Converting shotgun barrel to muzzleloading

[Mr. Apol]

What drawbacks do you see to converting a single-barreled shotgun barrel to muzzleloading (in this case, my matchlock arquebus project)? I'm thinking of a 20 gauge barrel such as the ones used on H&R or Stevens 94 type shotguns. Cut off the underbarrel lug, thread the breech for a plug, bore a touchhole--is that all that's required?

Would it be necessary to bore out the chamber so no shoulder exists in the barrel?

Very curious,

Paul

 

I did it once. It works well but in the end it was more costly than ordering a new one. ---- The most important thing to remember is that the chamber is larger than bore diameter !! Most of the chamber needs to be removed. I cut all of the chamber off except what was needed for threading. Bill

 

[coehornboy]

Numrich sells a .68 bore unchambered barrel for about $15...they were made for L.C. Smith. They have a beefy breech, since they are unchambered. All you need to do is to add a breechplug

If you are using a chambered barrel, the breech walls are thin. In that case, I would drill a chamber in the breech plug to give you some more beef in the area of combustion.

:v

 

[Mr. Apol]

Thanks for the info. I ordered an unchambered blank from GPC this morning.

Paul

 

[Henry]

Breach plug : It is easy to breach a 20 ga
more difficult to find a thread that fits a 12

Lenght : a 28" barrel , minus the chambre
will not give a credible muzzleloader

But one can weld an extention ( I know, I did
and do not recommend it )

 

[Zonie]

Seems to me that a 20 guage shotgun barrel would be a bit thin for a gun that is supposed to be a matchlock arquebus.

Don't take this wrong. If your making a gun just for shooting, the modern steel used in a single shot shotgun should be more than up to the task of containing the pressures.

If I were to make an arquebus my first challenge would be to find a barrel that was thick enough to represent the technology of that era.