H&R Sidekick converted to a handgun?

[bigbore442001]

I guess I have too much time on my hands so I come up with these different ideas. Since the Sidekick is a muzzleloader that is sold without the federal paperwork, in essense a non firearm , why can't one convert it to a handgun?

Several years ago MDM muzzleloaders were at a gun show and they had a handgun version of their break open muzzleloading rifle. I figure why not make a powerful single shot muzzleloading hunting handgun?

Anyone care to comment?

 

[mykeal]

Why?

 

[Old Fuff]

Well the Old Fuff once converted a 1911 pistol into a single-shot muzzleloader, with a ramrod where the recoil spring should have been.

So far as federal laws are concerned, muzzleloaders are not considered firearms. Therefore you can cut down a double-barreled shotgun to lengths not allowed on cartridge arms. If you have the desire to cut down a Sidekick I see no legal reason you can't, but check your state laws and hunting regulations, as some states restrict what can or can't be hunted with a black powder handgun.

 

[bigbore442001]

Mykeal asked the universal question,"Why?"

My simple answer is that I want something unique. I like to hunt with specialty handguns like TC Contenders but no one out there has a dedicated specialty BP handgun like I am describing.

 

[scrat]

Unique does not constitute in destroying a firearm. on another thread they were posting pics of personal firearms. One of the members had a whole bunch of sawed off guns. I just have a problem with. First it just showed everyone look what i can get introuble with. As some were well below legal lengths. then they just all looked terrible. I would not want to own any of them. They all looked like scrap metal to me.

 

[mykeal]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, someone once said (actually, Margaret Wolfe Hungerford in Molly Bawn, 1878).

One man's junk is another man's treasure.

And other homilys of a similar nature...

 

[theotherwaldo]

The universal answer is "because".

If I found a suitably mistreated black powder shotgun I would probably cut it down - purely from curiosity. What kind of pattern? How much recoil? How handy? You get the idea. I might even cut it down an inch at a time, trying it out between cuts.

Of course, I might junk it afterward... .

 

[PTK]

scrat

I'm probably the member you saw with all the "sawed off guns". ALL of my guns are legal - those with short barrels (along with my silencers and grenade launchers) are registered per the 1934NFA. Each has a tax stamp. As for how they look, that's fine by me, we all have our own preferences.

bigbore442001

As long as it is truly a muzzleloader by legal definition, go right ahead and make a pistol out of it. You'll loose velocity and sight radius, but if it's what you want...

 

[bigbore442001]

I'm not worried about sight radius. I would have the barrel cut at 16" and have a Weaver style base on the barrel. It would have either an Aimpoint or a 2x Burris handgun scope.

 

[MikeJackmin]

If it makes you happy, go for it. It's not like you are slicing up an irreplaceable antique.

One caution - I think the stock is held on with a long bolt that goes in under the buttplate. If you saw it down to a pistol grip, you are going to have a big ugly hole under your palm. Not sure how a proper grip can be mounted there.

 

[bigbore442001]

Choate makes a pistol grip for the H&R with a short bolt.

 

[Dithsoer]

I cut down a Hawken which had it's bore messed up towards the muzzle. 16 inches and I lost nothing in regard to accuracy. I reinstalled the front site and switched to fff powder. I did loose velocity but I really got a lot of admiring looks and questions. "Where'd you get that? I want one."
In today's world of forced conformity and complacency, uniqueness has an appeal all of it's own.
It's sad, but it seems that a lot of people on this and similar sites just don't get that. The slightest bit of unorthodoxy and your scoffed at as an idiot. Maybe I'm a cynic, but from my experience, I find it's best to just keep such ideas to yourself.