Underhammer Buggy Rifle

[Mike Gordon]

Here are some photos of an unfinished Buggy Rifle that Have been working on way too long. The barrel started as a .36 cal piece of barrel from Numrich. Other than the nipple and a few screws, everything else was hacksawed and filed from pieces of scrap I had .

 

[sheriff john]

Nice.

 

[hanshi]

You did a great job; very nice!

 

[Nobade]

Well done!
I think the whole idea of the bicycle rifle needs to be brought back.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

Well executed!

 

[Bowhunter73]

Well done buddy looks great.

 

[kemart17]

Here are some photos of an unfinished Buggy Rifle that Have been working on way too long. The barrel started as a .36 cal piece of barrel from Numrich. Other than the nipple and a few screws, everything else was hacksawed and filed from pieces of scrap I had .

your gun looks great!!!!!

 

[Hanger]

Nice! Does the stock just stay put with pressure? Or is there some type of retaining pin?

 

[Mike Gordon]

Nice! Does the stock just stay put with pressure? Or is there some type of retaining pin?

I was originally going to use a pin or screw to hold it in, but there is enough of a taper that it stays on by itself. Removing it just takes a wack with the rubber handle of a screwdriver.

Making the wire stock was easier than I thought. Filing a rectangular hole through the solid frame took several times longer.

 

[Dale Lilly]

Here are some photos of an unfinished Buggy Rifle that Have been working on way too long. The barrel started as a .36 cal piece of barrel from Numrich. Other than the nipple and a few screws, everything else was hacksawed and filed from pieces of scrap I had .

Wow! Genius ... Dale

 

[Mike Gordon]

Here are some photos of an unfinished Buggy Rifle that Have been working on way too long. MThe barrel started as a .36 cal piece of barrel from Numrich. Other than the nipple and a few screws, everything else was hacksawed and filed from pieces of scrap I had .

My design was derived but not copied from one that was shown in the Wolfe publications book Gunsmithing Tips and Projects. The frame is a composite made from a section of barrel, a 3/8 flat steel plate and several steel bits and pieces that are bolted, pinned and brazed together.

 

[Hanger]

I was originally going to use a pin or screw to hold it in, but there is enough of a taper that it stays on by itself. Removing it just takes a wack with the rubber handle of a screwdriver.

Making the wire stock was easier than I thought. Filing a rectangular hole through the solid frame took several times longer.

Thanks for the reply. Will definitely think about this on upcoming projects. Is the stock out of 5/8 cold rolled?

 

[Colonial Boy]

Well done!!

 

[Mike Gordon]

Thanks for the reply. Will definitely think about this on upcoming projects. Is the stock out of 5/8 cold rolled?

The stock was made from 1/4 cold rolled rod. It was shaped by heating to a red hot heat and hammered into forms made from hardwood scrap from old pallets. The reinforcing center piece makes the stock remarkably rigid despite having been made from 1/4" rod. It too was brazed. The idea for the stock came from a picture from Hershel Logan's book Underhammer Guns.

The grip panels are made from pieces of cherry that came from a cherry tree that stood in my yard when I was a kid. After the tree was cut down I took a thick limb and cut it by hand into a big slab and then put it away and forgot about for twenty years until my parents sold their house.

 

[1950DAVE]

Nice work.

 

[Mike Gordon]

I took my little Buggy Rifle out to the range for the first time even though I need to get the correct ball mold. I thought that the 100 grain round nose bullets I cast for the 380 ACP might work. Numrich .36 cal muzzle loader barrels are tight and my guess is that except for the slow twist they are essentially .380/9mm/.357 barrels. Well they fit in the bore and do go bang. However where they are going is another story.

I had to partially disassemble the gun for cleaning so here is another photo.

 

[Metalshaper]

IF, its a true Numrich .36 barrel.. The specified ball size is 0.340.

<my bud's Numrich .32, take a 0.297 ball, my .36 uses the .340>

Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan

 

[Barry Strickland]

Mike, Nice job.
I also have a fascination with bottom slammers. I bought my wife a H&A underhammer in 36 cal in the early 1970"s. It was the short barreled buggy rifle. It used a .345 ball with a 0.014 patch and if I recall correctly 22 gr of powder. That was a sweet shooting little rifle.
I have another pistol I built up using a Numrich 357 barrel and it loves the same ball and patch with 16 gr of powder and is very accurate.
I think you will be really happy with the buggy rifle when you take it to the range.

 

[Mike Gordon]

IF, its a true Numrich .36 barrel.. The specified ball size is 0.340.

<my bud's Numrich .32, take a 0.297 ball, my .36 uses

IF, its a true Numrich .36 barrel.. The specified ball size is 0.340.

<my bud's Numrich .32, take a 0.297 ball, my .36 uses the .340>

Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan

I definitely bought the barrel from Numrich. I took a Cerrosafe casting at the muzzle and measuring with a micrometer I got .357/.358 from groove to groove. So I'm hoping a .350 patched ball will fit. Every thing I have read about Numrich barrels says they tend to be tighter than other manufactures barrels in the same caliber. This barrel however is different, which makes me think it was not a Numrich manufactured barrel but was instead made by some other barrel maker and leftover scraps were sold to Numrich.

 

[BillinOregon]

One of these has been on my list since forever. I blame the old Gun Digests and Ned Roberts's "The Muzzleloading Caolock Rifle." Eager to hear how she shoots once you have a proper mold for it.