OT: Just Thinkin'.....shotgun to muzzleloader??

[Lobo]

Hi All,

I was reading an article in "The Complete Blackpowder Handbook" about double barrel muzzleloaders. Pretty cool stuff !! I began snooping around the net.....$$$ on double barrel muzzleloaders ~$1000......WHOA!! I've got a double barrel 12 gauge that I've not shot in years, and years. How about a "sleeve" that would go into the chamber end of my double, and out to the end of the barrels, reducing it from 12 gauge to say 14 gauge. The chamber end would be closed with a percussion nipple set under the existing firing pin, and some epoxy or solder at the end of the barrel to hold things in place.

Anyone ever seen something like this or am I just having pipe dreams?

[Rusty]

I might consider a single shot before I'd try that.

[gamekeeper]

Where would the ramrod go?

[Ray]

Deleted.

[AJMD429]

For years, I've been wishing someone would make a double-barrel 12 gauge (O/S or SxS) and market sets of chamber/barrel inserts with O-ring/adjustable seals that would allow precision regulating. Think of having not only a double-barrel 12 gauge, but inserting a .45-70, .32-20, or whatever other rifle cartridge you want. How cool.

Muzzleloading would be one more cool thing to add to the mix...

[Jeff H]

I inquired with a connoisseur of English Doubles quite a number of years ago about getting together and building one of these.
He explained that what you would pay for whatever SXS ML rifle was available at the time was a bargain IF (big "IF") the barrels were regulated properly.

He explained that you would have to pick a distance at which you wished the two barrels' bores to intersect and then play Tennessee windage with each barrel at all other ranges. He also said that you don't just solder two barrels up and leave it at that, rather they would possibly have to be soldered, shot, unsoldered, adjusted, soldered, shot, lather, rinse, repeat until both barrels put a ball in the same spot at the chosen range. "THAT is where your money goes," he said.

I then explained that I hadn't planned on having it built in England and asked why you coldn't just make them shoot an inch apart (or whatever the distance was between the bore centers) at whatever range.

He sighed, rolled his eyes, shook his head and threw his hands up all at the same time, turned around and walked away. I never brought it back up.

[.45colt]

Look around and find a used Pedersoli SXS frontloader. I bought one new about 15 years ago and still have it. It's one fine shooting gun,very finely made.

[Lobo]

"......Where would the ramrod go?......."

I was thinking one of those collapsable jobs underneath the barrels.

[barbarossa]

Your best bet is to try and find aTC New Englander IN 12 GA

[Pete44ru]

Actually, making a frontstuffer smoothbore, ILO a rifle, from a SxS centerfire 12ga shotgun is fairly simple.

Procure the required ( 1 or 2) threaded/removeable breechlpugs, as in T/C Omega, Remington 700ML, etc, etc.

The inside of the chamber(s) need(s) to be threaded (tapped) to accept the breechplug(s), deep enough for capping with a #11 or a 209 primer (depending upon the type breechplug used). The plug's dept is adjusted during installation, so the shotgun's firing pin(s) fire the caps.primers.

If the plugs used are smaller in diameter than the chamber/gauge of the donor shotgun, an double-threaded (inside/outside) adaptor nipple can be easily made up by anybody with machine skills.

Whatever shotgun gauge overshot & overpowder wads can be hand cut from cardboard (dies are commercially available to do so), and you're off to the races !

FWIW, I once made a .45 cal muzzle-loader from a .45-70 Ruger #1, via much the same method.
I used a collapsable ramrod, stored in my haversack.

.

[adirondakjack]

Uh, why not simply get a pair of the heavy brass shells made for the gauge, and relieve the primer pockets to allow "capping" with 209s by hand from the back end, "loading" from the front?

[Ben_Rumson]

Of all the cap & ball & muzzle loading firearms I’ve played with, the muzzle loading shotgun is by far the most fun... easiest to keep shooting all day and easiest to clean afterwards... Me & my shootin pard had both got identical Navy Arms SxS 12ga guns that we had tried various plastic shot cups, felt wads and other recommendations by various writers at the time... middle 1980s... Then we read and followed V.M. Starrs advice( he was an old time champeen M/L shotgunner from way back) in the AMERICAN RIFLEMAN magazine...His advice was two .030” thick pasteboard over powder wads and one for the overshot wad...Test pattern with various equal volume shot and powder charges to get basic load then tune powder or shot up or down to gets best pattern......We never looked back after learning that simple three card method...We made wad punches out of 7/8 hole saws with the teeth ground off and used the paste board from Bud 12paks.....My Bib overalls made darn near a perfect set up for the shotgun...Powder flask right rear pocket... Wads right front pocket... Shot flask left front pocket...Caps in the watch pocket..
Get yourself a proper M/L shotgun...This one on GB for a decent price...should do for starters... http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewIt ... =236140878
It has a patent breach and so should be a snap to clean...

[awp101]

He sighed, rolled his eyes, shook his head and threw his hands up all at the same time, turned around and walked away.

I get that reaction a lot in my world...

[Lastmohecken]

To me the one that is the most fun is the 62 caliber (20ga) Flintlock Fowler, and lots of old black powder, mountain men type shooters, would choose a Fowler or a smooth rifle for their one and only smoke pole if it came to a single choice. I might too, as they are a lot of fun and you can hunt anything from small game, to flying game, to moose with a .62 smoothbore, just by changing the loads.

I also have a 10ga double barrel caplock, which I cut down to about 20 inch barrels and added rifle sights to. Granted it's not a long range gun, by any means, but those big barrels, can send a lot of lead shot, slugs, roundballs tied together with fishing string or wire, nails, rocks, you name it, down the line with devistating power, at close range, Or you can load it way down and shoot light loads out of it. I have been meaning to experiment with paperpatched 12ga slugs in it, for deer hunting. You can also get roundballs sized for it, and either patch them or run them without a patch, just a felt wad, or newspaper, top and bottom. I don't like using newspaper, much as it's pretty easy to start a fire if it's dry with newspaper wadding.