effengee
Member
My brother-in-law recently got an old Riverside Arms 16 gauge break-action for really cheap. The reason being that the original owner broke the forestock and figured the gun was useless because he couldn't find a replacement stock. Nearby, there's a gunshop with a barrel full of parts guns. I found a beat-up 12 gauge shotgun with a good forestock for $15. It was another no-longer-in-business gun, but it was made in Brazil. The rear stock is missing, the trigger was broken off, it wasn't closing up fully due to alot of gunk in the hinge and extractor, and somebody hacksawed the barrel off at 18 3/4". I bought it solely for the forestock which, after a bit of sanding and finishing, fit the 16 like it was made for it. So now I had this beater 12 gauge action I was messing around with. I have recently changed out the rear grip on my AK-47 for one of the SAW grips sold by Tapco, and many years ago changed the wood lower forward grip for a plastic vertical grip. It seemed that these two pieces would work. My brother-in-law is quite the welder and metal worker, and between the two of us, we have managed to fit these components onto this shotgun. I first scrubbed the gun and checked the bore. Amazingly, it is bright and shiny with no pitting. The action now closes and locks very solidly, since I used at least a half a can of powderblast, various picks and brushes, and a goodly amount of elbow grease on it. I used a metal barrel band from a broken toy cap gun, and a machine screw to hold the forestock on, my brother-in-law has welded on a piece to the trigger, and a bar to secure the rear grip to. He has also made side plates to cover what the rear stock would have, and apart from some final grinding and finishing, it's beginning to look like Frankenstein may live again. We're also thinking of mounting a rail under the barrel for a flashlight. I won't have pics for at least a few more days, as he is working on it as time allows, and it still needs to be blued and possibly stained or painted on the forestock. This will be my first gun done this way, and the more I think about it, the more I want to go back and search through that barrel again. I love to work on guns, and have completed many refinishing projects. My newest one is a Savage 24C Series P .22 LR over 20 gauge that needs a firing pin for the shotgun and some serious TLC to the stocks. The pin is on it's way, and I'll soon have pics of that one to post as well. I really enjoy bringing guns back to life, but I think Frankie is going to be my new favorite project gun. My kids have dubbed it the zombie killer. I can't wait to try it out once it is complete. Again, I promise to post pics soon...
