This is not meant to be a tutorial, more of a "follow along" to help inspire folks who may need to make a similar breech themselves. If I can do it, anyone can! This is the first one of these I have made and I would do a few steps differently the next time around, but regardless it seems to have turned out alright so far. I took my inspiration from the pages of the excellent book "Recreating the Double Barrel Muzzleloading Shotgun" by William R. Brockway.
I started with a 2x2 angle and cut off a piece a bit wider than the finished size will be.
I didn't get a picture but I welded an extension on one leg to give me enough length on that side for a finished size of 2-3/8"... I welded on more than I needed but it will be cut off later.
Next I scribed the outlines of the the breech hooks on the barrels. You must make the rectangles an eighth of an inch or so short at the top to allow for the hooks. The top of the standing breech must be slightly taller than the top rib on the barrels when assembled. I drilled a series of holes just inside the scribed lines. At the top where the hooks are. I drilled the holes at an angle to match the hooks.
Next start cutting out the squares for the hooks. You can see in the second photo that I wised up some and drilled more holes to make the sawing a bit easier.
Once the rectangles were cut I trimmed the top some with a cold chisel, then comes the filing. Yes, in one of the photos I am using a round rasp in a square hole! Not much good for corners, but it removes material very quickly.
The best scribe that I have is made from and old file. It is easy to hang onto and it stays sharp longer on steel than any commercial ones I have. I got plenty of use from it on this project.
A little back lighting helps to see how the filing is coming along.
Next I started chiseling out the angled holes I drilled for the hooks.
A square graver really helps clean out the corners.
Getting closer!
When you are getting close to final fitting, or you have a trouble spot you can't quite figure out, it is time to smoke the parts with a candle. You can see the bright spots on both parts where the interference is. Be careful not to remove too much material because the fit should be tight. Below you can see a bright mark on the side of the hook... the corresponding spot in the rectangle was filed a few strokes. The second picture I am chiseling out a bright spot where the top of the hook was hitting.
The hooks are almost fitted now...
Now time to start making it look like a standing breech. I didn't do any shaping previous to fitting the hooks in case I messed that operation up and had to start over. I did this with a hacksaw and files.
The "fingernail" shaped indention behind the rib was cut with a grinding attachment on a dremel tool. Brockway recommends using a 1" drum sanding attachment on a drill, I don't have one so I improvised. You can see my boo-boo but that is okay, I need to thin the top of my breech considerably, 3/32" at least. I will use my belt sander for that operation.
Touching up the "fingernail"after thinning with the belt sander, you can also see where I started filing a radius on the edges of the breech:
Filing accents:
Well, this is as far as I go for now. There is still a great deal of work to be done. I will wait to bend the tang after I get the stock blank cut out and have something to use as a guide for the curvature. I need to purchase my locks before I do any more fitting to and filing to the barrel shapes.
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Curtis
