light weight double rifle from a .410 SxS?

[BCRider]

So the talk in a thread about "Rook Rifles" some time back has been teasing the edge of my mind for quite a while. The idea of a mild plinking rifle that is still bigger than a .22 has got me considering some various options.

One that came to mind is remembering a couple of very sweet looking .410 SxS shotguns in the stores. Well, something made the light over my head come on one night a few weeks back and I'm considering the idea of finding a pair of .357 bore barrel liners and fitting them into the barrels of such a shotgun then chambering them out for .38Spl. Or if it seems like there's enough meat to handle the pressure then perhaps .357Mag. But then it wouldn't be a light recoiling "rook rifle". Of course there's the issue with the off kilter recoil and the barrel convergence. But I suspect these are things which could be beaten since there are considerable numbers of double barrel rifles out there that are well respected for their hunting accuracy.

So am I crazy or does the collected wisdom of THR think such a gambit could work?

 

[R H Clark]

I think you would spend money on something that at best would wind up as a conversation piece.

I can't think of any reason for a small caliber SXS rifle and I would be very concerned about safety.You would also likely wind up with something that would be minute of barn door at best.

 

[303tom]

There is not enough hole in a .410 for a insert in .38 to have much meat on it..............

 

[tahoe2]

the book

is called -- Building Double Rifles on Shotgun Actions by W. Ellis Brown @ Brownells for $54.95

 

[RPRNY]

Barrel regulation.

You would need to use a 20 ga in order to fit pistol caliber inserts or rifle inserts that max out sub 35,000 CUP and make sure it's a decent SxS to start with. That covers safety. But now you have a problem. Barrel regulation. The SxS is regulated for shot patterns, not rifle conversion. As per above, Minute of Barn Door is about right.

It can be done, but it needs barrel stubbing rifle barrels into the monoblock of the SxS and some pretty fine work regulating. Brown's book is a worthy read.

I think a 357 MAX double rifle built like this would be an exceptionally cool deer gun in the Northeast.

 

[BCRider]

Thanks for the book suggestion. I think I'll put this idea on hold pending finding a copy and giving it a good study. Or at least pending talking the idea over with a couple of gunsmiths that have had something to do with double rifles.

 

[303tom]

Barrel regulation.

You would need to use a 20 ga in order to fit pistol caliber inserts or rifle inserts that max out sub 35,000 CUP and make sure it's a decent SxS to start with. That covers safety. But now you have a problem. Barrel regulation. The SxS is regulated for shot patterns, not rifle conversion. As per above, Minute of Barn Door is about right.

It can be done, but it needs barrel stubbing rifle barrels into the monoblock of the SxS and some pretty fine work regulating. Brown's book is a worthy read.

I think a 357 MAX double rifle built like this would be an exceptionally cool deer gun in the Northeast.

RPRNY is correct, check this out................
http://www.mcace.com/shotguninserts.htm