Rebore Hawken to smoothbore?

[GrizzLeeBear]

I have a left handed percussion .50 cal. Cabelas Hawken that has been gathering dust since I built my .54 flintlock 6 or 7 years ago. I have done some stock reshaping/refinishing and some other minor "customization" to it, so I'm not concerned with trying to keep it original. I'd like to have a smoothbore for some local smoothbore shoots, etc. and I would rather make use of this gun than buy another smoothbore and let this one keep gathering dust.
Would it be possible to rebore this 15/16" barrel to 20 ga. smoothbore? It sure looks like there is plenty of meat in this barrel to do this. Could it be done without having to remove the breach plug? Any of you guys ever done something like this?

[KCSO]

Yes it can be done I have made a few FORAGER shotguns from 50-70's. You will nned a piloted drill bit or a good lathe and you will need a reamer to finish the bore with and to make a choke if you want one. In 54 caliber I would opt for a 28 gauge as you will have to remove less material and will end up with a good thick breech witha 20 you are getting pretty thin at the back of the tube for hunting loads. Remember for most s/b matches you will have to take off the rear sight. A good 28 bore with a moderate choke will be good on turkeys and such to 25 yards or so. This should be a 2 hour job on the lathe with the right tooling.

[buckweet]

sounds like a neat project.

[GrizzLeeBear]

KSCO, the Hawken is .50 cal. so maybe 28 ga. would be better? I am also thinking about reshaping the barrel ahead of the stock to be round to lighten in up a little, not really any smaller in diameter, just taking off the octogan corners to make it round. the 28 ga. would give me more leeway for this also.
I also planned on removing the rear sight and installing a small front sight blade so that is looks like a shotgun bead when you look down the barrel.

Edit: Just looked it up, 28 ga. is .550". So I could shoot the same .530 patched roundball in a 28 ga. smoothy that I shoot in my .54 flintlock rifle, right? That would be handy.

Also, how do 28 ga. ML shot loads work on flying targets like clay pidgeons or live targets like grouse, pheasants, etc.

[GrizzLeeBear]

A different direction. How about a 24 ga? Grabbed an Investarms left hand flint hawken (.50 cal) and a T/C .58 cal. smoothbore barrel off Gunbroker. Only two problems. The T/C barrel is right hand percussion and its 1" across the flats. I'll find out when it arrives, but I think the Investarms barrel will be 15/16". I'm figuring on getting a replacement flint breech plug from Track of the Wolf to convert the T/C barrel to left hand flint.

But heres my question. Since I want to reshape the front half of the barrel to round anyway, would it hurt anything to draw file the back half of the barrel down to 15/16"?

[skullmount]

Yes it can be done I have made a few FORAGER shotguns from 50-70's. You will nned a piloted drill bit or a good lathe and you will need a reamer to finish the bore
Could someone here with a "piloted drill bit" Please post a pic of one.
I have done a few searches and have yet to see a good pic!

Thanks

[GrizzLeeBear]

Well the "T/C .58 smoothbore" barrel arrived today (still waiting on the Investarms Hawken). However, it is actually a Green Mountain barrel. The only markings on it are the Green Mountain logo and serial number. No caliber or anything. When I measure the inside of the muzzle with my calipers I get .605 - .610? Huh? Is this actually a Green Mountain 20 ga. barrel? It came with some Hornady .570 balls and overpowder cards and wads. Both the cards and the wads measure .620+ across.

If anyone has a GM 20 ga. replacement barrel, what does yours measure at the muzzle?

[docone31]

I have a Traditions in .50cal, left hand. I want to get a .54 barrel for it. I want to be able to use the rifle for both calibers.
Any ideas on that one?

[Geraldo]

Well the "T/C .58 smoothbore" barrel arrived today (still waiting on the Investarms Hawken). However, it is actually a Green Mountain barrel. The only markings on it are the Green Mountain logo and serial number. No caliber or anything. When I measure the inside of the muzzle with my calipers I get .605 - .610? Huh? Is this actually a Green Mountain 20 ga. barrel? It came with some Hornady .570 balls and overpowder cards and wads. Both the cards and the wads measure .620+ across.

If anyone has a GM 20 ga. replacement barrel, what does yours measure at the muzzle?

You've got a GM .62 barrel. In 15/16" they made a .54 smoothbore. In my .62s I use .595-.600" RB because as you've found they run a little tight.

GM has left sidewalls of .190" on the .62s and just a bit more on their .54 smoothbores. I'm not sure if cutting .030" off of that will matter or not. Perhaps the more practical concern is the amount of work you're going to be doing to get this done. Unless you got a screaming deal on the barrel it would seem that buying the plug you need and a barrel blank might be the easier way to go.

[GrizzLeeBear]

Geraldo, thanks for the info! Being a 20 ga. I'm going to leave it 1" but I think I will file the front 1/2 - 2/3 of the barrel to round by removing the octagon corners and change the breech plug to convert it to left hand flint. My plan right now is to make it into an "early plains" smoothbore along the lines of the 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle. Do a little stock reshaping and eventually replace the blocky T/C style nose cap with a real hawken style one and ramrod entry pipe. I also plan on putting in a single trigger and leaving off the rear and replacing the front sight to smaller brass blade so I can shoot it in trade gun type matches.

I know it sounds like a lot to do to a "production" gun, but I think it will be fun project and I will have a "unique" smoothie to play with.