Michael Tinker Pearce
Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,576
People keep handing me junky old single-shot shotguns. Not complaining, mind you! I did a project the other year where I used a piece of .45 muzzle-loader barrel to convert one to .45 Colt. It worked, but with the barrel rifled for round-ball I was limited to bullets of 200gr or less; the heavier bullets just didn't stabilize well enough. I still had a piece of barrel left over and another parts-gun, and Iver Johnson 16-gauge and I decided to test a theory. I chambered this one for .410 3-inch (which also takes .45 Colt just fine. I got the barrel turned down and mounted and...
...problem. When I measured I only had 15-1/2" of barrel. I discovered that with a little heat and coaxing a section of the original 16-gauge barrel fit neatly over the muzzle and a random piece of steel tubing fit right over that. I pinned and welded it in place and now I had a 17.5" barrel. Good to go. Then I figured it I was going to have a muzzle-device it might as well have holes in it so I drilled three rows of holes in the top. I mounted a bead front sight onto it and I was in business. Of course I needed to modify the ejector for the smaller-diameter cartridges. I made a full-length fore-end out of some Walnut, mounted a plate on the barrel and ran a wood-screw into the fore-end through the plate. I sanded and refinished the stock and stained it to more-or-less match the fore-end and I was ready to test-fire.
This is pre-cleanup, so forgive the mess.
It shoots .45 Colt 200gr. bullets alright. As for .410 I tried some 3" Remington Express #6 shells. From a cylinder-bore shotgun I expect about 1" of spread for each yard downrange. I expected that the rifling, even at a 1-42 pitch, would have a negative effect on this and tried it at ten yards. about a 12-14" pattern with a few flyers going further out, but not to far off what I would expect. .410 slugs worked just fine too. Then it was time to try the real experiment: .410 000 buck shot. I had a theory. In this loading the .38-caliber shot are stacked in line. I wondered if just maybe the wad would act as a sabot and the slow rifling pitch might impart some stability to the shot and produce a decent pattern. I tried a shot at ten yards.
About a 2-1/2" pattern at ten yards. A couple of more shots yielded similar results. AWESOME. When I get more 000-buck ammo (and have a rear sight mounted) I'm going to try it out at longer ranges and see about chronographing it etc. Fun project! I may bore the other .45 Colt carbine to accept .410 and hand it to my boy for dealing with the local chicken-killing racoons in his area.
...problem. When I measured I only had 15-1/2" of barrel. I discovered that with a little heat and coaxing a section of the original 16-gauge barrel fit neatly over the muzzle and a random piece of steel tubing fit right over that. I pinned and welded it in place and now I had a 17.5" barrel. Good to go. Then I figured it I was going to have a muzzle-device it might as well have holes in it so I drilled three rows of holes in the top. I mounted a bead front sight onto it and I was in business. Of course I needed to modify the ejector for the smaller-diameter cartridges. I made a full-length fore-end out of some Walnut, mounted a plate on the barrel and ran a wood-screw into the fore-end through the plate. I sanded and refinished the stock and stained it to more-or-less match the fore-end and I was ready to test-fire.
This is pre-cleanup, so forgive the mess.
It shoots .45 Colt 200gr. bullets alright. As for .410 I tried some 3" Remington Express #6 shells. From a cylinder-bore shotgun I expect about 1" of spread for each yard downrange. I expected that the rifling, even at a 1-42 pitch, would have a negative effect on this and tried it at ten yards. about a 12-14" pattern with a few flyers going further out, but not to far off what I would expect. .410 slugs worked just fine too. Then it was time to try the real experiment: .410 000 buck shot. I had a theory. In this loading the .38-caliber shot are stacked in line. I wondered if just maybe the wad would act as a sabot and the slow rifling pitch might impart some stability to the shot and produce a decent pattern. I tried a shot at ten yards.
About a 2-1/2" pattern at ten yards. A couple of more shots yielded similar results. AWESOME. When I get more 000-buck ammo (and have a rear sight mounted) I'm going to try it out at longer ranges and see about chronographing it etc. Fun project! I may bore the other .45 Colt carbine to accept .410 and hand it to my boy for dealing with the local chicken-killing racoons in his area.
