Building a 2bore

[Heinrich]

Thought that it is time to build myself something a little more substantial...

Bought an old percussion lock that came off an Italian wall-gun. And had a barrel made with an inside diameter of 35mm.

That will shoot a 0.5 pound patched roundball...

Approx 17,500ft/lbs energy at the muzzle, and in excess of 5,500ft/lbs 300m from the muzzle. Bullet drop as from 150m goes absolutely crazy, expect about 88 inches of drop at 300m.

The lock lying above a ruler, and the barrel to scale.



Below see the size of the hole in that barrel. I've put a .50 caliber Maxi inside to show the size.

[jlbraun]

Are you going to put a stock on it, or a gun-carriage?

[Heinrich]

Cape Yellow-wood stock will have to take the strain...

[fisherman66]

Why?

[DrLaw]

Because?

The Doc is out now.

[Steve499]

Heinrich, is it a smoothbore or can I see rifling in there?

You better be thinking about making a bigger powder horn. Maybe you could take the whole boss, both horns of a cape buffalo, and hollow them out. Wear it like a back pack.

Somebody's gotta do stuff like this! GO HEINRICH!! We expect pictures!

Steve

[fisherman66]

Somebody's gotta do stuff like this!

Someone already has. He mounted them on a battleship.

[arcticap]

Please be careful shooting that monster 2 bore Heinrich. A popular magazine writer had to stop shooting high powered rifles after their long term use caused his retina to detach, and now he's blind in one eye. And all that he's able to write about ever since is shooting & hunting with handguns using his formerly non-dominant eye.
Let's hope that you build that rifle to be very, very heavy so as to be able to help absorb some of that powerful recoil.

[Rusty.it]

Are you sure of what are you doing??
The pipe used for the barrel is straight, you think to have enought metal around the powder load near the breech???
I know that biggest the caliber lower the pressure, but be sure of what you are doing!!
I think that the best thing is to use it with shot, not single ball!
Well, i'm say this to you, but with som friens i'm building a mountain howitzer, the barrel hole is 12 cm, now we are working on weel, may be we need one year to finish...waiting for the big boom
Show pics from your works, i'm very inerested
ciao
Rusty

[Heinrich]

Thanks guys, I'm using yellow wood because of the weight and density of the wood, and that barrel itself is also very heavy.

I've also brought down the length of the barrel to lower pressure further.

Then I'm also a bit of a sissy, I'll never shoot it with nearly the 850gr of FFg that I've read 2bores use to shoot. I also read of broken jaw and cheek bones by shooting such loads. I've capped at 500gr, and might even bring it down further if the maths shows me it is the wise thing to do.

I'm mostly building this monster as a talking point, and will also be building it according to plans I have for a 4bore that I shoot regularly. But such regular session also only include a single shot, never a second in a row again.

[Gunfixr]

If my friends saw this, they would wonder why I didn't beat you to it. It looks cool. Keep us posted. You could further lower the pressure by going from 2f to 1f. I've been considering a 70-150 winchester rifle, just 'cause I can.

[Jamie C.]

I'm using yellow wood because of the weight and density of the wood, and that barrel itself is also very heavy.

A yellow wood stock... Appropriate, as it would match the color of the big wide yellow streak that would develop down the middle of my back, if asked to fire that monster.

Good luck, Heinrich. Keep us posted on how it goes.


J.C.

[Heinrich]

Thanks guys, I'll keep you up to date for sure. I've spent some time tonight with 2 gunsmiths for their views and advice. Tomorrow night some time with a mechanical engineer.

[w_houle]

can't wait to see pictures of the breech plug, this is going to be cool!

[ED21]

"Then I'm also a bit of a sissy, I'll never shoot it with nearly the 850gr of FFg that I've read 2bores use to shoot. I also read of broken jaw and cheek bones by shooting such loads. I've capped at 500gr, and might even bring it down further if the maths shows me it is the wise thing to do."

Wow, somewhere between 8 (850gr) and 14 (500gr) shots per pound of powder.

[Heinrich]

Have received the part of the barrel that is serving as chamber over the barrel. having the 2 parts pressed into one today/tomorrow. Using 200 ton hydraulic press, more than sufficient, maybe even too much.

Anyway, I'll post pics to show the results when I get the barrel back.

Then....

On the weekend, I'll be layering the wood for the stock. Sanding and planeing all the wood, and then glue, and layering.

Pics to follow...

[Heinrich]

Ok, got it back this afternoon, here I am trying to press it in myself last night....



Did not work, the jack broke, and I ran out of space...

Now it is done.



And the breech plug will go in here.

[Old Dragoon]

I hope you didn't forget to build the caisson for that CANNON!
DANG! I've shot a Birmingham 4 Bore, but yours makes that gun look like a derringer!

[Heinrich]

The barrel slipped into the chamber very easy using a proper hydraulic press.

I'm working on that laminated stock this weekend, I'm afraid that a standard stock would have been insufficient. I sized this thing next to a Holland & Holland original 4bore the other day, and the barrel of the 4bore slips into this thing.

I cannot wait to finish it, but have promised myself now matter how long, I shall NOT rush the process.