Suggestions sought for my underhammer project

[desidog]

Hello,

Recently i acquired a brand new/old stock Deer Creek underhammer action in the white. The question is what to do with it next...

I'm thinking that i'd like a golfball-launching, M-79-esque set up, perhaps with a brass barrel... but i'd also like to do a 12 or 20 ga barrel...which could be swapped out... (I already have a .45 H&A btw, so i don't need to duplicate that).

I'm looking for suggestions on this...both for the finished gun's ability and aesthetic, and the name of someone to fabricate and fit a barrel (or 2) without driving the cost of the project to a level where it is prohibitive.

My barrel idea would be to have a sub chamber in .45 or .50 or .72, a 12-14" barrel, and maybe a simple ladder sight of some sort... a cheaper alternative would be to use one of those AR-15 golf ball launcher things i see in catalogs screwed onto a 2-3" section of recycled barrel...

Also, I'm confident in making the stock myself, but the major metal work is beyond my abilities.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions welcomed.

Thanks, Desidog

 

[25cschaefer]

The cost is where you are going to run into trouble, I would draw up a nice plan and take it around to local, ma and pa, machine shops to get quotes.

 

[BCRider]

I went and looked up what the actions look like.

I'm voting for a proper ball thrower in something like .50, .45 or maybe a "squirrel gun" in .36 or .32.

Something with a barrel that is round on the front 2/3's, has a nice file worked "wedding band" then transitions to an octagonal shape that runs back straight for a while then and flares out with a little swoop to the flats so the barrel flats extend part way onto the round action body in a nice eight sided scallop pattern around the receiver's front.

No wood fore end either. It would be a shame to cover up the shaping and transition onto the receiver.

Oh yeah.... I'm positively drooling at the idea.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I think it would look cool with a flared out blunderbuss type thing going on at the muzzle!

Good luck with your project, can't wait to see it!

 

[zimmerstutzen]

You can order/buy round brass stock on the big anti-gun auction bot it isn't cheap. I paid over fifty bucks for a 2 X 10 piece of brass for such a project. A gunsmith here will charge $60 to turn and bore it to my specs. (2 inch isn't big enough for a golf ball launcher in my opinion.)

 

[BCRider]

Brass also comes in a very wide range of alloys. Not many of them are suitable for a pressure vessel such as any sort of gun barrel. So be careful which alloy you get in such a case. Even a golf ball gun can generate a respectable peak chamber pressure.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Oh, and a bayonet lug to fit a 18th-19th century socket bayonet will be a must!

 

[BCRider]

Oh, and a bayonet lug to fit a 18th-19th century socket bayonet will be a must!

For a golf ball musket? ! ? ! ?

A more applicable accoutrement would be a socket mounted set of stubby clubs. A driver wood being used when full charges are utilized and a putter for plinking loads.....

 

[desidog]

Thanks for the input so far!

I like the suggestions. I'm thinking that i could get a range card figured out, based on barrel angle and powder charge, and actually be able to land a ball on a green... so perhaps i'll incorporate a putter into the stock.. but then the muzzle would be pointed at my waist, which is a bit of a faux pas...

Something with a barrel that is round on the front 2/3's, has a nice file worked "wedding band" then transitions to an octagonal shape that runs back straight for a while then and flares out with a little swoop to the flats so the barrel flats extend part way onto the round action body in a nice eight sided scallop pattern around the receiver's front.

No wood fore end either. It would be a shame to cover up the shaping and transition onto the receiver.

I can't argue with this... but i already have something in that vein... perhaps that will be the next project though!

I think it would look cool with a flared out blunderbuss type thing going on at the muzzle!

Very good suggestion...depending on diameter of stock, it might happen..

Does anyone have one of those AR-15 golfball launcher things? I'm wondering how much they weigh, and how much meat is on the base, to work with to re-contour it a bit.

Here's a little sketch i made on the subject a while back during a boring meeting....



Also, to clarify, the separate / additional shotgun barrel would probably get more use, since i don't have a BP shotgun as yet, but this golfball barrel would come out a few times a year... it might motivate me to play golf...'cause i'd rather be at the shooting range, generally speaking.

 

[BHP FAN]

mine has a huge octogon barrel on it, and a loooong Dixie Tasco brass scope in a Malcolm mount. Civil War sniper!

 

[desidog]

I think if i could do a ladder grenade sight like on an AK/SKS it would be cool too.


If not, then the flared blunderbuss barrel...