What is it?

flying belgian · Nov 22, 2020

I have an old double barrel shotgun that gets handed down to the oldest son. It started as my Great Grandfathers then my Grandfather then my Father and about 40 yrs. ago my Father handed it down to me. Now I want to hand it down to my oldest daughter (I have no sons so daughter will have to do) I'm told last time it was fired was about 100 yrs. ago my Great Grandmother shot a coon in the engine house.
Now my question. What is an engine house. I'm afraid my daughter will ask me that question and I want to know the answer.

Bill(Wis) · Nov 22, 2020

In our neck of the woods, Central Siberia, we had from the late 1890s thru 1937, a number of engine houses that weren't any bigger than a doghouse to house the numerous engines that powered such things as the water pump when the wind wasn't blowing, the milking machine (yes, we had a milking machine in 1914, Hinman, made in Upstate New York) and a quite a few other machines including a sawmill. Whether that was what your ancestors had would depend on what kind of operation they had but I would think it would be a structure to protect an engine or engines from the elements.

Janicholson · Nov 22, 2020

First an "engine house" is probably where a stationary single cylinder gasoline or Kerosene engine was located to run a generator, or tools, or a pump for water. It could also have a windmill over it on top of the well head.
I think it is entirely fine and dandy (an honor) to pass the fire arm into the future. I would approach the task with the idea that it has no relationship to the gender of the recipient.
I would also make sure (from a reliable gun smith) that it is capable of firing modern ammunition. If as old as indicated, it may be black powder only. It might have twist steel barrels that were common then. If it does, I would glue snap caps into the barrels using locktite stud and bearing mount. This would look like bullets, but make the gun inoperative, unless it was seen fit to understand its limits. Even then there is no rationale for firing it. (I own fire arms with Damascus twist steel barrels, and they are not fired). Putting Snap Caps in with the bearing mount is reversible. and causes no reduction in the antique value. Some old doubles are worth thousands. Jim

MtMan · Nov 22, 2020

My best guess would be in a railroad yard with a building to work on and service the engines. Hope this is right.

tomturkey · Nov 22, 2020

Flying Belgian, My vote is with Janicholson's explanation of engine house. Sounds very plausible for the time frame. BTW, maybe you could have the firing pins removed so the gun could not be fired, since it is a question of its safety..... gobble

TimV · Nov 22, 2020

As mentioned, it was probably a small separate building housing an engine for running something like a generator, line shaft setup, vacuum pump, water pump, or other things in the days before centralized electrification. Also, there were many, many old double-barreled shotguns from that era made by the same company or small handful of companies and sold under different "house brand" names. One of the most common was the Crescent Firearms co. The list below is not meant to be authoritative nor exhaustive, but it lists many of the brands used. Most of these were relatively inexpensive, and none should be considered safe to fire with ANY ammunition without a thorough check by a COMPETENT gunsmith. They may hold up just fine, but unless you place little value on your eyes, fingers, and other body parts, most are best used as wall hangers.
crescent firearms company trade names

tim s · Nov 22, 2020

Maybe a Delco power unit to charge DC battery's through the day, I have a working Delco generator here that I would sell if any one is interested, they would charge a shelf full of batterys for household lighting before local power came along.

dpendzic · Nov 22, 2020

my grandparents had one that had a generator that charged shelves of battery's for a DC voltage for the house wiring

also don't let her shoot it unless you check it out as the barrel may be Damascus or twisted steel---i think they could only fire black powder shells

Traditional Farmer · Nov 22, 2020

You sure of the spelling? Maybe they had neighbors as in Injun House.

kcm.MN · Nov 22, 2020

We have a small shed on this place. Great Grandson of the original settler of this place told how there was a battery bank to provide power, but he couldn't remember much else as he was a kid when electric got run out here. Thanks for filling in the rest of the pieces. That makes perfect sense with what he was telling us.

jal-SD · Nov 22, 2020

Sounds like where the wind charger
batteries were stored. Some of the wind
charger systems had an engine back-
charging system, too. It depended on how
elaborate the owner wanted to go and how
many $$ he wanted to invest.

Goose · Nov 22, 2020

I have a double barreled 12 gauge, with open hammers, that my great uncle bought new in 1886. I hunted with it when I was in high school, but now I don't fire it anymore.

If I did fire it, it might stand up to trap loads, but why take the chance?

dpendzic · Nov 22, 2020

cool--i have an old 10 gauge with hammers and a ram rod--never have fired it and don't think i will!!

fixerupper · Nov 22, 2020

My granddad had a Colt double barrel shotgun from about that era. Very rare. It had a Damascus barrel. I know he used it in 1940 because he had it with him when he and dad were caught in the armistice day blizzard while hunting ducks. It belonged to my grandpas brother and my dad gave it back to the brother after grandpa died. I saw it a few times but never shot it.

John in Mich · Nov 22, 2020

Glad that you said that. When I first read the post I was going to mention the Damascus or twisted steel barrel. But I read all the responses first. We do not want to see anyone get hurt or worse.

Janicholson · Nov 22, 2020

I like that idea. Someone might still believe in it enough to put pins back in it. I would assume they would not be tossed, that would degrade any value. Maybe unscrew the butt plate and drill a hole for each pin, tucking a note in the hole to warn of potential hazard. Jim

wilson ind · Nov 22, 2020

does not answer the question???????????????

sotxbill · Nov 22, 2020

I have shot coons just about everywhere you can think of,, but never in the engine house... it that on the south end of a north bound coon?

Just like the other day the paper said a woman got shot in the "yet". Just wondering.

jal-SD · Nov 22, 2020

Black powder shot gun. Components are available. They are fun to use. If you do not have an emotional attachment to it, get in touch with your friendly trap league. There are trap clubs that have black powder shoots & even leagues. Somebody may pay big bucks for it.

JerryD · Nov 22, 2020

Could it possibility be an oil field engine house for rod lines?

C.Amick · Nov 22, 2020

If it was the late 30's or early 40's it might have been a building where they kept the generator to charge batteries to run the lights. People around here called them Delco's, which is probably who made them. The generator charged batteries that had clear glass bodies. The light bulbs looked like normal incandescent bulbs except for the fact that they had a finer thread pattern.

Walston · Nov 23, 2020

How about a picture of the gun?

Kansasredneck · Nov 23, 2020

I have several old double guns. I shoot trap loads with no problems. If the gun was made prior to 1884 you would only want to shoot black powder. If made after 1884 it would be designed for modern powder. The best bet would be to take it to a gun smith and have them examine it.

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