Legal, yeah. Can't say how practical. I thought Thompson offered a replacement shotgun barrel for their Hawken for not too much. Dixie Gun Works has a 12 ga double barrel kit for $445.

I have always wanted a muzzleloading shotgun just to goof around with and maybe shoot squirrels. Only problem is they are expensive.

Wal-mart, etc. always has $100 muzzleloaders for sale. I was wondering if it would be practical, legal, etc. to take one of these cheap rifles and ream or drill out the rifling to make a small bore shotgun.

BTW, I do have access to a complete machine shop.

Any ideas?

I'd be tempted to find a cheap barrel and then look for a gun to fit it to. Look for either a shotgun or a musket barrel. I think drilling out the rifling is not too big a project though, make an extension that you can fit a silver& deming bit to and do it in a few steps. You will probably have to make or get a new breech plug.

Mark

See, that's the problem - $450. Shotguns cost big bucks and they're less complicated than a rifle. I think they're a rip-off. Now, if I could just make one out of a $100 rifle.

$450 was for a side x side hammer gun, that's why the price. I couldn't find a single barrel. If you go the home-made route you can get a lot more 12 ga components than any other. Only problem with reaming is no choke when you're done. That probably doesn't matter for what you want to do.

Your lucky day, Max. Sarco says they have some shotguns for $80. I've had mixed results from them but its worth a try.
Sarco

Thanks for all the replys. Those $80 shotguns look interesting. For what I'm wanting, I can't justify spending much on this. I remember a long time ago that Dixie used to have SS ML shotguns for $60.
I'm just looking for something inexpensive that I can knock around with.

Max503,
Check your PM's, I have a 12ga SxS you might be interested in.

I know you think that $450 shotguns are a ripoff, but IME, you do get what you pay for.

For me, it is hardly worth the effort of acquiring the gun and all the components unless I'm going to really use the gun and then, without fail, Murphy will show up unless he's been paid off and you've got a quality gun.

That's my $.02. Whatever you do I'd like to hear about your experiences.