I don’t voiced my opinion on ALR very often because there are so many very capable gun builders and expert craftsmen that usually answer questions, and give advise that I agree with. There is no point in me saying again, what has already been said. I usually put a long day in, working in my shop and at age seventy five I am so tired that I don’t put my computer on after dinner every night. When I do I usually answer my e mails first and then click on ALR and I thoroughly enjoy reading about what is going on in the gun building world.
Lately there has been a lot of interest in swivel breech rifles, which some of you know is my specialty. I have supplied many of my kits to gun builders, some of which are the best in the business. I have completed over forty swivel breech rifles myself, some of which I have posted on this forum. There are a lot of misconceptions about swivel breech rifles which I feel compelled to address.
First of all Swivel breech rifles do not have to be heavy. The first one that I built weighed twelve lbs, too heavy for a hunting rifle. I realized then that you can’t build a rifle under nine lbs. when you start out with two barrels that weigh ten lbs. Don Getz made the first set of light barrels for me that were .850 at the breech, 32 inches long, tapered to .750 in 50 cal. This resulted in a rifle that weighed just over eight and a half lbs. Since then I purchased 127 barrels from Green Mt. that were .850 at the breech, 32 inches long, tapered to .750 in 54 cal. The bigger cal. took a few more ounces off the weight. Shortening the barrels to twenty eight inches resulted in bringing the weight down to under eight lbs. By the way, I am just about out of barrels and when they are gone I will not be building more swivel breech rifles or kits.
The second issue is accuracy. Swivel breech rifles were not meant to be bench rifles, and if you insist on comparing them to a thirty lb. bench guns, I will agree they will not shoot as accurate, nor will any single barreled light wt. off hand gun. If the barrels are loose or not attached securely to the swivel action, of course they will not shoot consistent. The rifles that I have built have the barrels bolted directly through the swivel plate and into the plug. The locking pin locks the plates absolutely solid, thanks to my friend Dave Waters suggestions. The barrels are soft soldered together and each barrel has its own set of sights. My swivel breech rifles shoot just as accurate as any of the single barreled light wt off hand rifles that I have ever made.
I hope that I have not bored any of you as I have rambled on, but as you can see I am quite passionate about swivel breech rifles . If I have, please forgive this passionate old guy.
