I know the poor man's double rifle. Well I'm not a poor man and I have a couple of double rifles but I thought this might be an interesting project. I think I'm on the right track but I thought I'd post it here for any suggestions.
About a year ago at a gun show I picked up a Baikal Bounty HunterII in 20Ga for a utility truck and canoe gun. Of course I just had to see how it would shoot slugs. So I put in a couple of I/C tubes and had at it. Imagine my surprise when with just the bead sight it layed rights and lefts on top of each other at 25yds with the Remington 5/8OZ indicating they were converging at that point and with Win 3/4OZ it printed rights and lefts about an in inch left and right of center. I installed a low express type sight to use with the bead and can keep groups in the 4-5in range at 50yds. More than adequate for it's intended purpose.
Now to the project. A couple of months ago I got a good deal on another Bounty HunterII in 12Ga and with slugs this is a whole different story. With Win 1OZ slugs it prints the left barrel 7in left and the right 7in right at 25yds. I guess this shouldn't have surprised me as the 20Ga weighs 7lbs4oz and the 12Ga weighs 7lbs2oz and the 12Ga has of course a lot heavier recoil signature. I had checked the degree of convergance in both guns with the 20Ga being .070 in 20in breech to muzzle and the 12Ga being .088 in 20in.
My first thought was to go to a lighter slug. The lightest I could find was the Fiochi 7/8oz at 1300fps. This was better. Now the left barrel printed 4in left and the right 4in right at 25yds.
Next step was to add weight to the gun. I filled the stock bolt hole with 5oz of #5shot. OK some improvement now with the Fiocchi the left barrel is 2.5in left and the right the same amount right at 25yds.
I bored a 7/8in hole 5in deep in the buttstock and inserted a lead bar. That has brought the weight of the gun up to 8lbs9oz. I haven't had a chance to get to the range since this but will next week.
Just wondering if I am heading in the right direction with this and open to any suggestions.