Interested in building/making/crafting a SxS Shotgun

[Groffeaston]

Hello everyone,

I was watching TV and saw a shaow about the Side by Side Double Barrel Shotgun. It got me thinking: "What would it take to build one from scratch?"

What shape of the stock? What type of wood? The barrels' shape? Would you have choke tubes or not? The length of the barrels? Would you have it hammerless or have hammers? etc..

When you are down building/crafting the gun, would you have any engraving on it? If yes, What type, and where?

THose are the questions that I got thinking about. Here is what I thought would be my idea if I would build/craft a SxS shotgun:

It would be a 12 gauge, 3" chambers, in the style of a "Coach Gun", Black Walnut stock, blued barrels, I think I would have an ejector, I would have some engraving both on the stock and the barrels and receiver.

MY thoughts are to make it beautiful enough to be a work of art, but yet be functional. Can be used for hunting, home defense, taget shooting, or cowboy action shooting. It would be inexpensive enough that the average person could afford the basic model.

What do you think?

 

[25cschaefer]

It would be inexpensive enough that the average person could afford the basic model.

This is the reason there aren't sxs shotguns produced by major American makers, they cost more to make than most people are willing to pay. There is a lot of work that goes into building a sxs; besides planning.
If you are a good machinist, it would easily take you 20 hours to mill the receiver and barrel blocks. You would have to fit them, cut/contour the barrels, solder them, that's another 30 hours. Make all the pieces for the fireing mechanism, who knows how long that would take. At least 80 hrs in wood work if you are going for a "work of art." This would all take longer if you have never done this stuff before. You would have to consider what it would take to design, plan, execute each part and step before you started picking what choke or finish you want.
Not trying to cut you down but, there is a lot of work that would go into something like this.

 

[rcmodel]

English, German, and Italian gunmakers who build fine double shotguns from scratch go through about a 20 year apprenticeship to learn how.

You chance of success with no training is about zero.

rc

 

[45_auto]

What's your price point for the "average person"?

Anyone who wants one can buy a Stoeger double barrel off the shelf for about $350. I bought one for my son to use in cowboy shooting at the local Academy about a month ago.

Going to be extremely difficult to get cheaper than that.

http://www.stoegerindustries.com/firearms/stoeger-uplander.php

 

[drsfmd]

That company already exists here in the US... Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Co... and the side by sides, both in price and appearance, will take your breath away.

What you are proposing can't be done inexpensively.

 

[snakeman]

good luck

 

[Jim K]

Hi, 25cschaefer, can I get your address if I need some intricate machine work done? If you can machine the receiver and barrel blocks in only twenty hours, with no drawings and no model to go by, I will gladly hire you.

And no one has even mentioned regulatiing the barrels, which even with laser sighting is still a very time consuming process.

All in all, I would describe the OP's idea as "mission impossible." Maybe he will prove us all wrong.

Jim

 

[earlthegoat2]

Read the book "Game Gun" it gives an abridged version of the steps involved in making a SxS from raw castings. It is a daunting process to say the least.

Note rcmodel's post above.

 

[25cschaefer]

Jim K - I did say that all of that was after the planning was done and I guess I should have mentioned set up, just solid machine running time - if someone were really good and it was really simple. Also, I am not a good machinist, I can mess something up before I even start a machine.

The cheapest Connecticut Shotgun I have ever seen was $2500 used. I guy brought one of their newer guns (lower grade) to class and you can see that even they take shortcuts.

 

[justashooter in pa]

sidelock guns are much simpler than boxlock and other hammerless doubles. you could take a breachblock from a sidelock hammer gun to a decent foundry shop and ask them to cast you a copy by lost wax replacement in 4140 alloy steel, then do clean-up machining, and make the barrel set and lock-up parts, and add vintage sidelocks, or make your own. this is still going to be a lot of work.

you might wanna try building a muzzleloading double from a kit, instead. would be a fun project, and since muzzleloaders are exempt from NFA regs you could saw the bastige off to 12" barrels and pistol grip and have a real handfull.

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/default.php?cPath=22_162_192&osCsid=c81d520417b89db0ca36166bbe1eefc4

 

[Jim Watson]

Here is a detailed step by step description of building a double express rifle from a couple of barrel blanks, some bars of steel, and a block of wood. This is Mr Bradshaw's deluxe model with Damascus receiver. That is a major addition to the job over and above a gun built on a barstock frame. You can skip over that part and get to the machining and fitting if you like.
Of course it is not as much work to regulate shotgun barrels as it is rifle, but it cannot be omitted, either.
http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/760101804/m/3761057511/p/1

 

[oneounceload]

sidelock guns are much simpler than boxlock and other hammerless doubles.

That would be incorrect - sidelocks have a LOT more very demanding and delicate wood inletting into the stock - one mistake and the stock becomes kindling. The sidelocks themselves are also more intricate and delicate with hand-made leaf springs that need to last from proper heat treatment. That is why sidelocks are almost double the cost of a boxlock

Regulating was mentioned - Shotgun barrels are not cylindrical, they are tapered and the process of joining them is also intricate.

There are videos out there showing how AyA and H&H do it.

Even with the utmost CNC machine work, hand fitting and finishing is required for the perfect fit.

A gun designed for Cowboy action and HD (aka coach gun) will NOT be good for targets or birds

CSMS is the last American doubles maker of any renown or ability and his basement models start about $4,000 - what market are you going to be targeting?

 

[skeeziks]

It would be inexpensive enough that the average person could afford the basic model.

What do you think?

It's Not possible.... but by now you've probably gotten the gist.