2 barrels for one rifle??

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

I've been thinking of adding a .50 Cal. barrel to my .36 Cal. I already have a .50 Cal. that I really like. Just thinking that adding an additional barrel will make it more versatile and I'll use it more. Kind of a 2 for one.

Anybody do this? Or am I just wasting my time and money?

[d-a]

Yes I have several rifles that are multi barrels. There all Hooked breach though.

d-a

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

This will be a fixed breech barrel. The trickiest part would be forming the tang to match the existing one. Not too bad.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I built a .62 cal longrifle for a friend about thirty years ago, and just a few years ago, he wanted me to add a 20 gauge smooth barrel to the rifle so he could shoot both smoothbore matches and shot.  I had John Getz recreate the barrel in 20 ga. smooth, and filed a tang out of a length of 1 1/4" bar stock.  Worked out very well.

Daryl has a rifle that I believe has three barrels:  .40, .45, and .50 cal.

[Kermit]

I had a nice NY style halfstock flinter that was fixed breech with .32 and .45 barrels. It demonstrated for me that I'd rather have two rifles and not mess with swapping. Sold it. Hooked breech might have been different. Maybe. I sort of like a variety of guns rather than a safe full of barrels. Just my choice.

[galamb]

If you were going to go about fitting another barrel and tang that would be the perfect opportunity to go to a hooked breech system.

One tang, two plugs - re-breech the existing barrel, fit the new tang, breech the new barrel and go at her.

One tang and two hooked plugs goes for maybe 60 bucks (off the shelf), so not even that tough on the wallet.

[volatpluvia]

I did that on the yeager I built for myself.  It was nice to have the same feel when switching from round ball to shot at a shoot.  But I did get tired of it after a while.  three barrels for one stock.  So I eventually built two more guns.  I also tried to use the same barrel on two different stocks, and that is a real pain.  I made it work for a while but gave it up.
But, please, you should have the experiences you want to have. So go for it.
volatpluvia

[smylee grouch]

I did that with two 50 cal. One was perc. and one flint-hook breech-L&R locks. After about a year of load searching I silver soldered the tang to the breech on the perc. and finaly got good groups. Did I have the hook breech improperly fitted to the tang? I'm sure I did. But now I have two rifles that shoot good groups ( I restocked the flint) and am a firm solid breech lover for target arms.

[flehto]

Micah....not one for having exrta bbls lying about....did that w/ a shotgun and finally bought another and got rid of the extra bbl.. I know the bbl is the heart of a gun, but it just doesn't appeal to me .....looks like a whole lot is missing. But, to each his/her own....can't argue w/ that.....Fred

[Vomitus]

   I briefly owned a 2 barreled Hawken(perc) some 20 odd years ago. A.50bbl. and a.58bbl. The plan was that the 50 was for targets,and the 58 for hunting. Both were Don Getz barrels.Hooked patent breach. The fifty weighed about 11pounds and the fifty eight was a breeze to hold and shoot at around 9.5 pounds.(34") For me, a tang type rifle barrel swap?
 I'm not sure if I'd go that route.
  I think, in a weak moment, I traded into an Andrew Verner or was it a John Armstrong?lol!

[Herb]

Here is a .45 Leman Trade Rifle I built in Green River Rifle Works shop in 1978.  Because that caliber is not legal for elk hunting in Utah, I had friend Harold Tyus fit a .54 Orion barrel.  This was before I knew how to do it myself.  The blue color is a trick of the light, the steel is browned.

A closer view of the barrels, the top one is the .54.

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

This brings about another question.

Do you find that the rifle shoots the same with both barrels? Big question.

[Swampwalker]

The bigger caliber barrel will weigh less, but have more recoil. 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

This is a little English rook rifle I made for a friend from Kansas.  It has two barrels:  a .32 cal and a .40 cal.  You wouldn't think there'd be much weight difference - the calibres being so close, but the difference is profound.  He wanted the .32 so his wife could shoot the rifle without fear of recoil, and the .40 for turkey hunting.  For several years after he took delivery, he would send me pictures of him his Brittany spaniel, and a nice bird he'd just popped.

A few years later, he had a .54 cal rifle made to match, but it had only one barrel.  These barrels all started out life as a Green Mt. 42" swamped profile, and I cut them off at 32" to yield a great tapered profile which made for a rifle that is very light in the hand.  I still have the 10" stubs from those three barrels...should probably use them in some pistols.

[Habu]

. . . and now I'm going to be checking out every turkey hunter from Kansas, to see if they are carrying one of Taylor's guns. . . .

[Bob Roller]

Yea,verily.My kind of rifle.

Bob Roller

[Stoner creek]

Did this with a 54 cal & 16 gauge. Decided to use a breech plug for both barrels. The trick is to inlet and install lugs, bolts, and everything else early on in the game (whilst in early build). It's crucial to make sure that bolts, pins, touch hole liner (or drum heaven forbid) all go in the same place. Take extra time to think and plan. I did it, you can too!!!