gun myths

[tenngun]

Do you know if you put a nail from a coffin in your gunstock it keeps your gun from being "hexed"I dont have a coffin nail in any of my guns and I hope none are hexed. Do you know any old myths about magic and guns,do you reproduce any mythic sign for your guns.I do have silver on two of my guns to "ward off evil"This isn't about faith or superstition. its about hc/pc and what some folks did to protect guns from dark forces. An old German saying translates "All your skill is of no avail if an angel urinates in your touch hole" :wink:

 

[Many Klatch]

A lot of original guns had stars or other marks applied to the muzzle of the barrel around the bore. I have heard them called "Hex" marks. I don't know if they do any good or not but I put them on some of my guns as well.

I had a buddy build a gun up for me. He inlet a Fish and a Hunters Star on the stock. When I asked about them he told me that the Fish was for good luck and the Hunter's Star was to keep me from getting lost.

Many Klatch

 

[jdkerstetter]

There's a ton of these....but I don't know if "myth" is appropriate for all of them as some are very well documented and there have been many articles published on this very subject. Perhaps an extension of the builder and buyer's beliefs...and superstitions, in some cases.

Apparently our early gun builders were a religious lot and borrowed many of their "decorations" from Christianity. Beck was known to put I*N*R*I on the bottom of his barrels. Fish are another well known Christian symbol....as is the weeping heart and the star is believed to represent the star of Bethlehem.

One "myth" I've read about was that of people putting their unbreached barrels in a stream to wash out evil spirits.

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[yakimaman]

A cross-cultural one I thought was interesting was a crude cross on an Indian trade musket. The white man's God gave him much power so the idea was to put the symbol of that power on the musket in hopes of more powers to the owner.

 

[ebiggs1]

There are plenty of modern “myths” that you really don't need to search for the old ones. :grin:

But I will keep an eye out for low flying angels! :hmm:

 

[54ball]

As far as being hexed, that's what old barrels are referred to. Have you ever heard of a "Hex" barrel, or the very corrupted "hexagon."

Like the INRI JD mentions on Beck barrels, a cross or X was sometimes placed on the bottom flat under the rear sight hidden by the forestock or nosecap. This kept the demons from entering the barrel and riding the ball.

I have read that this may have been done after a inaccurate barrel was washed in the steam, to clear out the demons and so marked to prevent their return.

Think of the three main groups that built rifles in the 18th and 19th centuries. These are The Pennsylvania Dutch, the Moravians and a little later the Appalachian Scots-Irish. All are very religious and superstitious. Andy Griffith did a tounge in cheek spoof of this in his " Barney, black rider on a white horse episode".
To this day you will find "hex" marks on barns in Pennsylvania.

 

[MSW]

There's a ton of these....but I don't know if "myth" is appropriate for all of them as some are very well documented and there have been many articles published on this very subject. Perhaps an extension of the builder and buyer's beliefs...and superstitions, in some cases.

Apparently our early gun builders were a religious lot and borrowed many of their "decorations" from Christianity. Beck was known to put I*N*R*I on the bottom of his barrels. Fish are another well known Christian symbol....as is the weeping heart and the star is believed to represent the star of Bethlehem.

One "myth" I've read about was that of people putting their unbreached barrels in a stream to wash out evil spirits.
Enjoy, J.D.

emphasis added

you should never do this: the spirits which live in the streams and rills are poisoned by ferrous metals. a bath will work fine.

 

[cynthialee]

never shoot a deadmans gun

 

[Rifleman1776]

There is a book by Vance Randolph about myths and legends in the Ozarks. Most of his life and travels were near where I live in Arkansas. But he spent some time in Christian County, Missouri right near you.
Too many legends to list from his book. Yours is one he mentioned. Among others, bullets (balls) stored in a human skull were deadlier than others.
The stream washing to remove a hex was another.
Good book, I highly reccomend.

 

[Billnpatti]

If you happen to run across any coffin nails, I sure could use some because all of my rifles seem to have a hex on them. It seems that the longer I have them, the stronger the hex gets. Come to think of it, is there such a thing as a coffin spike? I need all the help I can get. :haha:

 

[FishDFly]

never shoot a deadmans gun

I guess I should give away all my dead relatives guns and never shoot them. Some have a lot of value, is the what you suggesting?

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

I'm in trouble too ... all our coffins over here are screwed together .... :shocked2:

 

[George]

Come on, you people, that's all a bunch of superstitious nonsense. Why mess up a perfectly good gun? All you have to do is carry a buckeye in your shot pouch to ward off all sorts of hexes, guarantee success in the hunt and protect you from any and all evil influences. Like this one I have carried for many years, and I can testify personally that it works.

Guaranteed to curl your hair, sweeten your breath and make childbirth a pleasure. Try it, what do you have to lose? :haha:

Spence

 

[pa woods roamer]

My late Uncle , a M`loader builder, always said to " blood" your new Rifle with the Blood of its first Kill. I guess not to p... the Hunter gods off???

 

[TFoley]

never shoot a deadmans gun

I guess I should give away all my dead relatives guns and never shoot them. Some have a lot of value, is the what you suggesting?

Yeah, Houston, we have a real problem here. All but three of my present eighteen guns were owned by folks who are now writing in a book of memories.

Many of those memories, particularly those of me and my dad shooting together, are part of who I am.

Everytime I squeeze the trigger on his old rifle, I can hear him telling me how to do it.

What could possibly replace that, or be somehow better in any way?

tac

 

[Jaeger]

Okay, Spence....I've got a buckeye in the drawer, and I'm ging to start carrying it.

 

[cynthialee]

I didn't say I believed it. Just anouther myth I heard along the way.

 

[Robby]

Would a horse chestnut work? :grin:
Robby

 

[Rifleman1776]

What is missing in the original post is that the coffin nails/spikes must come from a used coffin. :shocked2:
Not a lot of those around for spike stealing.

 

[trent/OH]

Not that it protects guns from dark forces, but gunflints used to boiled in a mixture of water, rue, and vervain. This of course increased the accuracy of the gun. Probably didn't make a very good tea though.