For a while now I've been curious about English double rifles that were converted to shotguns. How did they balance? Do they have any utility as slug guns in areas where you can't use rifles for deer hunting.

So in the past year I've picked up two. One is a wreck...an early Lang hammer underlever that's now a 20ga in unshootable condition, But for under $150 US, I bought it so I could take it apart without fear that my limited skills would mar anything.

The second one is more interesting. A Webley screw grip (A&W C?) double rifle retailed by Army & Navy CSL. Originally in 500EX,, it is now also a 20 bore. I picked this one up for under $600 US off of Gunbroker a few months ago. At the time, I was following and researching another Army & Navy 500EX Webley screw grip double rifle, which I was able to buy last month. Both have 27" barrels. The older of the two was retailed in 1889 per the kind folks at the University of Glasgow. The newer, converted double, was probably sold after 1905, based on Webley's numbers on the forearm takedown lever and barrel hook (I'm comparing to the converted rifle, which has assembly number 7728 and A&N SN 27466 to my 360EX Watson Brothers screw grip, assembly number 7168.)

I'll get pictures up of the 500EX rifles/shotguns soon. In the meantime, the key thing I observed, beyond boring out the barrels and removing the sights and barrel sling eye, was that the barrels lost 1.5lbs in the process. Total weight of the shotgun is 6.84lbs vs 8.42lbs for the 500EX rifle. The actions/stocks of both weighed 2.9lbs.

Anyone have a converted rifle they enjoy using as a shotgun? Anyone test one with slugs?

Regards,
Chris