Building A .45 Cal., Underhammer, Ultralight, Deer Rifle

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Razor62

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I've been wanting to put together a deer rifle. Something compact, lightweight and kinda' modern in styling. I' built an underhammer awhile back and I've taken a few deer with it but it's long, somewhat heavy and I baby her. I don't take her out on rainy days. I don't hoist her up into the treetops when I hunt from treestands. Here's a pic of her after a successful hunt last year.

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I wanted an everyday gun that I can carry all day long without a lot of fatigue. Something compact, lightweight and fast handling.
I decided to go with .45 cal. and to stick with the underhammer action due to it's sheltered nipple and it's aesthetics. A musket cap rather than a #11 percussion cap will all but eliminate the chance of a misfire.
The rifle pictured above incorporates the Allen Foundry's Underhammer action which I really like. For this new gun, I chose Allen's underhammer action without the heavy, cast receiver which looks like this:

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From there I found a cheap stock blank at Numrich Arms (Gun Parts Corp). They advertised it as walnut but I think it may be cherry. Either way, it doesn't matter. This will be a knock around rifle and so looks, although a consideration, aren't a top priority. Whatever the wood is, it's lightweight and hard, machines well and has tight grain:
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I picked up a fluted, 1:28" twist, .45 cal. barrel from a Winchester branded Rifle on Ebay for a song:

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Cut her off at the breech, cut her back at the muzzle and recrowned:

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At this point I tried using a conventional breech plug but it didn't lend itself to the action design very well. It would've forced me to push the tang too far forward in the stock. I needed to design my own breech plug, something that would actually house some of the action components:

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So I came up with this idea...I turned down and then threaded a piece of round stock that matched the O.D. of the breech end of the barrel. Then I hogged out a recess in the underside of the new breech plug which would accept the upper portion of the action. Now we're talkin'.....:
 
Good eyes gentlemen. It was indeed a Winchester 150 Barrel. It's allot shorter now but most of my shots on deer here in Rhode Island are well under 100 yards so there's no need for long barrels and heavy powder charges.

Been whittlin' away at the project little by little. All of the inletting is finished. Dovetails for the ramrod thimbles are done. Began the stock shaping & installed an ebony forend tip just because... She's beginning to look like a rifle....

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You have skills which I envy. Thanks for sharing the updates and picture. We appreciate you taking the time to bring us along for the ride.
 
Nice, I was looking at one of these actions to build a saw handel fast twist pistol for hunting. Thanks for the pictures, it gives me more insight for my plan.
 
Also if have a picture of the action from top view and measurement of the length of it would help. Thanks .
 
Fantastic project! Cool idea and thoughtful execution of the idea!

Curtis
 
I wonder what the final, all up weight will be.

Muzzleloader Builder's Supply sells an octagon-round, .45 caliber, 32" long barrel with a 7/8" ATF breech, that weighs in at 2 pounds, 8 ounces with flared tang breech plug installed. $235.00

Do you by any chance build rifles for others?

I am looking for a low-recoiling, patched ball, .45 caliber, English Sporting Rifle-style w/pistol grip, drum & nipple percussion, fixed breech plug, HUNTING rifle with modern push button, flush-mounted, sling swivel bases that are mounted in the stock.

It would be equipped with a modern shooting sling/push button sling swivels.

Octagon portion of the barrel drilled and tapped for a Weaver/Picatinny scope base with said base installed.

Total weight, all up, slung, scoped, and loaded to be a maximum of 7 pounds.
 
I know your not complete with it yet. I also use and own several under hammers. Are you using a specially made capper? Or just using a inline capper and doing the final pressure with your thumb or finger. For my hunting under hammers I have always left the forearm off. Yes the barrel does get cold in late November and December.
Just checking if you have a better mouse trap.
 
Thanks so much to all who took the time to reply / comment on this thread.

I'm hoping to get some more work done on the rifle over the next week or so. I'll be sure to post up any progress.

Wildcat, I'll take some measurements and I'll get you that photo as well.

Bruce, that's a huge compliment but I don't consider myself to be professional /proficient enough to contract a job for someone else. Maybe someday when I retire. There are lots of great builders out there who could deliver what you're lookin' for. Thanks so much for the ego boost however.

Roundball, I made a rather large recess in the bottom of the forearm of the rifle pictured at the top of this thread. I plan on doing something similar with the current project. With a musket cap, it's pretty easy to cap using only my rather large fingers. See the photo below for an idea what I'm referring to.

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Thanks so much to all who took the time to reply / comment on this thread.

