Has anyone ever fitted a rifle barel to a shotgun receiver. I have a 10 gauge sb2 receiver and i have a 45/70 barrel that fits like a glove and was wondering if the receiver is strong enough.And what about the firing pin , if it is slightly larger will it work with rifle primers ?

Not to long ago I talked to a guy at H&R and I asked him the same question, He said that the reciever was slightly larger than the regular SB2 frame and that the firing pin location wasnt the same. Heres a quote from the barrel accessory offer page of the H&R website:

Quote:

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10 gauge shotgun frames can only be fitted with the 10 gauge shotgun barrels listed below. H&R 1871, LLC will only fit the listed barrels to 10 gauge frames manufactured by H&R 1871, LLC, with the New England Firearms� brand name.

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Heres the barrels that they list that can be safely fitted to the 10 Gauge frame:

Quote:

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10 GAUGE SHOTGUN BARRELS
Part # Description Price
924 10 Ga., 3 1/2" Chamber, 28" Full 44.00
638 10 Ga., 3 1/2" Chamber, 24" Cyl. Bore 56.00
377 12 Ga., 3" Chamber, 24" Fully Rifled, Bull 77.00

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I would play it safe and not risk injury and damage to your gun and go ahead and purchase a regular H&R rifle with the barrel of your choice they run about 200.00 from Wal-Mart. I got the .44 Mag Handi and after I free floated the barrel with o-rings I got it shooting sub-moa at 50 Yds.

I think the biggest factor would be headspace. Check W/ H&R1871.com and their barrel accessory program. Barrel fit is usually on a "per receiver" basis. Meaning that one barrel will not necessarily fit any other H&R receiver.
Loner

Trapshooter took the words right oughta my mouth.
Loner

I have two 12 gauge shotgun receivers that I put rifle barrels on. One is a H&R Topper 158 with an AU serial # and the other is a NEF Pardner with a NR serial #. The Topper has had a .223 barrel on it and a .357 Mag barrel on it. The .357 Mag barrel is on the Pardner right now. The NEF Pardner receiver will take a .001" feeler gauge between the receiver and the barrel and lock up, but you can't pull the feeler gauge out (that means there is less than .001" gap between the two).

There are many old Toppers around that were case hardened receivers that came from the H&R factory as rifles. The .30-30 was around in the '50's and I haven't ever heard of anyone blowing one up.

If they will stand a 38K CUP .30-30 they will surely stand a 21K CUP .45/70 Trapdoor load.

The firing pin does line up as i put a couple of primed only shells in the chamber and they fired with the pin almost dead center on the primer. Ill have a gunsmith check the head space for me . A couple of gunsmiths my friend knows has put rifle barrels on shotgun receivers.H&R wants to keep things simple so they only offer limited work on there firearms.

I have built a couple of rifles on H&R actions.There are several things to be considered when building a rifle on a shotgun receiver.

A small diameter,close fitting firing pin is desireable.
Firing pin protrusion is another area to check as shotgun
firing pins may protrude excessively for rifle or pistol primers.If it has a large diameter firing pin,I would only use cases with straight walls and large primers at a low pressure.

I once saw a shotgun lined with a .22 barrel and chambered to .22/3000.I don't know how many times it was fired or at what pressure level but it was still in good condition.

I have also machined liners for shotgun barrels to fire rifle and pistol cartridges without experienceing any problems.

Some of the Ballard rifles ,which had a weak action ,were chambered to large straight wall blackpowder cartridges.

I have seen single shot shotguns that have cracked the regeiver at the hinge pin.

To be on the safe side,if you are going to build a rifle on a shotgun action,use a straight walled low pressure cartridge.

Hospital bills or funerals are quite expensive so be careful.

WC