Homemade ??

[Greg blankenship]

I recently went to the range to blow off some steam and noticed a guy shooting black powder. I inched close to see what he had. I couldn't figure the 2 guns he had out,so I ask about them. Seems his uncle passed away and left,the,guns to him. Further conversation led to finding out his uncle made the guns. One was a 62 cal made kinda like a,fusil. The other was 40 cal full stock. They both were smooth bore. I never saw a 40 cal smooth bore. He said his uncle used shot in it for,squirrel. Never heard of that either. Is this possible. I was surprised to find out, everything except the,locks were made bay his uncle even the barrels. Upon further questioning I found the guy helped his uncle quite often. He said the his uncle made several guns for friends. I was quite interested in the,barrel part of this. He informed me the,barrel were made of 1137 steel for,the 40 and A513 for the 62 which the 40 he had in bar form and a machine shop drilled out and his uncle honed. The,62 was tube stock. My question is this possible ??? I am a do it youselfer and have always wanted to try this. Anyone have thoughts ?? Joined here new just for the,purpose of asking this question. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks

 

[WestKentucky]

Possible, yes. Takes a lot of skill, time, equipment, etc. best bet for a new builder is to buy a kit and make the best rifle you can from the kit, then make a decision on if you want to go at it from scratch.

 

[drobs]

Have about an hour to kill? Here's a neat watch:

The Colonial Gunsmith:


Film is from 1969 and each rifle takes 300 hours of work.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Sure, you'd be amazed at what a good machinist can do. You will note that they were smoothbores, not rifled. That's a bit tougher to do. The .62 was probably very thick tubing and he had it "turned down" and tapered from the breech to the muzzle to remove weight..., then after that all he needed was the back end threaded for the breech plug, and to install same, making sure it's flush and tight with the interior surface of the barrel.

LD

 

[drobs]

There's a guy make that - girl on youtube who made her own Colt Single Action Army from scratch in his machine shop.
I believe it's a 14+ part series.

Part 1:

 

[Patocazador]

Those Middlesex guns use tubing for their barrels. However, I don't trust them. Indian made guns are something to steer clear of IMO.

 

[maint1517]

There's a guy make that - girl on youtube who made her own Colt Single Action Army from scratch in his machine shop.
I believe it's a 14+ part series.

Part 1:

I just watched this. It turned out really nice. That lady's talented!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Indian made guns are something to steer clear of IMO.

Each of us is responsible for our own choices, to be sure.

I know of several India orgin guns sold by Loyalist Arms LLC that have been submitted to a proof house in England, and several more that have been submitted for proofing in Germany. They all passed. Then there were guns sold by CVA with barrels that were proofed in Spain at an official proofing house, and exploded. Then there are the Japanese Bess barrels, unproofed and no problems.

LD

 

[paul harm]

Back in the late 70's my brother in law [ who owned a machine shop ] , a friend who was a tool maker, and myself, made three 8ga O/U side hammer caplock muzzle loaders. The brother in law made the barrels from seamless tubing, the friend made the locks and triggers, and I stocked, or put it all together. We each got one. Proofing ? I shot mine with 400grs of 1F and 4oz of shot. I put .010 choke in each barrel and could kill geese at 65 yards with #2 shot.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Had a guy in town (since moved to Pueblo) who made rifled his own barrel. They were taught how to do that back in the days at TSJC. Now there's not enough time. Anyway, he used that barrel and bought a lock to make a flintlock. It came into my hands when he wanted some work done on it.

 

[daboyleroy]

There's a guy make that - girl on youtube who made her own Colt Single Action Army from scratch in his machine shop.
I believe it's a 14+ part series.

Part 1:

Now that young lady knows her stuff
better than a lot of production guns,
Thanks for the link
15 parts long.....did not watch in one sitting
Lee