Project pictures.....

B

bswiv

New member
The pictures are of a recently finished project. What you're seeing, not the best pictures I know, is a Ruger Red Label 20 ga converted to 45/70. It's regulated for 300 grain Remington Factory loads. The targets are my first shooting efforts with it. We used very light reloads but will work up to something close to the loads it is actually regulated for.

Thought I should psot because a number of you were very kind, about 6months ago, when this got started and answered a lot of my ignorant questions. Others of you were kind enough to answer some questions about light 45/70 loads.

Though you'd like to see that your help was put to good use.........

Thank you.........

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Can you actually see them?

It looks like I screwed something up and they did not post? Or is it my computer that wont let me see my own posting?
 
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The barrels, which were messed up before I bought it by someone trying to do a aftermarket choke job, were cut off at the mono-block. The mono-block was reamed out and a new set of Douglas barrels were set in place. The ejectors were welded up and finished, the hanger resoldered and the new rib set in place.

The barrels were turned in such a way that the existing wood could be reused without alteration. They are 22 inches long.

Some milling of the rib had to be done to get it ready for the scope mounts. The mounts are from A.R.M.S. and are their very low 30mm rings that have a mounting screw in the bottom of the ring that goes directly into the rib. It's very sturdy and keeps the Red Dot about as low on the bore as possible.

The rib is also milled for regular weaver rings should a standard style scope ever be wanted.

It weighs about 8 1/2 pounds. It's for hunting hogs here in Florida.
The hard part was the regulation. You can see by the targets that he did a good job of that.
 
I think that it is great that you plunged ahead with the project.

Who did the work? As I said in previous discussion Red Label to double rifle was a catalog job by Paul Jaeger in Pennsylvania about 25 years ago.
 
The work was done by Robert Hynden, Lamoni, Iowa.

The cost of buying the gun in it's original condition, the amunition to accomplish the regulation, the scope and rings, and a few other small things like shipping and the cost to have a FFL holder recieve it on this end, came to somewhere around $1600. The actual work cost another $3000 or so.

It's WAY more than I have ever spent on a gun. In fact it cost more than all the other guns I own. But when I first got my hands on it.....and when those first two shots went where they did...........well I'm happy.

Can hardly wait for hunting season so I can try it on a few wild hogs. That's what it's for, hunting hogs on foot in our thick swamps. I've got a old .35 Rem that has worked fine but as I've pased the half century mark I figured I had better enjoy a "just because I want it" rifle once in my life before it gets to late.
 
How does it handle?

Awesome work. Your 'smith really knows what he's doing. Did he make new firing pins and bushings, by the way? A Red Label based double rifle is something Ruger should have done years ago.

All things considered the price isnt that bad.
 
It handels well. Balances just in front of the hinge.

The pins did not need to be replaced. They may have needed to be replaced if we had decided to push the loads but as the decision was made to stick with loads that function safely in the Trapdoor it was not necessary. No sign of primers wanting to flow back around the pins.

We could not determin to our satisfaction that the action was up to hotter loads, as it is a shotgun action. It most likely is but we just could not see sufficent up side to testing the limits. And for that matter a 300 grain load at about 1800 fps is more than sufficent for the short ranges we hunt hogs at.

I heard that Ruger actually made a couple of research guns on the Red Label action, one in 45/70 and one in .375 H&H. If that's true, about the .375 H&H, then the action surely must be strong enough for much more than the Trapdoor loads, but as I said we were not able to verify to our satisfaction.

It was a real learning experence. I asked a ton of questions, probably was a pest at times. Really wish I could have been right there looking over his shoulder while he did it.

The whole thing gave me a greater appreciation for those of you who have the ability and training.
 
I recall Jaeger would rebarrel the Red Label to 9.3x74R, so it ought to hold any sensible .45-70 load; surely the SAAMI non-trapdoor 28,000 CUP. I don't recall a .375 but maybe it is in the article referred to by Slope.
 
Mr. Watson:

The gun was "proofed" by pulling the bullet from a few of the 300 grain factory loads and replacing them with 350 grain bullets. That should have produced at least a 15 to 20 percent increase in pressure from the factory loads. Seems right......

Gun and cases showed no signs of pressure.

It might actually be safe with loads for the Marlin type actions but at this point I'd sure hate to mess it up for the slight gain in performance.

Seems like a prudent course of action??
 
Unique, beautiful, functional, and accurate.
How could you make that gun better?
Is there any way it was previously owned by a President?
 
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