28ga, .58 cal. Smooth rifle.

[Treestalker]

Recently, a longtime friend and fellow flea market dealer brought a strange .50 cal. ml rifle to my house and after finding the bore to be a sewer pipe, up and gave the thing to me. I decided to have it bored out to smooth for a 'garden' half stock shotgun and have the barrel turned oct/rd. I sent the barrel off and just got it back, bored to .58 cal/ 28 guage. It feels good in the hand, and I hope to use it on small critters and maybe a bird. Just wanted everyone to share their experience, loads and know how on this guage as I have none. Thanks in advance, Geo.

 

[Notchy Bob]

28 gauge is .550". 24 gauge would be .577", or approximately .58 caliber. Can you confirm which you have? That would better enable people to help you with load suggestions.

Either way, it sounds like a very handy little game gun. How about some pictures?

Notchy Bob

 

[Roundball2319]

Who did the barrel for you. I have a t/c barrel that I thought I would do the same thing to.

 

[Archer 756]

My 28 ga is 54 cal prb

 

[Grenadier1758]

Time to get out the calipers and measure the diameter of the bore. According to my calculations, 28 gauge is 0.550" and 24 gauge is 0.579".

Until then, I wouldn't buy too many over shot cards and wads.

 

[Treestalker]

Well, I thought it was a 28ga dang it. I'm getting too old to trust with facts, lol! Actually, I was just checking you guys, wink, wink. A 24 ga, ok, now I've got to order larger wads, boy, I hope that 24ga thingy won't tear them squirrels up too bad, lol!

 

[Treestalker]

Who did the barrel for you. I have a t/c barrel that I thought I would do the same thing to.

The Frieschutz Shop, in Fairfield, Pa. Cost was $50 plus shipping, for boring smooth and turning barrel oct/rd. Another great job. Look out squirrels and such!

 

[Treestalker]

My 28 ga is 54 cal prb

Pay no attention to the man behind the screen, lol!

 

[Roundball2319]

The Frieschutz Shop, in Fairfield, Pa. Cost was $50 plus shipping, for boring smooth and turning barrel oct/rd. Another great job. Look out squirrels and such!

Do you have a contact number for them?

 

[Treestalker]

28 gauge is .550". 24 gauge would be .577", or approximately .58 caliber. Can you confirm which you have? That would better enable people to help you with load suggestions.

Either way, it sounds like a very handy little game gun. How about some pictures?

Notchy Bob

I can't post pictures, the mods might blow a gasket. It has a wooden stock and an exposed hammer, but the nipple is in the center of the breechplug, and the hammer is centrally hung, so it might not pass the traditional m.l. test.

 

[Treestalker]

Do you have a contact number for them?

I wanted to give it, but I have lost it. It is on the Forum somewheres.

 

[Roundball2319]

I wanted to give it, but I have lost it. It is on the Forum somewheres.

Thanks I will look for it.

 

[Grimord]

Thanks I will look for it.

Bobby Hoyt, 717-642-6696. Call early in the morning if you want to get him.

 

[Roundball2319]

Bobby Hoyt, 717-642-6696. Call early in the morning if you want to get him.

Thank you

 

[toot]

28 gauge is .550". 24 gauge would be .577", or approximately .58 caliber. Can you confirm which you have? That would better enable people to help you with load suggestions.

Either way, it sounds like a very handy little game gun. How about some pictures?

Notchy Bob

I have a smooth bore that takes .530 RB'S what gauge do I have? I was told it was a 24 bore . thanks for the help in advance.

 

[Don H]

This thread has got me thinking. I've been looking for a single barrel shotgun (preferably a Thompson Center) for small game hunting. T/C smoothbores are hard to come by but a rifled .54 Renagade is pretty common. Would boring out a .54 to 20 gauge (.670") work? When boring can they choke it to Modified?

 

[Grenadier1758]

A smooth bored gun with a bore diameter of 0.670 is 16 gauge by all the literature and bore calculations I have. A 20 gauge will be 0.615" and is certainly possible with the 1" across the flats Renegade barrel. But first ask Bobby Hoyt, likely the person to do the reboring, about choking the barrel.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Let's thank Griffiga for the table of smooth bore diameters and choke dimensions.

Look at the attachment.

Choke sizes are the same regardless of shotgun.View attachment 59815

 

[Kansas Kid]

OP. You should do well with it , I have a North West trade gun in 58/24ga it’s my favorite smooth bore. Square loads of 1/2 to 3/4 oz should work well. I use a .565 round ball from a Lee mold also.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I can't post pictures, the mods might blow a gasket. It has a wooden stock and an exposed hammer, but the nipple is in the center of the breechplug, and the hammer is centrally hung, so it might not pass the traditional m.l. test.

Yes Thompson Center made one rifle, now discontinued, that seemed to cross the gap between traditional and the modern "muzzle loading" rifles. At a distance it looked like maybe it was lever action, but then there's no lever and a ramrod is seen. Very pretty rifles, and not too "offending" to the eye of a traditionalist (imho) with about the same amount of metal to wood as an H&A Underhammer (which does meet our criteria).

I often thought that they should've made them in .54 and .58 instead of the .50 and .54 versions, as the .58 might've found a niche.

A 24 gauge won't blow up the squirrels unless you're literally right on top of them..., because you have no choke. What you will likely get is a pretty good pattern at 25 yards... if you use the Skychief Load . What it will also do is give you a round ball that will hammer deer, likely out to 50 yards or so.

LD