new life to an old gal

[Milky Duck]

Greetings all,new here so thought to introduce self and mention what Im shooting to save confusion.
I had an old single barrel astra cyclope shotgun,been in family for 45ish years...bought a home spun .45cal barrel blank,clever fella drilled and rifled it in back yard...got a friend to spin it down on a lathe untill it slips snuggly INSIDE the .12ga barrel,chambering to .45/70 was done wit ha boring bar set at ever so slight angle and we were away.... I load it up to top of trapdoor levels/bottom of next lot.... around 45 grns of AR2208 with a 400grn cast works well.
THEN the BP bug bit so rolled my own using bristler sits recipe,except the seive through mesh bit was just too hard so chopped it up with old ruler as it dried and just kept doing so untill it was a good consistantcy....still the odd wee lump of sulphur but generally not bad.

this same buddy also turned me up a 12" insert for same gun that fires a .410 shell or .45 long colt...now that my friend is one heck of a lot of fun.
there is no smaller diameter barrel it is same from rim to muzzle but it generates enough pressure due to having 9" of barrel to burn in.the shot will be starting to spread then hits the choke of .12ga barrel and sort of sneaks back in a bit...its good enough for rabbits at 20 yards,and my good Wife took two mallard drakes with a single round!!!!! I wasnt sure if should be proud or jealous.....wisdom said be proud....
possums up trees are just too easy with this adaption.


crude open sights on the old shotgun barrel have been ok but after missing a couple of easy deer...close to hundred yards isnt ideal with crude sights,so Ive fitted scope and in process of sorting zero and then loads...... pretty sure the straight BP loads and straight smokeless loads are fine...Im hoping its either the duplex loading or the cast projectiles I got given are why Im having issues getting zero sorted.

[GregLaROCHE]

That sounds like an interesting gun that gets many jobs done.
Welcome to the forum. I’m sure you will enjoy it.

[Dio]

I've always been a fan of inserts/ gadgets reducers...I have a bunch, and they do add a degree of versatility to break actions.

[pietro]

.

Welcome to the board !

That type of conversion can work very well.

I did much the same about 45 years ago with a Beretta 412 Companion folding single shot with a ruined 12ga barrel.

Since the Beretta barrel was in a mono-block, I melted the solder to remove the entire 12ga bbl & fitted a rifle barrel ( $25 at the time) from Numrich Arms.

I had to make changes to the extractor, though

You've certainly got a good friend there....

.

[pworley1]

Welcome. Sounds like a neat gun and smart friend.

[sparky45]

Pictures would be nice.

[Milky Duck]

[Milky Duck]

WOW photos are easy on here....well done owners/moderators.
so on deer skin is the .45/70 insert at top,the .410 insert next and a chamber length .410/45lc one purchased off net.... the black tip you can just see...well thats a redneck .410 conversion that started me on journey down this path....AKA a bit of waterpipe fitted through a .12ga shell.....and the jolly thing worked and patterned ok too!!!!

2nd photo was my first kill with .45/70

[Texas by God]

Very neat. Sights are easily added to the shotgun barrel by solder or epoxy. Adjustable would obviously be best. Is your shotgun an Astra- or Aya?
Is Kangaroo stew tasty?
One of my favorite guns is a 12 gauge that I converted to 44WCF.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Milky Duck]

Very neat. Sights are easily added to the shotgun barrel by solder or epoxy. Adjustable would obviously be best. Is your shotgun an Astra- or Aya?
Is Kangaroo stew tasty?
One of my favorite guns is a 12 gauge that I converted to 44WCF.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

definitely an ASTRA CYCLOPE....and wallaby is an interesting meat...dark like a hare,lean like venison and bland like lamb...well the youngish ones weve taken meat off are anyway...steaks are ok with a bit of seasoning to add flavour but the real gold is to use an ox tail stew recipe and whack up the big tails on these fellas....VERY rich fare and any left in the pot...next morning you can upend pot and it wont fall out,solid gelatine as all the tendons break down.

and I have now fitted a scope rail ...didnt use solder I used a windscreen sealing glue in a tube MS1 its called ,holds a heck of a lot of stuff together in transport and contracting industries.....it dries really firm so no movement at all....