Trying to explain what a "Carolina swamp gun" is to a Westerner

[Texas Star]

Gator-

I know that you have writing aspirations. I hope that you can meet C.J. Box at a signing. He may give you some insider info on publishers.

His daughter was named for Sheridan, as was, to a degree, a character in his books about Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett.

If you haven't read those books, do. It'll give you a flavor for the area. Mr. Box told me that he consults with an actual warden for background material.

I convert words on paper to images in my mind, so I needed someone who looked like Joe to picture as I read. I chose Audie Murphy. I think he fits the image. I think his later books are better than the first few, where Joe seemed too naïve for any real LEO.

I have some problems with Joe being a bumbler with his handgun and needing his M-870 pump shotgun to hit anything. And I don't like a sort of rustic fugitive being a positively presented character who courts Joe's daughter, falconry or not. But the books are overall well worth reading.

Mr. Box seems a very nice man. I think he often autographs previous titles even when a book store owner prefers that he only sign books bought that day, in that store. David Lindsey also accorded me that favor, and I remain grateful for autographs of his titles. Ditto for Suzanne Arruda.

Most authors seem happy to sign their books, although I have some reservations about Robt. B. Parker, based on what someone else posted about his seeming reluctance to acknowledge a fan who saw him. If anyone here did meet the late Mr. Parker, I'd be interested in your own impression of him. I must say, he did work Boston well as a location.

 

[chud333]

Just always called them Truck Guns myself.
And yes i've owned a few.
Everybody in these parts knows what you mean when
you say truck gun. It ain't purty but it goes boom when
you need it. Lots of farm folks carry an old beater for
Coyotes they may jump from time to time regardless
if they are in season or not.

Chuck

 

[Cpo1944]

I thought you were going to talk about "Punt Guns".
Now That is a Carolina swamp gun!

 

[O2Guy]

Plenty of those guns still around here and probably always will be. Some don't have the BBQ paint and look like you'd need a tetanus shot just to handle them, but they still get the job done.

 

[Rangerpat]

My "swamp gun" is a New England Firearms, single-shot 10ga. shotgun / 28 in. - full choke, I paid $129 for brand new, back in the late 1980's.
The barrel is wrapped with camo duct tape and spray painted OD green.
It shoots 3 1/2" mag loads and is a excellent turkey hunting gun; it has killed wild hogs and deer, also.
If someone needs to borrow a gun at hunt camp... that's the loaner gun, and they usually only borrow and shoot it one time.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

We've had the same types of guns here for many years, of course, though they have more often been old lever guns with fewer military surplus types. Mostly we call 'em truck guns or saddle guns and sometimes just old guns. I actually can't recall ever having seen an old Carcano but used to see lots of hacked up Springfields, Enfields and Mausers. Old Krags were also fairly common into the 1950's. I knew an old sheepherder that had carried a .30-30 Savage 99 in a saddle scabbard on a horse for so long that the buttstock was worn completely white from being out in the weather. The rest of the rifle that rode inside the scabbard was more or less OK. Most of the old timers of my youth would never give up on a gun as long as there remained any way to keep it firing. Most gunny types will know what you're talking about though they probably know the type by different names!

Glad to hear you're liking Sheridan. My daughter and her family live there and I grew up in Worland over on the other side of the hill. I'll be making a quick trip up there next weekend and always look forward to visiting Shipton's and Rocky Mountain. Maybe we can get together for coffee sometime.

Wyo, Gator once gave L school a try. Maybe y'all can meet up and he can "read the law" in your chambers for a few years and then take the Bar Exam. He'd make a fine lawyer!
Oh and Gator-you are gonna love that new Tractor Supply when it opens up!

 

[Old TexMex]

I have seen a double barrel 12ga hammer gun, all painted white.
The owner (father of four girls) said "Jimmy, it's for formal weddings."

