H&R Model 1900 Shotgun Conversion

[bstarling]

Some time ago an acquaintance of mine gave me an old H&R 1900 12 gauge. It was in pretty rough condition and had neither the butt stock or forend. After looking at it in the shop for a while, I decided it would make a dandy muzzleloader. About this time Numrich had some Brutus Denali 50 cal barrels on sale for $38 and I ordered one. The first order of business was to cut the barrel back to a stub and thread it the same as the new barrel. The barrel pivot pin was pretty well worn and sloppy, so I made a new pin at the same time as I was cutting the stub.



Fitting pin to lug.

After getting started, I decided that I had to make at least one mistake. So when I was boring the stub for the barrel, I started at the wrong end and blew the chance of cutting threads in the stub and had to make an insert to go into the stub to thread the barrel into. I’m also very adept at making left hand internal threads when I need right hand, so this was only a minor screw up!

After getting the barrel fitted to the stub and making the new retainer pin fit, I had to get the headspace for the no.209 primer set.

Checking closing and tightness


Verifying headspace with a 209 primer in place.



Checking for primer blow by during adjustments,



The next step was getting some barrel work done. The barrel as received was roughly turned and had waviness along its length. I began by making a spider out of what I had. A PVC coupling and some nylon ¼” bolts worked just fine. Oh, you might have noticed that the lathe grew a bit between the first shots and the latter ones. I finally was able to buy a good sized lathe. The poor little 7x12 had been taxed to and beyond its limits more than once. The Big Boy is a HF 12x36 and weighs in at about 2000 pounds. The little one I can pick up and run with. Quite a difference, I love it.

A file and a belt sander made short work out of getting the barrel into shape.



I also did a short counter bore at the muzzle to help start bullets. It works pretty well.



I sort of fell off the wagon with regard to photos during the last few steps, but in a nut shell, It is done. The stock came from an old CVA inline bolt model that I cut in half. The scope on it is a Tasco World Class 1.5-4 shotgun scope and is on a T/C base that I adapted to the stub. I’ll get a couple of photos of the mostly finished gun on here in the next few days.

Bill

[bruce drake]

Do you have any photos of the finished rifle? I have a spare H&R shotgun I could use to copy your work with.

Bruce

[bstarling]

Bruce, I will get one or two on here in the next couple of days. I'll be happy to try to walk you through the build, I had a lot of fun working it out.

Bill

[izzyjoe]

very creative, there's a 20ga H&R hanging on the shop door that i've been pondering what to do with.

[bstarling]

This is the finished rifle. The sling lug on the barrel is one I made from stainless and tiged it on.



Another shot



This one shows the stipple done on the stock's pistol grip. The stock was made from and old CVA one piece junker that I took the butt off of. The sock is plastic and an old soldering iron did an ok job on the stipple. The finish is a rattle can or textured paint. I like the grip it gives, don't think it could slip even if it were greased. Good finish paint. The fore grip is from another H&R something or the other. The receiver is rattle can engine paint that was baked at 400F for an hour or so.

This gun shoots very well, and that Brutus magnum barrel would allow its loading far beyond my tolerance. I didn't go with an attached ramrod. I like the lines without one. I use an old Outter 3 piece aluminum shotgun rod. The rod fits in my pocket and takes no time to put together.

Bill

[John Taylor]

Before the inlines became popular I had made over two dozen shotguns into muzzle loaders, mostly from H&Rs. A lot of them have the lug silver soldered to the barrel so it was easy to install the lug on a new barrel the same way. I extended the ejector up so it would work with a 209 primer, learned not to look at the primer when the action was opened, got popped in the eye. I made the breach plug about 3" long so the ramrod would be long enough. Most were made in 54 caliber and two had a 1 in 22 twist for shooting a bullet. I made custom bullet molds for the two with a fast twist and used a short section of barrel for the sizer which engraved the rifling onto the bullet. Made them easy to load and with a mechanical fit to the bore they shot good. Was in Idaho at the time and the state changed the law for muzzle loading hunt, said you had to use a standard percussion cap and it had to be exposed to the atmosphere. That was the end of my inlines.

[bstarling]

John, I thought about doing the ejector modification, but got lazy. Maybe I should go after it. These Brutus Danali barrels are rifled for long bullets, don't remember exactly, but the twist is in the 20's. The boolit I use is a Lee Modern Mini in 50 cal. A perfect fit, and the rifling cuts into the boolit with a good whack of a stout bullet starter. For whatever reason, I haven't hunted it yet. Maybe next year.

Bill

[Willbird]

Before the inlines became popular I had made over two dozen shotguns into muzzle loaders, mostly from H&Rs. A lot of them have the lug silver soldered to the barrel so it was easy to install the lug on a new barrel the same way. I extended the ejector up so it would work with a 209 primer, learned not to look at the primer when the action was opened, got popped in the eye. I made the breach plug about 3" long so the ramrod would be long enough. Most were made in 54 caliber and two had a 1 in 22 twist for shooting a bullet. I made custom bullet molds for the two with a fast twist and used a short section of barrel for the sizer which engraved the rifling onto the bullet. Made them easy to load and with a mechanical fit to the bore they shot good. Was in Idaho at the time and the state changed the law for muzzle loading hunt, said you had to use a standard percussion cap and it had to be exposed to the atmosphere. That was the end of my inlines.

Not to get technical with you John, but I always thought "inline" meant striker in line with barrel ?? But maybe it just means ignition source inline with barrel ?? People in other threads/places/times have shown very very old "inlines" that prove that it surely was not a new idea. I have a Stevens shotgun my dad made into a center fire rifle using some kind of octagon barrel, it uses cut down 45/70 cases. He bored out the shotgun barrel and soft soldered in the rifle barrel, long solder joint, plenty strong.


Kind of a risky proposition to let out of skilled hands because if you loaded it up with a full pressure(50k or so) load for a case that size it would probably come apart.

Bill

[John Taylor]

Not to get technical with you John, but I always thought "inline" meant striker in line with barrel ?? But maybe it just means ignition source inline with barrel ?? People in other threads/places/times have shown very very old "inlines" that prove that it surely was not a new idea. I have a Stevens shotgun my dad made into a center fire rifle using some kind of octagon barrel, it uses cut down 45/70 cases. He bored out the shotgun barrel and soft soldered in the rifle barrel, long solder joint, plenty strong.
Kind of a risky proposition to let out of skilled hands because if you loaded it up with a full pressure(50k or so) load for a case that size it would probably come apart.

Bill

I always thought that inline meant the ignition was inline with the barrel, like a center fire. Sidelocks and under hammers have the ignition at a right angle to the bore.

[Willbird]

I always thought that inline meant the ignition was inline with the barrel, like a center fire. Sidelocks and under hammers have the ignition at a right angle to the bore.

Yea I can see that one I guess, I never considered my TC omega an inline but it may be after all. I had omitted swinging hammer guns from that catagory. I was just looking at the swinglock rifles, their ignition is at what looks like a 30 degree angle to the bore.

[bstarling]

I've always considered inline to mean ignition along the long axis of the barrel whether it was break open or bolt arrangement. Never thought about in any other context.

Bill