Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Have you seen an Animal Trap Gun c1850 like this one?

Richard G · 15th July 2016, 01:11 PM

Guns of the type posted by Jim and Dana_w are fairly rare but not unusual in the UK where they are known as spring guns. They normally have a mechanism whereby three wires are spread out which when tripped spin the gun in that direction and fire it. They, together with man traps, were legal in the 18th and early 19 centuries as protection against poaching. Remember there is virtually no public land in the UK and game belongs to the landowner whose land it is on.
Land set with spring guns and man traps had to be signed as such, and if not the landowner could be accused of murder.
I believe both remained legal, but I imagine practically only man-traps, if used within a house at night as protection against burglary until the mid 19th Century.
Regards
Richard
PS. Have found this http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../outLXI06n.pdf

15th July 2016, 01:11 PM	#16
Richard G Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 402	Guns of the type posted by Jim and Dana_w are fairly rare but not unusual in the UK where they are known as spring guns. They normally have a mechanism whereby three wires are spread out which when tripped spin the gun in that direction and fire it. They, together with man traps, were legal in the 18th and early 19 centuries as protection against poaching. Remember there is virtually no public land in the UK and game belongs to the landowner whose land it is on. Land set with spring guns and man traps had to be signed as such, and if not the landowner could be accused of murder. I believe both remained legal, but I imagine practically only man-traps, if used within a house at night as protection against burglary until the mid 19th Century. Regards Richard PS. Have found this http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../outLXI06n.pdf