underhammer trap shotgun

[walruskid1]

wanted to post a pic that Papa sent me. its a underhammer switchbarrel that he made for a young family member. he used a remington 870 barrel with a breachplug fitted to a uh action. wish i had a relative like him, lucky kid! :applause:

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[TANSTAAFL]

Very neat retro fit. Looks like a handy piece to carry afield. :thumbsup:

 

[Britsmoothy]

I like that, brilliant :thumbsup:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Well that's kind'a clever.

Is there enough "meat" in an 870 barrel to safely thread it for a breechplug? :hmm: Sure hope so.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Absolutely: They have been used for years to make O/U shotguns with in-line strikers to fire percussion caps on nipples threaded through the plugs. Normally, builders, will cut off the flange that sticks out over the back of the chamber, the thread is about as deep as the rim of he cartridge , and the plug only has to be as long as any now used in traditional barrels. the loop on the bottom of the barrel is sometimes cut away, but some builders use that to hang the forestock from, and modify an existing 870 pump forestock for that purpose.

The O/U guns, known as " Friendship Specials" were popular in the 1980s and 90s. You see one there still once in awhile. These were more often made with Mossberg barrels because the Mossberg barrels were cheaper to buy.

The advantage of the 870 barrel used for this kind of project is that it may come already with a rib in place, giving better elevation for the head on the stock for the kind of shooting Trap shooters need to do. 870 Trap Buttstocks are also available, and are often used on these guns as is.

This Underhammer design actually produces a slimmer action than the Friendship Special , which mimics the shape and size of the standard Remington 870 or 1100 action in building those guns. Because the stocks are so common, and used stocks are relatively cheap, many BP builders will purposely design the back of their action frame to accept a Remington Buttstock.

 

[mckutzy]

could a simular barrel used with a flint lock for ignition? and would u have to use a patentbreach or could use a flat breachplug?

 

[gmww]

How did he attach the front stock? I'm assuming he used the front ring under the barrel on 870s. What about the back? :hmm:

I really like it. 12 ga. or 20 ga.?

Boy this might be the ticket for a 12 ga. Underhammer turkey gun. I got turkey chokes and everything. :hmm:

 

[walruskid1]

Dave,
This is a trap gun I built for my grandson. I used a Deer Creek action and then made up a 24" octagon to round .36 caliber rifle barrel. I then used the same action and took a 26" Remington 870 vent rib barrel with choke tubes and mounted it to the action. To mount the shotgun barrel I cut off the barrel extension and threaded the chamber for an extended breach plug. The same butt stock is used for both the rifle and shotgun but each barrel has its own forearm. I can either lengthen the existing stock or make up a new one as he grows. This set up will go to Friendship in June. Thought you might like to see it. I don't know how to post on the site but if you do, you are welcome to show it.
Mark

above is a copy of the email papa sent me, hope it helps.

 

[gmww]

The possibilities are numerous. One can make a barrel from .410, 16 ga., 28 ga., 20 ga., 12 ga. I like it! I'm still trying to figure out how he did the forend stock.

Oh John Taylor you got any ideas? :grin:

 

[Rebel]

Underlugs and pins maybe?

 

[gmww]

I'm thinking that is a very good possibility. I'm trying to work it out in my mind how to do this and set up for the ram rod w/out an under rib.

 

[paulvallandigham]

On a trap gun, you don't need to carry the ramrod with you. Leave it back at the loading bench. I don't know any trap club that lets you stand and load the gun at the firing line.

Even if you do take it into the field to hunt, you can carry the stick down the middle of your back, under the possible's bag strap, with the jag stuck under your belt. It won't move, or get in the way of any shoulder or hand movement, but is available by simply reaching behind your neck, and pulling the rod up and out, over your shoulder.

If you insist on having the ramrod with the gun, you can either run it along the off side of the forestock, or drill a hole under the barrel, and install one, or more pipes attached to half rib pieces soldered to the barrel. You do not need to install a solid half rib under the barrel, unless you want to. The barrel supports the pipes and ramrod. The jag will extend past the muzzle, because of the location of the nipple into the barrel, but not by much. Remember, the nipple enters the barrel just in front of the breechplug face, with maybe 1/8" between the two to give some room for crud to build up while shooting before it begins to interfere with ignition.

 

[Tinker2]

The possibilities are numerous. One can make a barrel from .410, 16 ga., 28 ga., 20 ga., 12 ga. I like it! I'm still trying to figure out how he did the forend stock.

I made a 20ga underhammer trap gun for myself in
the late 70's. Great gun I still have it.
Pistol grip butt stock. The forend is installed
with Underlugs and pins.

I will try to post a picture later.



Tinker2

 

[walruskid1]

i found two more pics of marks trap gun. here ya go....

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Everybody,
Thanks for all of the great comments on the switch barrel gun, I didn't know that David posted the pics. To answer some of your questions; the barrel is attached with 2 underlugs. I ground off the barrel ring and left the base in place then added a second base further to the rear for more stability. The forearm was then drilled and countersunk and the underlugs were drilled and tapped (10X32). The forearm is attached to the lugs with screws. If you want to carry the gun in the field the lugs could be left a little bit longer and a ramrod hole could be drilled through them. The forearm screws do not have to be very long and the ramrod would pass beneath them. The rifle barrel that is shown in David's last picture is attached to the forearm with pins placed conventionally through the bottom barrel flat. Fiting the breach plug was also fairly easy. After cutting off the barrel extension there was plenty of material in the shotgun barrel's chamber area to thread it right in. The body of the plug was fitted to the chamber diameter and the plug extension was fitted to the action. This gun was built in 20 gauge, with choke tubes, and .36 caliber. Since I built the gun 2 years ago I have had to extend the stock 3" and my grandson is still breaking birds with it. He also took 3rd place in the NMLRA youth shoot. Since I can't shoot right handed any longer, I am going to build another one for myself in 12 gauge. Underhammers are great toys for switch hitters.
Mark

 

[mckutzy]

could this also be used with a flintlock?

 

[gmww]

Thanks for all the information. I'm thinking I might pick me up some Express barrels in 12 ga. I already a have a rifled barrel that might be worth tricking out for just this. I could use BP and send a Sabot. Like I mentioned before the possibilities are endless. :thumbsup:

 

[John Taylor]

I made lugs to hold the forearm on with a hole for the ram rod when I was converting H&R shotguns to muzzle loading. The breach plug were made long ( about 2&3/4" ) so the ram rod would be long enough to reach it for cleaning. The breach was set up for the 209 primer and the ejector was lengthened to get rid of the spent primer. I sold about 2 dozen before Idaho changed their laws for hunting. This was long before the in lines came out. The same stile of lug could be used on a UH.

 

[John Taylor]

mckutzy , Just about any barrel can be made to work with a flintlock. I would cut most of the 12 gauge chamber off and maybe use a patent type breach. Why not make it an under hammer flinter?

 

[mckutzy]

that would be a totaly cool idea, i just havent much idea how that could work i haven seen much info on them and other than building the gun with the lock i have, on the left upside down, an idea i have though out but it would look weird. :hmm: