I just bought some 20 gauge rifled shotgun blanks from Kebco. They are made by Verney Carron, and those folks know what they are doing when it comes to barrel making. I have it on good authority that in addition to barrels for their own superb guns, VC makes barrels for many other companies. The blanks are 30 inches long and 1.25 inches in diameter. I have a large frame Martini action originally made for a 303 that would serve as an action. I don't really want to use shotgun cases or sabots. I would really prefer brass cases and lead bullets. Is there a case that would serve and a bullet compatible with this bore? I know that a 600 Nitro is a 3" case with a bore not dissimilar to the 20 gauge. If I make a heavy recoiling gun, the blank weights 6 pounds and unturned it could serve as quite a recoil buffer. Before I start down this path, please tell me where the roadblocks might be.
Feel free to submit your own suggestions as to to the configuration of the rifle. I'll hire out the metal work and do my own meager effort on the wood.
Allan
According to my copy of the 1954 edition of the "RULES REGULATIONS AND SCALES of the GUNMAKERS COMPANY and the GUARDIANS OF THE BIRMINGHAM PROOF HOUSE" the .577 3 inch nitro express case is a bit too small and the 600 nitro express is a bit too large. The dimensions of the .577 are rim: .750"(vs. 20bore min diameter rim of .766")and case diameter min: .662"(vs. .785" min dia. of 20bore.)
The .600 nitro express measurements are rim: .810" and case diameter: .700".
However, you can probably make either brass case work via swageing and expansion, whilst the .660 NE may be the best one to try to work with.
There may be some metric size cartridge cases that will work better, but I cannot think of any just now.
What is your opinion of the quality and condition of the VC barrel blanks that you received, as I am interested in procuring some myself from somewhere in the world.
Regards;
Bv
Ask Rocky Mountain Cartridge Company to make you some. Send them a chamber cast and they will fit you right up. You can even have whatever you want within reason for a headstamp.
Kebcollc.com was selling the barrel blanks for $125 each plus shipping. I don't think there were many left. In my opinion this is a great deal on barrel blanks. I bought some 12 gauge rifled blanks for ER Shaw for over $200 each.
Those are the same blanks that were sold at auction under the Hastings name when Hastings closed last year. I got some 20 and 12 down around $50 ea.
I am tossing around the same idea for a slug gun, here in my part of NY we can't use rifle. But I'm under the impression we also can't use full metallic cartridges in our rifled shotguns so saboted slugs seems like the best alternative.
Verney Carron now own the Hastings name and are producing Hastings barrels now.
How hard would it be to buy these barrels and have them put on an good donor action?I have been knocking around the ideal of buying an set of Hasting rifled barrels and have them monoblock in a sxs 12ga. action,now would it be better to find an good 20ga. action to have it done? And about how much would it cost?There a few guys who did the same thing iam asking but they just do it for close friends, so is there anyone that can help me with this project without selling the house?
Verney Carron now own the Hastings name and are producing Hastings barrels now.
Apparently they have always made barrels for Hastings, from the website...
"The old Hastings Co in Clay City, Kansas has closed. Verney-Carron, the manufacturer of the barrels sold under the brand name "Hastings" has purchased the Hastings name and trademark "Paradox". These barrels are the same quality product that made Hastings the premier replacement shotgun barrel.
They use the name Paradox for their fully rifled slug barrels. When Hastings closed their inventory was sold at auction by Old Town over a period of several months. Barrel's and blanks were very cheap, as were cartons of slugs.
How hard would it be to buy these barrels and have them put on an good donor action?I have been knocking around the ideal of buying an set of Hasting rifled barrels and have them monoblock in a sxs 12ga. action,now would it be better to find an good 20ga. action to have it done? And about how much would it cost?There a few guys who did the same thing iam asking but they just do it for close friends, so is there anyone that can help me with this project without selling the house?
I have a very accurate shooting 12 gauge double rifle that I built years ago using Hastings blanks. At that time they were in Kansas and you could buy 30" long, 1 1/2" diameter rifled blanks from them. It was my understanding at that time that these were built right there in Kansas. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, such blanks have not been available from Hastings for years.
