whaling gear in the museum in Pangnirtung. The museum in Iqaluit has a swivel gun from Active, out of Dundee, which was used in the Eastern Arctic. When it was recovered, it was loaded with an explosive bomb, which was removed when the gun went through the conservation process. The bombs illustrated in the link were simple devices, filled with black gunpowder, and fused with a length of fuse which was ignited by the propelling charge. Basically, harpoon guns were used to attach a line to the animal. These whaling guns could also fire a killing bomb, which replaced the lances previously used to kill the whale after it was harpooned. In the recent Eastern Arctic bowhead whale hunts, hand thrown harpoons were used to fasten lines and floats to the whaless, and explosive grenades used to kill the animal. In the last hunt, after the grenade had greviously wounded the whale, one of the hunters jumped onto it, and drove a lance down into the whale, administering the coup. From the moment this whale was sighted until it was beached took about 40 minutes. It was 54 feet long. I haven't been able to post photos, but if anyone is interested, I could email photos of the two guns used in the recent bowhead hunts.
 
Morgayne said:
This thread is useless without pictures ;)
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OK, three "screen captures" from "Jaws":

jawsmartini1.jpg

jawsmartini2.jpg

jawsmartini3.jpg


And here is a better picture of just such a cased Greener Matini-action harpoon gun:

greenerharpoongun1.jpg
 
Pics

Heres a couple pics im posting for Tiriaq

He can give discriptions for these cool Harpoon guns and his Cat :D

click on pics to enlarge


 
These guns are the ones used in the Eastern Arctic bowhead hunts. Both have been used to take whales in the last several years. The bronze shoulder gun weighs 25 pounds. It uses an 8ga turned brass blank cartridge to launch an 14" long, 1 pound explosive bomb. The second gun uses the same load, but is mounted on the end of a harpoon shaft, and it used by jabbing the whale, causing the gun to fire. You can see the trigger rod projecting from the gun. Since the pictures were taken, this gun has had a new stainless steel barrel made, bored to accept modern Norwegian grenades. These are more effective, and much safer to use. Both guns are modern reproductions of 19th century devices. They are primitive, and with the original bombs are not entirely safe to use. The bomb has a cylindrical inertial hammer, which snaps a #11 cap when the gun is fired. The flash of the cap ignites a length of fuse. Three seconds later, the bomb bursts. There is no safety mechanism in the bomb; the hammer is held in place by a piece of balsa wood, toothpick, or wooden match. There is no safety pin. Once the bomb is prepared, if it is struck firmly on its base, or the gun dropped, you have 3 seconds to decide what to do. The shoulder gun will likely never be used again, because of the unsafe nature of the bomb. The other, with its new barrel, was used to kill a 54' bowhead on the last hunt, using a Norwegian grenade. This is the unit that will be used for future hunts.
Spats is a genuine arctic cat, born in Rankin Inlet. He lived many years on Baffin Island, and does not partcularly like the Ontario summer, now that he is retired.
There is one of the blank cartridges taped to the second gun's barrel. The shoulder gun had been misfiring, and I made a new trigger for it; the other had broken its firing pin, and was in for repairs. You REALLY don't want to get lined up on a whale, and have the gun go "click".
 
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A gunsmith friend of mine used to live on Martha's Vineyard where alot of Jaws was filmed. He was able to get a good look at the Greener that was used in the fim and was given the remainder of the cartridges after the film was completed. I now have one of them in my cartridge collection.
 
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