When were the first double guns made?

[N9NWO]

I have a twin barrel flintlock, .615 caliber. I load it with pellets on one side and buck & Ball on the other side. Thus it is a good hunting gun for a more primitive time.

I know about the early jaeger rifles (.615 caliber was common). When did the first double rifles or rifle/shotguns come into creation? I could see a .45 caliber rifle with a 20 ga smooth bore working well in flintlock. Saw some percussion swivel rifles today at the Indy 1500.

Just has me thinking.

[oskar]

Not being an early firearms buff, my guess is not long after the first hand held weapon was invented someone put two together.

[N9NWO]

I am thinking of something more than just multiple barrels. I could see early shotguns (double barrel) as early as the late 1600s. More so with the invention of flintlocks.

What I am wondering is when the first double rifle was built? Or the first combination gun (shotgun/rifle)? I could see someone loading, as I do, a double musket with shot on one side and buck & ball on the other. We see Jaeger rifles in Germany in the early 1700s. Enough so that the German military recruits Jaegers as scouts and skirmishers. The short barrel Jaeger rifle becomes the Pennsylvania rifle which evolves into the Kentucky rifle then the Hawkins.

The earliest combination guns I have seen are showing up after 1860 with percussion mechanism. A few swivel guns (muzzle loading) then cartridge guns after 1870.

Does anyone have a history of these guns?

[sharps4590]

Nothing evolved into a "Hawkins". It was a Hawken. There was swivel guns built as Pennsylvania rifles prior to the Revolution. If the story of Tim Murphy is to be believed, he is the one who killed General Simon Fraser at the battle of Freeman's Farm near Saratoga in 1777, I think, and legend is that he used a swivel gun. There is flintlock examples extant.

I expect the French were the first to develop double guns with the British not far behind and I believe certainly by the early to mid-1700's. There is examples of muzzleloading combination guns by the 1840's in a few countries. More than likely parallel develop as opposed to one copying another. As far as dedicated double rifles that were not swivel breech I do not know for certain other than by the 1870's. It seems so obvious to do that surely there was work done earlier than that.

[ellenbr]

Chase French gunsmith Marin le Bourgeoys(who may have attached two tubes together after he devised the flintlock, if that is to be found true) & I think you'll find your answer. But also don't leave out the predecessors of A.V. Lebeda & it may be that it wasn't until the 18th century when they made novel advancements.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

[N9NWO]

What I have learned was that German immigrant gunsmiths in Penn. made what was called a combination gun. This was a smooth bore that could be used either as a fowler or a musket. In Europe they specialized for either fowling (shotgun) or ball (musket).

I just saw an early cape gun (side by side) that appears to have a 20 ga. (.615 caliber) shotgun and a rifle that was somewhere between .36 and .45 caliber. It was an early percussion gun made in Lafayette Indiana and is displayed in Haley's Lock shop. My guess is it was made between 1840 and 1860. This is the earliest combination gun I have seen.