Combination gun
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A combination gun is a shoulder-held sporting firearm that comprises at least two barrels, a rifle barrel and a shotgun barrel, often but not always in an over and under configuration. A drilling (from the German drei for three) refers to a combination gun that has three barrels, which may be any mixture of rifle and shotgun barrels, while a vierling (from the German vier for four) has four barrels.
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[edit] Use
Combination guns have a long history in Europe, dating back to the early days of cartridge firearms, and they are most popular in Germany and Austria. These guns are almost exclusively hunting arms. The advantage of having a single firearm that can fire both rifle and shotgun cartridges is that a single gun can be used to hunt a very wide variety of game, from deer to game birds, and the shooter can choose the barrel appropriate for the target in seconds.
[edit] Firing mechanisms
Like double-barreled shotguns and Double rifles, combination guns are almost universally break open designs. Unlike double barrelled shotguns and double rifles, where single selective or double triggers are used to allow rapid firing of both barrels, combination guns generally have a selector that allows the user to choose which barrel will fire. Drillings with two shotgun barrels and one rifle barrel may have two triggers, one for each shotgun barrel, and a selector that will allow one trigger to fire the rifle barrel. Vierlings generally have two triggers, and selectors to switch each between shotgun and rifle.
[edit] Layouts
Combination guns are almost entirely over/under designs, usually with a rifle barrel over a shotgun barrel. This arrangement allows a wider field of view than a side-by-side or shotgun on top arrangement, since the thinner rifle barrel blocks less of the shooter's vision. Iron sights are used for aiming the rifle, and the front sight alone is sufficient to point the shotgun. One of the more famous combination guns is the Springfield Armory survival gun, sold as models M4 and M6, an all metal folding combination gun in .22 Hornet over .410 bore.
Drillings cover a much broader range of shapes and configurations:
- Two matching shotgun barrels and a rifle barrel
- Two matching rifle barrels and one shotgun barrel
- Two rifle barrels of different calibers (typically one rimfire and one centerfire) and one shotgun barrel
- Three matching shotgun barrels
Since drillings were generally made by small manufacturers, each maker would pick whichever layout they preferred, or whatever layout the customer ordered. The most common layout was a side-by-side shotgun with a centerfire rifle barrel centered on the bottom. A similar arrangement of a side-by-side shotgun with a rifle barrel centered on top, generally a .22 caliber rimfire or .22 Hornet, was also fairly common.
Rarer were the drillings that used two rifle barrels and a single shotgun barrel. These were harder to make, since, like a double rifle, the rifle barrels must be very carefully regulated, that is, aligned during manufacture to shoot to the same point of aim at a given distance. This requires more precision than regulation of double barrelled shotgun barrels, which are used at shorter ranges with wide patterns of shot where a small misalignment won't be significant. If the rifle barrels were the same caliber, then the three barrels were generally arranged in a triangle, both rifle barrels on top, or one rifle and the shotgun barrel on top (this being known as a cross-eyed drilling). If the rifle barrels differed in caliber, generally the layout would be an over/under using the shotgun and a centerfire rifle barrel, with a rimfire rifle barrel mounted between and to one side. These configuration, with shotgun/centerfire/rimfire barrels, are the most desirable configuration for modern collectors.
The triple barrel shotgun is the rarest configuration, and arguably is an odd variant of a double barrelled shotgun rather than a drilling, since it lacks the rifle/shotgun combination that all the other drillings have. The triple barrel shotgun is generally laid out like a side-by-side shotgun, with the third barrel centered and below the other two. The barrels are all the same gauge.
The vierling is almost always in the form of a side by side shotgun, with different caliber rifle barrels stacked vertically, ether both below the shotgun barrels, or one above and one below. Generally the vierling uses one large bore rifle cartridge and one smallbore. Again, the vierling is often custom built to whatever configuration the customer chooses, so any combination is possible.
[edit] Calibers/gauges
Few modern makers make high quality combination guns for the retail market; most are simple, spartan models designed as survival guns or youth models. Drillings are even rarer, and are almost invariably custom made to order. If ordering a custom model, the layout and gauge/caliber choices are up to the customer, so it is difficult to make generalizations about them. The used market shows some strong preferences, however; the side-by-side shotguns with single rifle barrel is the most common type, and therefore the least expensive. The single shotgun barrel with different caliber rifle barrels is the most desirable, and will bring double the price, even more if one of the rifle barrels is .22 Long Rifle.
Since these guns tend to be break-open designs, which work best with rimmed cartrdiges, they work best when chambered in rimmed cartridges. Rimfire rounds, .22 Hornet, .30-30 Winchester, 9.3 x 72R, and 8 x 57JR are all common choices. Gauges tend to be large, 16 or 12 being most common. Since drillings and vierlings are primarily European, American calibers are rarer and, at least in the American market, more desirable and expensive. 20 gauge drillings and vierlings also command a premium due to the relative rarity compared to the larger gauges. Many pre World War II European guns are chambered for 2 9/16" shotgun shells, and will need to be rechambered to fire modern 2 3/4" shells.
Combination guns show a fairly wide range of calibers and gauges; Savage Arms, for example, made models from .22 LR over .410 bore shotgun up to .308 Winchester over 3" 12 gauge magnum. The Springfield Armory survival guns are typically .22 Hornet over .410 bore.
It is not uncommon to find combination guns paired with sub-caliber inserts for the shotgun barrels. These inserts, usually 9 to 11 inches in length, slip inside the shotgun barrel(s) and chamber rimfire cartridges such as .22 LR or .22 Magnum. These further increase the flexibility of the guns, and will add considerably to the value.
[edit] References
- Blue Book of Gun Values, 13th Edition, S. P, Fjestad
- HEYM, modern maker of combination guns, drillings, and vierlings
- Those Wonderful Combination Guns, with German names for various drilling layouts.
