Best Barrel to go into Shotgun Stub

[jkpq45]

Have a 12ga barrel itchin' to be lopped off and bored out/threaded.  What's the best, most appropriate/safe barrel to stub into it?  Don't want to go too high-pressure as there's questionable safety threading a .30-378 Weatherby Magnum or Lazzeroni Warbird into a shotgun stub :-)

All suggestions welcome, thanks!
jkpq45

[OldSchoolRanger]

...  Don't want to go too high-pressure as there's questionable safety threading a .30-378 Weatherby Magnum or Lazzeroni Warbird into a shotgun stub :-)

All suggestions welcome, thanks!
jkpq45

I'm not an expert, but I the frame is the thing you have to be concerned about.  Since it's really the frame that has to take the pressure, not the stub.  Make sure it's an SB2 or CBA (rifle) frame, and not the SB1 or CAC (shotgun) frame.  See following link for information on how to tell them apart:

http://www.hr1871.com/support/accessoryprogram.asp

I'm sure one of our resident experts will be along soon to set you straight.  If not, post this in the Handi center fire forum, or ask quickdtoo to move this subject there for you.

[trotterlg]

I think that the biggest problem is getting the chamber wall thickness needed to be safe.  If you bore out a 12 gauge stub you will not have enough room to get a good chamber wall thickness for much over a .223 diameter case.  I don't ever count the thickness of the stub, only the thickness of the barrel.  Good luck, don't hurt your self.  Larry

[LaOtto222]

Larry is absolutly correct. I think a good rule of thumb is if it is safe in a T/C Contender, you are safe to stub it. This is when the stub barrel is finished, the chamber wall thickness is about the same as the Contender's chamber thickness.

Good Luck and Good Shooting

[quickdtoo]

But not all Contender chambers are safe, when ya start puttin holes in the chamber for mounting scope mounts, bad things can happen! 

Tim

http://cdk357.tripod.com/444blowup.html

http://cdk357.tripod.com/image02.jpg

http://cdk357.tripod.com/image01.jpg

[jkpq45]

I think that the biggest problem is getting the chamber wall thickness needed to be safe.  If you bore out a 12 gauge stub you will not have enough room to get a good chamber wall thickness for much over a .223 diameter case.  I don't ever count the thickness of the stub, only the thickness of the barrel.  Good luck, don't hurt your self.  Larry

Larry, to that end, wouldn't a larger through-stub diameter (and consequently larger barrel diameter-to-chamber-diameter ratio) be safer?

I've been considering boring either a rifle barrel stub or shotgun stub to 1"x16 tpi, same pitch diameter as both Win70 and Rem700 actions.  Wonder if it would matter what the stub "tube" diameter remaining would be in that case?

[LaOtto222]

I see that the 444 was not a factory chambered barrel, it was a 44 mag bored to a 444. Were the mount holes drilled too deep? Were extra mount holes added? It is hard telling what was done to that barrel. I know that SKS bases several of their priority cartridges on the 444 Marlin for the Contender. They have done hundreds with out problems that I am aware of. I know that some Gunsmiths like to add extra mount holes and opens them up to #8 from a #6. Was that done to this barrel? Who knows.

I said that as a rule of thumb based on the fact that when you make a stub, you make the liner chamber walls at least as thick as the Contender, so anything in the Contender, should be safe in a Stub. I agree with Tim that you need to be cautious when you start getting into unknown territory, you need to be very cautious and know that for every thing that is done, there is a trade off. If you make the chamber walls thinner than a Contender, then you need to chamber for a smaller case.

The larger in diameter the case, the more it needs to be down loaded. You can buy a 45-70 barrel for a Contender, but you can only shoot trap door loading (level 1) in it, safely. You would just be asking for trouble to shoot level 2 or level 3 in it and so the same for a stubbed Handi. A regular Handi will handle level 2 loads with out a problem, but not a stubbed barrel. I only have 1 stubbed and it is a 22K Hornet...plenty of chamber wall for it.

Good Luck and Good Shooting

[quickdtoo]

You can see the depth of the holes in the split 444 barrel pics, they appear to be as deep as they are wide, but I think the problem is it's a 6-screw mount which makes it even more likely to be a problem, although I can't see all six holes in what's left of the barrel. 

For what it's worth, Wayne York did a 6.5x55 Stub for me, he was very apprehensive of using a shotgun barrel for a stub which are 1137 mild steel, he wanted a 4140 rifle barrel for the stub which is what I sent him.

Tim

[Airsporter]

You can see the depth of the holes in the split 444 barrel pics, they appear to be as deep as they are wide, but I think the problem is it's a 6-screw mount which makes it even more likely to be a problem, although I can't see all six holes in what's left of the barrel. 

First thing that drew my attention in the pics is the almost even "banana peel"split along 3 seams.   Hmmm  . . .   I think there might have been more going on here than too many sight base holes.