double barrel shotgun to double rifle?

M

madmike

New member
Is it possible to build a pair of rifle barrels for a shotgun receiver? I assume the power would have to be somewhat limited to keep on par with the shotgun receiver design.
 
Mike, it's possible but I think the expense would be enormous. I've never done it myself. I think the biggest problem would be in (the term escapes me) aligning the bbls to hit at reasonably the same point of aim. George
 
George, I believe the term is "regulating." Apart from that, could a dbl bbl shotgun receiver take the pressure from something of the 30'06 variety or would it have to be lower pressure. What are the limits? I've often thought of this, myself.
 
Actually, American Rifleman had an article on this very subject about 15 years ago or so.

I THINK the individual took a post-war double and converted it to fire 7x57?
 
I have never seen one in 06 but have seen several in....8mm Mauser, 444 Marlin, .405 Winchester, 45/70 and a few others that I can't remember. Regulation would be a bugger. To do it right one should remove the ribs, put try blocks at the muzzles, test fire and adjust try blocks till it is regulated, solder ribs back on and test to see if anything changed for the worse. Then install sights and get them right in relation to where the barrels shoot. Often more man hours involved in regulating than all of the rest of the gun's manufacture.

Most were on quite old but post damascus guns.

And they have been gawdawfull heavy.

That's why good doubles and drillings are pricey.

Sam
 
I have seen one (in .45-70 I believe) that was converted from a 20 gauge shotgun. I don't remember the maker, but the guy had waited forever. The barrels looked as though they had been relined. Ross Seyfried had a good article on regulating barrels with handloads in either the "Rifle" or Handloader" some months back. The lower pressure of a .45-70 would make sense, I suppose.
 
Just thinking of a part time project to play with when nothing else is going on.

Could you use two laser boresighters to align them?
 
I would think Lasers would get you in the ball park quicker. Probably the fastest to regulate would be with no ribs tween the barrels, just the front block........then you don't have the possibility of everything goin out the window cause you soldered the ribs on and changed the barrel vibration factor. Ugly but practical. I don't like the looks of the high dollar OUs that birds can fly tween the barrels but they sho do work. On a side by side might be so ugly it's cute....kinda like baby pigs. And a place to hang your golf tees.

Sam
 
Actually there is a guy in Cali that does this - at least as of a couple of years back. Chuck Searcy is the name that comes to mind. May not be right......

I understand that after Krighoff introduced their SxS .470 for 10k or so, most of the conversion business dropped off.

Giz
 
For guys who like this sort of thing, I recommend "The Gun and Its Development" by W. W. Greener. It has all kinds of stuff like how guns operate, how to build guns, how to regulate double rifles, the list goes on. The detailed drawings alone are invaluable. ;)
 
Try this thought:

Shotguns are normally proofed at about 25,000 cup. A 7x57 runs about 45,000, with .30-'06 about 50k and .308 55-60k.

Double rifles are made much heavier and have much stronger lockup than double shotguns. IMHO, it is an idea whose time has not come unless one is willing to stick to very low pressure rifle loads. And then comes regulating the barrels.

Jim
 
Thinkin out loud. If 12 ga is proofed at 15,000 cup and the old shotgun was built to withstand such pressure.

And if the rifle round was in the 50,000 range....

Then if in the realm of 30-06 sized case.....the rifle round would would exert less force on the bits n pieces of the shotgun due to the differences in base and wall areas. PSI times area ect.

All the conversions that I have seen had a lot of meat in the rifle insert.....leaving only the base area to be of concern.

Sam............and the ones I have seen were terribly heavy.
 
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CZ has one- an o/u- coming out in .458. I believe price will be in the low 4's. It IS based on their shotgun action.
 
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