I talked to John Thompson of Thompson Machine. He has 20GA reamers and can fit the barrel to my Martini action. He fitted a takedown 12GA rifled barrel to my Greener GP shotgun last year. He did a superb job and it was not expensive at all. I think I'll use a big fat post front sight on a ramp and an XS rear aperture sight mounted on the barrel just in front of the receiver. John can turn the barrel to any dimension. I think I'll have leave it on the stout side.
I already have a set of stock blanks for the Martini.
Now I just have to decide exactly which cartridge to use in it.
l'll bet that KEBCO would put together a group order of 12GA blanks if enough people ordered them.
I have a very accurate shooting 12 gauge double rifle that I built years ago using Hastings blanks. At that time they were in Kansas and you could buy 30" long, 1 1/2" diameter rifled blanks from them. It was my understanding at that time that these were built right there in Kansas. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, such blanks have not been available from Hastings for years.
Ron;
How much does your 12 bore rifle weigh? Can you show us a photo of it?
Best Regards;
Bv
Please Ron, more info. As I said, I got a couple of the 30", 1-1/2"diam blanks last year with the plan of doing what you did. Who contoured the barrels for you?
I contoured the blanks myself as I have a South Bend 9"x54" lathe. The rifle, with 24" barrels, quarter rib, and Leupold Vari-x III, 1.5x-5x scope mounted, weighs 8 1/4 pounds. I'll post a photo when I can but I'm heading north early tommorrow am to hunt bambis for a week, with my .303 double.
Here are two photos that I had on file, showing the quarter rib that I just added on this year, both without and with scope mounted.
Ron;
Looks very good. What barrel wall thickness did you taper the barrels down to at the crown?
Did you use a taper attachment on your SB lathe or did you offset the tailstock in order to cut the barrel taper?
Best Regards;
Bv
I wonder if we can get a list of people that would order the 12ga. blanks? if so would they please order.
I finally took a .625 round ball and slugged the bore of the VC barrels. The groove diameter is .620 and the bore is .613. The seller tells me that the twist is around 1/26", if memory serves me correctly. A Martini shotgun action would be a possible platform but the extractors would have to be built up from 12 to 20 gauge. What about a bolt action single shot? It wouldn't be the first one. How about a Siamese Mauser action? Just thinking out loud as I'm typing.
Find a late model Mossberg bolt action. Rear locking with the bolt handle and a second lug opposite. The action looks alot like a rem 7 with a recoil lug between the barrel and reciever.
Nice part is that because it doesn't have a split rear bridge you can use regular scope bases both fore and aft.
Two shot mag and a tang safety to boot.
You just need to get it drilled and tapped with the handle bent.
Cheers
Tom
Allan,
I have built a couple of 20 gauge bore rifles using Verney Carron barrel blanks. Ken Buch at Kebcollc.com has a few 20 gauge blanks left, but they won't last long. He gets $125.00 each for them plus postage. They are the smoothest barrels inside that I have used to date, and a good buy at $125. As of this time, he tells me that he is out of 12 gauge tubes but I am trying to talk him into ordering some for me and a few for sale. I told him that I would try to help him sell them. We need to know how many people are REALLY interested in buying a pair. There is at least one guy on this thread who has talked to me for months about doing a double for him, but when it comes down to actually doing something to get started, he caves in. These people are nuisences and hurt the hobby.
The big problem with availability is that the company doesn't do small orders. Ken has to have a big order together before he can add in a few blanks for builders. Verney Carron has always made the Hastings barrel blanks, all Hastings did was to finish machine them for the various shotgun actions. If any of you are interested in getting 12 gauge blanks let me know and I will pass the information along to Ken, BUT be SURE that you are committed to following through with the project. He wants to know how many to order and doesn't want to have to sit on a bunch of them. Below are three links to pictures of my first 20 gauge bore rifle. The next three are of my own personal 20 gauge deer gun. Bob H. Birdhunter50
