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You are starting down a dark path! This goes deeper than professional trap shooting! Run away, run away! Don't say you weren't warned. Just loading ammunition for these things is whole forum's worth of conflicting data. I can see I haven't swayed you, sooo........ Welcome to the wonderful world of building and shooting double rifles!

You should be able to build a .470 on a good German or other 12 bore. There are a couple of guns out there that do not have a Greener crossbolt or dollshead third fastener that I will use, but a good 12B with double underlugs and a Greener crossbolt is the best, especially for a first build. A .470 is a good choice given it's current popularity. I like .450's (.450-3 1/4" or, even better, .450 #2) because I can get cheap "dirt bank" bullets in that caliber - not as many available for the .470NE. Going bigger than the .470 has weight issues when using a 12B action. You can build a .500 on a 12B action, but weight can be an issue. Anything bigger really needs 10B action.

For a first build, I would recommend using a gun that you can cut the barrels off to make the monoblock. Building a monoblock from scratch and fitting it to the action is a lot of specialized work and should be left to later projects. Extractors/ejectors is not a real issue for a first double, unless you have a strong feeling one way or the other. I have used both and don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. What you have is the best place to start. If you have to go out and buy a gun, then what you can find that meets the requirements for a build, is what you should use.

Don't worry about rh/lh twists on barrels, only rarely seen and absolutely unnecessary. I would not spend a lot of money on the barrels either. Buying "match grade" barrels will only make the project more expensive, will not make the gun shoot any better. I buy the smallest diameter barrel contour that I can get for a any given caliber, and then sometimes have to turn them a bit smaller. No American barrel maker makes a standard contour that is as small as we normally want them. Some will make them on special order, but none standard. 24"-26" for barrel length is standard, with 24"-25" the most common.

You did not mention it, do you have a copy of "Building Double Rifles on Shotgun Actions"? If not, probably should get one. Read that and a lot of your questions will be answered. After that, we can "give you the works" on an "even playing field".

http://bundukipublishing.com/

Should also get copies of "Gun Craft" by Vic Venters, and "Shooting the British Double Rifle" by Graeme Wright.

Ellis

Edited by DBLGN (06/04/12 10:54 AM)

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