Grave Robber Gun**id help needed**Spring-Gun

jpc

jpc

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Hello:

Trying to do some research on this piece and having trouble coming up with the proper name. Is it:
1) Poacher Gun
2) Grave Robber Gun
3) Man Trap Gun
One inch bore and flares to inch and a half!!!
Appreciate your help.

take care

jpc
ps: I cannot make out the markings on the lock

flinttrap.jpg
 
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looks like a door alarm gun check out dixie gun works they have some stuff like that.
 
it is designed to be stuck in the ground not on a door/coffin. The way the mounting point is centered in the trip wire mechanism means as the victim travels forward with the cat gut on thier ankle the gun will pivot and follow them so it discharges at them and not behind them. Nasty. Not just an 'alarm' gun but something designed to maim/inflict gangarene.

The way the lock is inletted it appears to be missing a cover or some form of weather proofing. The wood on top would be extraneous if a cover was not intented.

An example of humanity at it's worst to be sure. Pity the starving orphan that comes to steal an apple.
 
I have very little experience with this kind of device as a whole...BUT look at that lock, looks like its from a original India pattern bess "or like pattern at least" ..and in nearly perfect condition.

With that design feature are we dating the unit....or at least the lock to around 1780-1812 ish...????

All in all a really excellent and interesting item.
 
A set gun for a bear maby.
They used to set traps with weird guns like this, the bear tugs on the meat and Blam no more face if the thing was loaded with scrap metal ect it would blind and maim whatever it shot at.
I think it could be a polar bear set gun.
 
the wood looks old but the lock looks surprisingly bright for a gun that was presumably left out as a booby trap. From somewhere dry (semi desert) perhaps. I think that places like Pakistan and Afghanistan kept salvaging and reusing parts long after they were originally made

cheers mooncoon
 
I think the Tundra is kinda dry eh. i never been there but i feel stuff wouldnt rust fast there unless it was close to the salt chuck.
I could be compleatly wrong to. but i think its something used in the far north.
 
What ever it is I like it .Old and obscure a great addition to any collection a real conversation piece
 
the wood looks old but the lock looks surprisingly bright for a gun that was presumably left out as a booby trap.
Click to expand...

The lock would have been completley encased in a cover, which may account for the rusted barrel bands and not the lock. The cover likely extended down below the trigger mechanism so that it did'nt get caught up in the muskeg (for Dingus).

I think it looks a little too well fashioned to have been an improvised hunting gun and is definetly not strong enough on the mount to stand being pushed into anything other then soft ground. It is a man blaster IMHO
 
PM'd to me from a fellow CGN'r--appreciated very much and shared with all :)

"As you suggest, your gun is referred to as a "grave robber gun" or a "Poachers gun".
I found very similiar examples of these in two books I have.
1-Encyclopedia of Firearms refers to it in both terms.

2- Firearms Curiosa which gives a more detailed discussion of these guns in reference to their use in deterring grave robbers in the late 1700's-early 1800's.
The lines running out from these guns to set them off were referred to as "springs" and thus they were referred to as "spring guns".
The use of these guns in England was outlawed in 1827."
 
jpc said:
PM'd to me from a fellow CGN'r--appreciated very much and shared with all :)

"As you suggest, your gun is referred to as a "grave robber gun" or a "Poachers gun".
I found very similiar examples of these in two books I have.
1-Encyclopedia of Firearms refers to it in both terms.

2- Firearms Curiosa which gives a more detailed discussion of these guns in reference to their use in deterring grave robbers in the late 1700's-early 1800's.
The lines running out from these guns to set them off were referred to as "springs" and thus they were referred to as "spring guns".
The use of these guns in England was outlawed in 1827."
Click to expand...

Looks like that member was right about Spring Gun!

727px-Spring_gun.jpg
 
Man traps were still used in southern England up until the early 1900s from what I have heard. I knew a fellow that took his military training there and they were warned not to stray into the woods because of the risk of stumbling into an abandoned man trap. The traps were set to deter escaping prisoners and he described them as being vaguely like bed springs with huge spikes to impale the unlucky escapee. Most were removed when the prison closed but there was considered to be a risk of some that had been forgotten

cheers mooncoon
 
I wonder if these things are the reason that building cannons is limited to fuse ignition only,no match locks,flint or percussion are currently allowed from what have been told????:eek:
That is a very interesting if somewhat hideous firearm.
 
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