 

[Checkman]

I just call them Beaters, but I have a couple and I'm fond of them. Here they are. That's a Mk III* manufactured by BSA in 1918 and the revolver is actually one of the Webley Mk VI revolvers that were made by Enfield from 1920 - 1925 for the British government. Mine has British and New Zealand markings. It's one of the 45ACP conversions that were sold in the states in large numbers in the 50's and 60's. I paid $75.00 for the Mk III*. It's a good little shooter. The Webley/Enfield Mk VI was considerably more.

 

[mxbob]

Having had the only gun shop in a small commercial fishing town I fixed up many guns as you have described. They are called "Boat Guns" here. It is amazing what the salt air does to metal so a fresh coat of BBQ paint does wonders.
Bob Ray 1815

 

[mtgianni]

If he's in Wyoming can he still be GatorFarmer?

Folks in Wyoming can generally do whatever they want to, same as their Northern Neighbor.

 

[Old TexMex]

Having had the only gun shop in a small commercial fishing town I fixed up many guns as you have described. They are called "Boat Guns" here. It is amazing what the salt air does to metal so a fresh coat of BBQ paint does wonders.
Bob Ray 1815

We call them "cripple guns", the pump gun used for shagging wounded ducks across the flats. They're always doused with saltwater. Most of us liked a short barrel with a full choke cutts compensator, and bbq or hi heat engine paint. I've stll got one around here someplace....

 

[Muley Gil]

I had the problems trying to explain Truck Gun to folks back East.

You must mean the NORTH East. I imagine most folks in the Southeast know what a truck gun is.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Entertaining Post. So far, I like my surplus guns mil spec, but some of the sporterized ones have been tempting.

 

[rburg]

Its an interesting thread, with lots of good comments. I'm guessing the confusion is caused by the terms used. Most of us are very familiar with "truck gun" or "farm gun" or even "ranch gun". Many of us have different ideas on those things.

One interesting story came up out of Texas. Seems this guy took his old ranch gun to town. He went to the local gun shop to buy a part for it. Well, they looked it over real good trying to find the serial number but couldn't find one that pleased them. All they could find was the #1 all over it. So the crooked shop owner offered to buy it from the guy on the cheap, of course. The owner also declined to leave it. Not long after a guy in a genuine limo drove up to where the guy lived. He wanted that rifle, and came from the Winchester museum. They reached a deal for the rifle, giving the guy a brand new one and significant cash.

The fact is, not all truck guns are junk. Some have a very good heritage.

I once bought a 12 ga at a local gun shop. It had a nice bend in the barrel and a broken stock. It was a single shot and I don't even remember the brand, but surely a cheapo. So I took it home and recut the barrel to about 18". Then with epoxy and some brass wood screws, fixed the stock as best I could. Then we loaned it around among friends, just for fun. After a couple of years a friend was getting married so we latexed it white. That for a formal wedding you know.

A couple of years ago, maybe 8 or 9, a guy I knew wanted to borrow one of my rifles to go deer hunting. Some conflicts. I don't loan my guns these days, none were junky, and I was afraid might not come home, or would damaged. Guns are something like chainsaws, they always come back broken. Besides, if you're driving the 1400 miles to Colorado, you should buy yourself a rifle. Particularly when he likes to brag about his wealth. But at the next gun show I did buy a rifle to use as a loaner. Kind of. But then I realized the only scope I had to put on it was a Zeiss. More than the value of the rifle. So I took the gun to the range and shot it. It just seems to like putting bullets in the same hole. Go figure, its a Browing BAR. No loans from me.

So thinking about it, I don't have any rifles or handguns I feel comfortable letting others use. I've spent the last 40 or so years expanding and upgrading my guns. The few I had that weren't great went to my sons, usually family heirlooms.

Any gun is better than no gun. Simple repairs are often the best we can do and what we can afford. As we get older and maybe more affluent, we can do better.

 

[NSXtech]

I've been in NC all my life. Truck Guns is what I've heard them called. They hunt deer, dispatch beef cows and pigs as well as ground hogs in the garden, rats in the corn crib and these days coyotes.
The first rifle I ever shot was an old ugly Remington .22 at a rat, first shotgun was Sears .410 at a squirrel.