I'm hoping to get some more work done on the rifle over the next week or so. I'll be sure to post up any progress.

Wildcat, I'll take some measurements and I'll get you that photo as well.

Bruce, that's a huge compliment but I don't consider myself to be professional /proficient enough to contract a job for someone else. Maybe someday when I retire. There are lots of great builders out there who could deliver what you're lookin' for. Thanks so much for the ego boost however.

Roundball, I made a rather large recess in the bottom of the forearm of the rifle pictured at the top of this thread. I plan on doing something similar with the current project. With a musket cap, it's pretty easy to cap using only my rather large fingers. See the photo below for an idea what I'm referring to.

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Trust me when I say you do first class work that you have nothing to be ashamed of.
 
Hey folks! I figured that it was time for an update. I haven't had much time to devote to the project lately. Seems I'm always at work and when I do have some free time I'm spending it on cutting, splitting and stacking next winter's 5 cords of firewood. I don't think that I've put more than 3 or four hours into this project since my last post.
I was able to get the recoil pad installed, the scope mounts installed and I opened up the recess where the nipple is capped. I was also concerned with how little wood there was at the very rear of the barrel channel. There's only about 1/8" of wood at the corners where the stock wraps around the breech end ot the barrel. So yesterday I glass bedded the barrel in order to ensure that it won't move under recoil and to strenghten the breech end of the stock.
The barrel sits tight in the wood now. The barrel is literally form fitted to the stock now. Shouldn't be a problem. I'll post some more photos when I get home from work tonight. I put a full size scope with rings on her and put her on the scale. She comes in at 6lbs, 5oz scoped. Ive got a Leupold 1.5 - 4 X 20 compact scope on the way and I'll be adding a sling and swivels. Still, it looks like I'll end up with a finished weight of about 6.5 lbs with everything attached, scope, rings, swivels and sling.
That's exactly where I was hoping to be.
I haven't forgotten you Wildcat. Those pics and measurements are comin'!
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Okay, so we've got some not too flattering photos to post up of the glass bedding results but as you'll see, all's well that ends well and sometimes kinda ugly stuff can turn into kinda pretty stuff. Just look at Bruce Jenner! No, wait,...bad example but you get the idea...
Anyway, I pulled the barrel out of the stock once the bedding compound had cured and this is what it looked like,.... but don't panic. That pink stuff is modeling clay that I used to dam off areas where I didn't want the epoxy to make it's way into. It'll clean up. As will all the overruns where it did find it's way to places it didn't belong. You can really see why I worry about stock fractures when you see how little wood there's left at the breech. But then a gain, allot of those old flintlocks of the golden age were pretty dainty. At least that's what I keep tellin' myself. The glass did it's job. There's zero movement between metal and wood.

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After a little cleanup:

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A little more fussin' with it and I'll be satisfied. I started opening up the nipple area for access when loading a musket cap. I really like musket caps compared to #11's. so much easier to handle and they spit more fire. Never had another misfire with my other underhammer since switching. Lost what would've been my first deer with that rifle because it misfired.
Getting back on track, I may need to open the area some more. I plan on doing a few capping practice runs to fine tune it.

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And here's another one of those "Just Because"s :

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I've got a Marbles Compass that uses this size dial. After it went through the dryer, I ordered a 10 pack from China on Ebay for $3.00 so I figured Why Not? Now, I'll always have my compass with me when I take this rifle. I think I got the idea from a "Special Edition" Daisy Red Rider BB gun about 50 years ago. Even then I thought it was a cool idea and I was just a kid. Somethings never change. Not the compass idea mind you, ...the fact that I'm still just a kid.

Next, It's all about the details. Defining the contours and sanding the stock. Polishing begins now too as does building the ramrod. I'll keep ya' posted

That's about as far as we've gotten to date and it doesn't look any more like a rifle than it did in my last post but here's a cool shot. At least I thought so:


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Hey Wildcat2 this one's for you! I finally got those measurements that you were lookin' for. Keep in mind that I did file down the upper portion of the action to allow it to fit into the breechplug recess of my project rifle. That doesn't change the measurements below. It only changes the profile of the forward retaining screw hole bolster. Compare the pics with the original. :

Trigger Plate Width: 7/8"
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Trigger Plate Length To Tip of Hammer 4, 3/4". Trigger Plate Length Minus Hammer 3,5/8":
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Action Height From Trigger Plate to Uppermost Screw Bolster 1,3/4"
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Pic Of Original Action Before Contour Changes.
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