Converting Pedersoli Frontier rifle to smoothbore

[Rebel]

I recently sold a Frontier rifle to a friend. He wants to have it bored out to a smoothbore. I gave him a good deal on it, so he would only be into it a little over $400 with the boring. It is a .50 cal. I'm not sure if the barrel diameter is 7/8" or 15/16". Hopefully somneone here with one can tell me. Depending on the barrel diameter, what would it be safe to bore it out to, taking into consideration the dovetails for the sights and underlugs? I am pretty sure it could go to .54 cal/28 ga. safley. How about a .58cal./.24 ga using a patched rd ball or 7/8-1 oz of shot over 70-75 grs of 4f poswer. Thanks for any help.

 

Rebel, yer best bet would be to give Ed Rayl a call, and discuss it with him. I think he charges about $100 to rebore and rifle, so a smoothie might be cheaper. He won't do anything unsafe. But with any barrel work turnaround will depend on how busy he is. He does excellent work, and has an excellent rep. He isn't in the cyber world yet, as far as I know. His number is 304-364-8269, and his address is Ed Rayl, P.O. Box 91, Gassaway WV 26624

If ya talk to him let him know he's getting a lot of talk on this site. Bill

 

[Rebel]

Thanks Bill, i'll pass the info on to my friend and let him know about Ed.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Yeah Rebel, I think that is a good idea. Their .50 cal barrels are 7/8" and the dovetails are not as deep as some, so 28 ga. should be safe and I don't think you'd want much larger anyway. The frontier is pretty light and the stock shape is not best for heavy recoil but with loads of one ounce or less it should be a hoot. With the exception of goose hunting, I think a 28 will do anything you can ask of a shotgun and it's a good bore size for ball as well. :thumbsup:

 

[Rebel]

Thanks for the reply. I think he is going to check with Joe at The Gunworks in Springfield, Or. I hear he does some good barrel work.