The next project... .416x.348 Win Cape Gun

[22hornet]

:o  
 
Sorry Paul but I had abit of a chuckle too.
 
:laugh:

[RatherBHuntin]

I laughed too, but only because this sounds like something I would do.
 
After buying the house here I was changing all the knobs and deadbolts, was working on the second door, finished it, shut it and noticed that I was in the house looking at the key hole.....which meant the twist knob was on the outside:biggthumpup:

[gitano]

which meant the twist knob was on the outside:biggthumpup:

:D:D:D
 
Paul

[gitano]

OK....
 
The barrel is chambered, dry-fitted, and I have fireformed a case.
 
The piece weighs 8lbs - 4oz.
 
Here's a picture of the fire-formed case with a Hawk 400-grain bullet in it. To its left is an empty .348 Win case. To its right is a .50 Alaskan case. All .348 Win cases.
 
Paul

[gitano]

Here's the Cape Gun, not that you can tell it from the original Huglu shotgun.
 
There's still a ton o' stuff to do. The barrels need to be shortened about half an inch. A new extractor needs to be fabricated. The rifle needs to be regulated and then permanently mounted. And I need to decide on sights. I think all I am going to do is add a second bead about 2/3rds of the way back up the rib. We'll see how I like that sight picture at 100 yds.
 
Oh yeah... I'm going to remove the nickle plating from the receiver, polish the 'matte' finish off of the barrels, and have all of the metal blued. There's a remote chance I'll add some weight to the butt for balance and recoil mitigation, but prolly not. I may also add a Limbsaver recoil pad.
 
The most important - and difficult - task at hand now is fabricating a new extractor. Once that and the regulating are done, the Cape Gun is really ready to use. The rest of the stuff is 'cosmetics'.
 
:D :D :D
 
Paul
 
PS - I don't recall whether or not I've posted paper ballistics on this cartridge or not but here it is again if I have.
 
26" barrel
400-gr Hawk with BC of .515
64.0 grains of Ramshot Hunter
 
MV = 1900.
Chamber Pressure = 27,267PSI.
ME = 3206 ft-lbs.
Zero at 158 yds for 6" target.
3" high at 80.
3" low at 180.
26" low at 300.
 
Impact velocity at 150 = 1700 f/s
Energy at 150 = 2560 ft-lbs.
 
Impact velocity at 300 = 1510 f/s
Energy at 300 = 2025 ft-lbs.
 
Of course I'll work up to this to see how it "feels", but it should end up somewhere near these numbers.
 
Paul

[Alboy]

You make it sound simple, I am getting excited just watching.
 
the two bead system has worked well for me before on slugs and PRB's but that was normally closer to 50 than 100 yards.

[gitano]

the two bead system has worked well for me before on slugs and PRB's but that was normally closer to 50 than 100 yards.

Well, the anticipated application for this arm would be grouse hunting... and while shooting grouse, I would see a moose, and have to deal with the situation. That being the case, I'm anticipating shots from 50 to 150, and a moose is a mighty big target. I figure if I can keep 'em all in an 8" pie plate at 150, that'll be good moose medicine. Since I've been using open sights more of late because of the .50, I've regained some of the skill (and confidence) I had as a youth. I'm thinking I'll be able to keep them on the plate with the two-bead system, but if not, I'll go to a typical drilling-type rear leaf.
 
I've grown to like the .348 Win case. It's a great case for making large caliber wildcats. However, the case requires a lot of metal to be reamed out of the chamber. When I got within about half an inch of finishing, I couldn't cut more than about 0.020", at the most, without backing out and clearing chips. Most of the time it was about 0.010". I can see the value of barrels that come from the maker with short chambers.  That would save a lot of time and angst.
 
I just entered the real case data (from actual measurements of a fire-formed case instead of guesses from "standard" drawings) into QuickLoad, and it was so close to the "theoretical" values that the ballistic estimates didn't change. I really hope I can hit where I point with this piece. If I can, it'll be a great hunting arm for Alaska. I could see it being used for quail and pig in your neck of the woods.
 
