Cutting back a bulged kentucky

[elbeefalo]

Two questions.

I have this crappy bulged Jukar 45 in my garage. It's got a bulge 13 3/4" up from the chamber (about 18 1/4" down the muzzle). I'm going to be cutting it back to the 13 1/2" mark, which is a little passed where my patches reengage the rifling. I'm still not decided on whether I should just cut it down to a blanket gun or make a new pistol stock for it.

Would the 1/66 twist even be worth keeping for that length?

Would it really affect anything coming out of it, be it round ball or shot?

I could bore it out to a smoothbore 50 in any case, but if the 1/5th a turn doesn't matter anyway I could just leave it. Opinions?

 

[Zonie]

After I get done saying that what I end up with wouldn't be worth much if anything except for me to use, here's my thoughts.

Even in good condition the Jukar's aren't very valuable and there are a lot of them out there.

A rifle with a 13 1/2" barrel would look more than a little odd to me.

There isn't really enough wood to make a suitable handgun grip on a Jukar stocks wrist.

That brings me to the crazy part.
I would seriously consider buying a plain maple pistol blank from Pecatonica River for $20 + shipping. An alternate blank would be the walnut one for $25 + shipping.
http://www.longrifles-pr.com/stockblanks.shtml

These blanks are not pre-cut for a barrel or lock so I would have to do the task of making the barrel channel and the lock mortise by using the cut off Jukar barrel and its lock for the guides.

I would probably end up buying a pistol trigger guard and trigger assembly and maybe a front and rear sight for a total investment of $50-70.

Yes, there's a lot of work in cutting the blank so the barrel, lock, trigger and trigger guard fit and so the pistol stock hidden inside the blank is standing proud but doing this would give me a fun pistol to shoot and more importantly, it would give me the experience of building the gun.

That's my idea. It's a cheap learning lesson that results in something fun to play with.

 

[Dave K]

You may find a barrel on Flea bay that is just right.

 

[elbeefalo]

Since it is just a Jukar, I don't feel bad mauling the hell out of it to make something usable.

The lock and trigger are good enough (they work) to rig into a cheap pistol.

I'm mostly interested in if the tiny bit of rifling is worth keeping.

 

[nchawkeye]

Cut it in two, then you have two horseshoe stakes... :grin:

 

[satx78247]

IF I had that gun, I'd look on ebay or another similar site for another barrel at a price that I wanted to pay.

yours, satx

 

[musketshooter]

Throw it outside and let a rust a bit, then sell it for a wall hanger. It is not worth spending a dime on.

 

[necchi]

I'm mostly interested in if the tiny bit of rifling is worth keeping.

Sure, :idunno: Nuthin to loose,
Try it, the accuracy will be all about a proper patch fit, lube and charge, and the charge doesn't need to be large at all 20-40grns will probably do it. The cut will need to be square and the bore at the muzzle will need to be crowned proper.
It is kinda hard to get reasonable answers about work like that on a forum section dedicated to gun building, because what your dealing with isn't really "building" is it?

 

[ohio ramrod]

At 25 yds. or less very few people can shoot a correctly rifled pistol more accurate than a tight fit smoothbore . Also for pistols you will shoot 20 grain or less charges. It sounds more like a "something to play with project" than a competitive target shooting pistol. So go ahead and have fun with it! :idunno: :idunno:

 

[54ball]

IMHO the risk too great for so little of a gain. It already has a bulge.

What stresses and potential fail points may be lurking in the rest of the assembly?

Since it has survived a mishap without failing, personally I think it has done it's job and is now a "dead soldier".

If you shop around you can find a pistol barrel and a piece of wood suitable for a new project.

 

[Col. Batguano]

How many hundreds of hours do you want to devote to a $75 finished rifle? :surrender:

 

[ChrisPer]

Buy decent components and build something good!

 

[Zonie]

I'm guessing no one likes my buy a blank and build a pistol idea? :grin:

I'm betting if my idea was used, after the gun was finished it would be great fun to shoot.

More importantly, a lot of lessons will be learned on a gun where a few mistakes won't make much difference.

The experience gained from the time invested in doing this will pay for itself many times over when the time comes to spend some real money in expensive wood and parts to build a "good" gun.

Many of the goof ups will have been made and the lessons learned on this pistol.

 

[elbeefalo]

Which is kinda what I was thinking, too.

Despite other suggestions that I use it as a door stop. Or to chock the wheels of my truck.

 

[bpd303]

Anyone suggest using it for a tomato stake? :grin: I like the idea of a couple of pistols because I always try to re-purpose everything.

 

[Brian6396]

Cut and crown the barrel. Then take your short barrel rifle to the range and see if the range officers know the law or yell at you for not having the permits for it. :thumbsup:

 

[elbeefalo]

I actually did that today.

20 grains of 2F and a paper patch from a sawed off draws some attention...

 

[necchi]

and see if the range officers know the law or yell at you for not having the permits for it.

Moot point, custom build single shot muzzleloader/antique replica, in development,,
The door is nearly wide open, all you have to do is not shoot someone else with it.
If it has a butt stock it's a rifle, if it doesn't have a butt stock it's a pistol.
The barrel can be 2"s or 5 feet.
:idunno:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Since it is just a Jukar, I don't feel bad mauling the hell out of it to make something usable.

Good. Now drill a hole through the bottom near the breech plug, pull wire through barrel and make into a lampstand. Should be interesting and won't hurt anyone.

 

[ChrisHarris]

:rotf: :thumbsup: