ordered a 4bore barrel today need lock source

[recycle33952]

Took the plunge on a 4 bore 1 1/2" dia 48" long octagon muzzleloader smooth bore barrel from e.rayl. Still I am in need of a underhammer action that will mate to this beast any suggestions appreciated. currious how bad the recoil is gonna be too

 

[Mike Brooks]

currious how bad the recoil is gonna be too

How heavy will the gun be? also depends how well the gun fits you. I've shot some MASSIVE 2 5/8 oz. loads out of ten bores that weighed 8 lbs or so, the gun fit me well, so it wasn't unbearable. never saw the logic of anything bigger. a 10 bore ball will kill anything on this continent absolutely dead.
recoil on a 4 bore...lets just say it will probably make your eyes water... :cry: why would you want to put yourself thru that? ::

 

[JohnTheGreek]

I think you should be able to get an action from Blue Grouse.... www.underhammers.com

As for recoil, I did some calculations online (another site I can't seem to find again) for my soon to be delivered Gefroh 8 bore Jaeger and lets just say it (and your 4 bore) promises to be "exhilirating". I, for one, think a 4 bore is a bit much even for Africa but I suppose there is no such thing as too much gun when facing 10,000 pounds of pachyderm protein. Shoot straight and ENJOY! Just remember one thing after you fire that thing on game...whether it be you or the elephant, the first one to get up is declared the winner!

JMHO,

Buffler Runner

 

[recycle33952]

yes to answer your question we estimate 25 pounds. was tinkering with a recoil reducer in the stock I think there mercury? that might balance the 48" bbl I hope its my very first build

 

[Mike Brooks]

my very first build

My profesional advice is that you may want to try something else on a smaller scale for a first attempt before stocking up the 4 bore. Seating the breech of a monster like that in the wood is going to be very critical with the amount of recoil you'll be experiencing. In fact, the monsterous proportions can be pretty tough to handle even for experienced gun stockers.
here's the only 4 bore I've ever built. It's a copy of a british wall gun. 60" barrel and 38lbs total. The lock alone weighed 3lbs!
getting the proportion right on this gun was much harder than I had expected.

 

[jimbo15563]

Recycle,

I'd like to recommend some reading material for you. First is the Pacific Rifle Company website:

Pacific Rifle Co.

They build a beautiful, but expensive underhammer called the Zephyr. The standard model is a 20 bore, the Alaskan Zephyr is a 12 bore and the African Zephyr is an 8-bore. The can shoot 200-300 grain charges, depending on the model. What I find interesting is that they port the barrel to reduce the recoil. They also have ballistic data for a 20 and 12 bore roundball. The 8-bore has a dual musket cap ignition.

Second is a link to a book by Sir Samuel Baker written in the late 1800's, telling about his adventures as a hunter in Africa and India.

Wild Beasts and Their Ways

In it he talks about his 2-bore named "Baby" that shot a half-pound ball! You can read this book on line courtesy of Project Gutenberg.

Jimbo

 

What no wheels or carriage. :crackup: On a more serious note what a pretty piece. One question though, were they gimbal mounted or did they fit into a yoke(almost like an oar lock)? Seems to me I have seen them that way. I can see your design dilema, if you proportioned the wrist and butt to the barrel it would be to big to handle.(about a 20-25" pull) Looks like a pretty thick wrist anyway, but needed for the breech and tang. My compliments to the chef. :haha: Bill

 

[recycle33952]

hi mike thats a very impressive piece you got there!
my design is suprisingly simple. simply a kit underhammer gun but with a 4 bore barrel. the barrel width exceeds the reciever width but sowhat it will still shoot. it will be affordable figguring about $400
I ordered a tvm blunderbuss kit too that will take alot more skill but I think I can tackle it im gonna cheat and have them inlet the stock for lock,trigger and bbl $60 xtra im having alot of fun and im bound to make some frankenstein guns before I get the hang of it lol.. one day if I get good ill move up to the high dollar kits. but I would be in hog heaven if I could make a gun as nice as that one by your side

 

[Mike Brooks]

Bill,

The Wall gun is set up for an oar lock type of affair. Kind of a swivel gun sort of thing. I've read these were used on ships as well as rampart guns ontop of forts.

 

[SavageArcher]

Sir, I myself am very fond of large bore weapons however a 4 bore is far beyond any limit I would care to endure. If I ever won the lottery and could afford to galivant around the world in pursuit of dangerous critters I feel a 10 bore or maybe an 8 bore would be plenty. However its your desire to have one by all means follow your dreams and I hope the very best in your endvour and please post a video of you shooting off hand the first full charge. That would be intresting to see.

I've seen underhammer guns as big as 8 bore, but I'm not familar enough with them to say much about their ability to handle the recoil of your proposed pachyderm slayer. My idea would be take a hard wood log inlet the barrel and hefty sidelock and wittle away from there. According to what I've read about British big bores 25 pounds isn't too heavy for such a weapon.

Fredrick Selous hunted elephants with a Belgian 6 gauge smoothbore at I believe 23 pounds, He also stated as a result of that weapon he deloveped a terrible flinch for the rest of his life.

 

Once you've shot one, everything else is a peashooter.

 

Souldn't this thread be in the Cannons column :crackup: Bill

 

[faw3]

for sure....KA BOOOM

 

[JoeC]

Recycle .
I built a 4-bore last year , (just in time for the
Pa. deer season !!!!) used it to bag a nice whitetail
doe on the opening day .
Yeah ! i guess you could say it is a bit of overkill .
Anyway , i got my barrel from Ed Rayl. a 30" long tapered otagon , tapered from 1 3/4 inch at breech to
1 1/2" at the muzzle . it is a rifled barrel. 1 in 95" twist . I built a flintlock version of an English
Sporting Rifle , (so i could use it in the Pa. flintlock season) . The gun weighs just about 17 1/2 lbs. I wanted it light enough to carry , but heavy enough to absorb some of the recoil (actually doesn't seem to absorb as much as i would like :shocking:. )
My hunting load was 225 gr 2f with the 1700 gr ball.
it gets about 1000 fps over the chronograph .
Recoil is not too bad . about like my 460 Wtby mag , maybe a bit more. When you start going up to the 300 ,
350 , 400, gr loads you really notice it..........
Got one of my friends to shoot it with a 460 gr load. :shocking: :shocking: :shocking:
Definitely have to get that video off of him .....

I did chronograph it with various loads.
200 gr 950 fps
250 1025
300 1075
350 1125
Feel free to ask any questions , especially about
"RECOIL" i have a lot of experience with that ....
Joe

 

[robinghewitt]

Souldn't this thread be in the Cannons column :crackup: Bill

Very nearly, they took a wallgun when they couldn't quite justify a cannon. It was the next best thing :thumbsup: