Hog Rifle

[Rifleball36]

I am in the process of building a .36 cal hog gun. I have not decided if I wont to put a flat iron plate on the butt or use nothing. This is going to be a plain gun nothing fancy. If I decide not to use a flat iron on the butt what will be a good way to protect it. It could over time take a beating when loading. If any of you gun builders have done this I would appreicate the advice.

 

[Roy]

I don't too much worry about protecting a plain gun. Keep the inside of the lock and the barrel clean. When I do make one with out a butt plate I tend to find a good hard piece of wood.

 

[F.G. Ford]

Deer antler makes a period buttplate, and also protects the wood from chipping or breaking the toe of your stock.
I hope this helps

Old Ford

 

[Jaymo]

What about horn, either cow, buffalo, or bison?

 

[Many Klatch]

Some early "hog guns" didn't have butt plates. I built one with a nail at the upper edge of the butt and the rest of the butt painted with red oil paint. Not a lot of these guns survived because they were used up.

Many Klatch

 

[twotoescharlie]

don't want a single shot hog rifle unless I'm huntin' outa a tree.
our hogs are mean and a 40 cal. would just aggravate them.

TTC

 

[Wehrmacht]

My idea of a "Hog Gun" is a plain jane short barreled piece that's easy to tote through the bushes and rough stuff. No butt plate or extra anything! One you can bang around and not worry about scratching and dinging up and to heck with it if you do! Large caliber like at least .50cal and .60cal is better!

When your dogs have a boar hog bayed up in a stump hole....one that has BIG CUTTERS that's killing your dogs and running your vet bill up by the second.... you need something that will control the situation and not be too delicate and pretty. That's my thoughts anyhow.

 

[Rifleball36]

This is not a gun to hunt wild hogs. It is a Virginia hog gun. The type gun you keep in the barn or behind the kitchen door. Use it at hog killing or when ever you might need a gun. :thumbsup:

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

This is not a gun to hunt wild hogs. It is a Virginia hog gun. The type gun you keep in the barn or behind the kitchen door. Use it at hog killing or when ever you might need a gun. :thumbsup:

There ya go! I was wondering if you knew what you were making and it turns out you do. :hatsoff: Of course you are a Virginia boy too so the term "Hog Rifle" or "Hog Gun" means different things to us than it does to our brethern elsewhere. After the muzzleloader the hog gun evolved into a cheap .22 rifle kept where it would be handy at butchering time. Not pretty but effective even though it may be at the end of it's usefullness for anything else. You hold it close to the hog and shoot him right between the eyes. Old hog says: :surrender:
Show us pics when you are done. Oh, I would go with a handforged nail at the heel (where the comb meets the butt) its all you need and is typical.

 

Has any one actually seen an original mountain rifle with an antler or horn comb piece or toe plate? I've got a lot of resources on this topic and have never seen one in print or in person unless it was a modern piece. Not saying you shouldn't do it. I've just never seen it on an original gun.

I'll agree with the others on the barrel length issue. For a real Appalachian hog rifle, a 42" barrel was fairly short. 44-46" was probably closer to the norm, and some ranged up to 72" when you get into the Soddy-Daisy school. I've always thought a long 7/8-3/4" tapered octagon barrel would make a great gun of this ilk. Someone like Mark De haas could whip something like that out for you in fairly short order.

Sean

 

[Spot1540553049]

Sean,
I've actually seen an origional muzzle loder with the butt plate fashioned from a horn sheet. This was in a small utility caliber and had origionally been a flint gun but converted to percussion. There were no toe plate or any bend for the top finial just a flat peice of horn that conformed to the curve of the butt. It was what appeared to be pegged on to the butt rather than nailed athough there were also some tacks used to makeshift repairs. I would speculate that the horn was used origionally azs there wasn't any indication that the horn was a repair.
I've seen another origional where horn was used on the butt to replace what was origionally a metal butt plate. These firearms were in the Great Smokey Mountains of Appalachia. The one with with what I believed to be the origional buttlate of horn in Western NC and the one that I felt was a repair in east Tennessee

 

Spot,

Thanks. It would be interesting to see pictures if you have them. I can see a horn buttplate like that, but I've never seen one personally. Horn was the 'plastic' of old. I've just never seen the piece of antler inlaid on the comb that we often see on modern kits and recreations of 'poorboys' with germanic locks.

Sean

 

[Runner]

Has anyone seen a poorboy or a barn gun with a rawhide wrap at the butt?