Thinking of building a double rifle from a Beretta 12 ga(circa 1970). Probably 45-70. Anybody have any hints on this. I assume their monobloc is silver brazed, right? When I say build, I mean, I got the lathe, and I do rust bluing, not who to send it to, along with acheck for $2000.

quote:

Originally posted by xs headspace:
Thinking of building a double rifle from a Beretta 12 ga(circa 1970). Probably 45-70. When I say build, I mean, I got the lathe, and I do rust bluing...

What more do you need?

At one time there were a couple of threads going on the Nitroexpress forums. http://forums.nitroexpress.com/ubbthreads.php?Cat=

What I need, is somebody who is crazy enough to have tried this, and can tell me what not to do, before I screw up a $600 shotgun, and two $200 barrel blanks. That nitro forum had no gunsmithing tips, just discussions about how somebody was depressed because they didn't buy a Beretta .458 double rifle at a bargain price of $6000 two years ago. My last car cost me $6000.

there's a gunsmith in, I think, Virginia (Texas-??), who modifies SxS's like you want to do. he uses blanks that attach to the shotgun barrels at the muzzle and chamber area. if I recall correctly, he turns the chamber end of the blanks eccentrically so he can regulate the barrels by "shoot and try".

someone around here knows who the man is, this subject has come up around here before.

you might try the double rifle forum.

Go to doublegunshop.com and go into the double rifle forum. They have talked about it in that forum, as well as nitroexpress.com already mentioend.

There is a book "Building Double Rifles on Shotgun Actions" by W. Ellis Brown that you should pick up.

A lot of people have doen what you are talking about. Brown has taught several short courses on it at Pine City Technical College in MN.

If you do searches on the various forums here then you can find some info. Search double rifles, big bores, and this forum. A lot of what you will want to know has been discussed on the three different web site mentioned. THen get the book and read it. If you can't figure it out by then, then you need to get some more experience before tackeling it.

Good luck!

Buy the book "Double rifles on Shotgun Actions By Ellis Brown

Buy it from Bunduki Publishing Fort Collins Colorado.....it's about $50 but worth your time.

Mine isn't for sale.

It's an eye opener!

quote:

Originally posted by xs headspace:
What I need, is somebody who is crazy enough to have tried this, and can tell me what not to do, before I screw up a $600 shotgun, and two $200 barrel blanks. That nitro forum had no gunsmithing tips, just discussions about how somebody was depressed because they didn't buy a Beretta .458 double rifle at a bargain price of $6000 two years ago. My last car cost me $6000.

You need to read the old posts again. There are several guys there who have actually done it, and have provided detailed descriptions and photos.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

this comes up about three times a year- maybe a sticky, moderator-daddy-o?

IIRC the previous guys doing such a project started with a 20 ga.

Jeffe's 577/550 (55 caliber) was on a 16 ga and it was about right. 12 ga is a little bulky for a 45 caliber double but if you already own it, what the heck?

The problem I've seen with most of the home-done doubles I've looked at are getting the barrels slim enough for good balance. Most blanks are just too thick. If there is a source near by, go look at some double rifles and look at what I mean; they are typically much thinner than a bolt gun in a similar caliber.

Give this guy a call. He says he can do it.
http://www.angelfire.com/sd/rgs1/index.html

Thanks for all the good info---no, I don't own the Beretta, just looked at one this guy wants to sell, and the lockup has two underlugs, and one crossbolt, and my mind was thinking "Winter project". Probably be better on a 20 ga frame, too. Oh well...I already have a Marlin 45-70 that is like The Fist of God with my paper patch 405 gr reloads. Think I'll rechamber my Bench rifle for 6mm BR instead---tired of forming brass from 220 swift to get 6mm PPC capacity cases.

If its true that Remington is finally releasing the 45-70 Spartan then you buy a real factory piece-o-crap for far less than you would spend trying to make your own; and a nice side by side 12 gauge will live to kill again.