Paul

[Hunterbug]

Very cool Paul. I could have used one of thoes when you kicked thoes grouse to me this year. I guess that we'll have to start planning for next year. :D

[Alboy]

It will be really neat to have a custom rig you made yourself.
 
Right now I cover that same problem by carrying SxS shotguns with either a slug or PRB on the left (rear trigger) and a back up pistol either 44 cap and ball or 44 special. Of course it is only hogs for the big dangerous around here, they are not moose. 50 yards is by for the long normal shot.

[Paul Hoskins]

Paul, it would seem reasonable to me to have an express type sight on this endeavor. You could have one front sight and two leaves in the rear sight. One leaf could be regulated for the shotgun barrel and the other for the rifle barrel. Even a three leaf sight wouldn't be a bad idea since you could regulate one leaf for short range, (50 yards) and another for say 150 yards. The shotgun barrel is of little importance since it is a scatter gun but would be nice if the shotgun barrel sight was regulated for slugs.
 
It always irks me no end that companies charge so much for "specialty" dies and reamers. That is just a ripoff as I pointed out to RCBS last week in a phone conversation with them. It cost no more to make a "specialty" reamer or die than any other die or reamer. I have close to fifty years expierence as a highly skilled toolmaker and I know something about tool making. A reamer or die is just that, a reamer or die. Configuration has nothing to do with it. A reasonable fee for consultation may be warranted but not enough to double or quadruple the price.
 
I'm anxious to hear how  this project tturns out. I've never tried rebarrelling a double break action. I have rebarrelled single shot break actions.   .......Paul H

[gitano]

I cover that same problem by carrying SxS shotguns with either a slug or PRB on the left (rear trigger) and a back up pistol either 44 cap and ball or 44 special.

Yeah, before this project, I carried the shotgun and a .44 on my hip. Now I'll carry the Cape Gun... and a .44 on my hip. :)
 

I could have used one of thoes when you kicked thoes grouse to me this year.

If I'da been carrying it, you wouldn't have had a chance to use yours...
 
We'll see about the express sights Paul. It will, as I said above, depend on how things work with the beads, but also on how the piece looks after I get the nickle off the receiver and the matte off the barrels.
 
I've got to cogitate some on fabricating the extractor.
 
Paul
 
By the way... I'm sure Alboy is aware of the following, but I'm equally sure not too many others are. Most know that shotguns are "gauged" by calculating the number of lead balls of the specific diameter it takes to make one pound. 12 lead balls in a pound for 12 gauge, 16 lead balls in a pound for 16 gauge, and so on. Most don't think about it, but if there are 16 lead balls in a pound for 16 gauge, each ball is exactly one ounce. I understand that there was a black powder load at one time that was one ounce of powder and a one-ounce round ball. It was called a "square load". There's a certain symmetry in that that appeals to me. Some folks attribute some 'special' ballistic importance to that load, but that stretches things a bit for me. What about the countries that don't use the British system of weights and measures? Anyway, I've always been drawn to symmetry, and the 16 lead balls in a pound for 16 gauge is one of the small things that attract me to the 16 gauge.
 
Paul

[gitano]

Turns out, I got the 350s from Hawk, not the 400s. I've decided to lower the pressure ceiling to 26,000-ish. That means that with the 350 with a seating depth of one caliber - 0.416", (cartridge looks wierd with seating depth of only 0.278" - 67% of 1 caliber), the theoretical MV is 1866 f/s. That's just fine out to even 200 yds, and this gun won't get shot at game beyond that anyway. Here is the QL "front page":
 
Paul

[gitano]

I have, by the way, test-fired the 350 with the above load, and it is very mild in the recoil department, and no 'bad signs' on the Huglu.
 
Here is the QL "back page" trajectory info.
 
Paul

[gitano]

I may go down to the 300-grain bullet. The reason being, the higher the bullet weight, the less powder gets burned before the bullet leaves the muzzle - if you want to keep pressures low. With the 300-grain bullet, I can get 96% of the powder burned AND have 'good' trajectory numbers out to 200 yds. I gotta go now, but I'll post the 300-grain numbers later.
 
Paul

[22hornet]

Any more progress on this one Paul?