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LEGALITIES ASIDE, WHATEVER IS DISCUSSED HAS TO BE LEGALLY DOABLE WHERE YOU LIVE. SO NO NEED FOR SOMEONE TO SAY "STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS, IT IS ILLEGAL! OR SOME SUCH GUFF."

There was talk on this thread of cutting back a Pedersoli in .45/70 to make a Howdah pistol. This would be quite costly. The donor rifle not cheap. It would not be regulated, unless the barrels were separate and redone. It would have hammers.

Now I was thinking, what about a Baikal .45/70?

A major difference is no hammers. I really like hammers as such a howdah pistol can be carried more safely loaded with hammers.

But a major plus is one-fifth to one-tenth the donor cost. My rifle I picked up for A$800 simply because it was there and to have a play with. I had a look and immediately found one for sale in Tasmania right now for something like $1100.

If legal permission was obtained, the barrels could be cut off just in front of the forend. The butt cut back to a suitable shaped pistol grip, or removed and replaced with a new walnut pistol grip. The muzzles reworked and new sights added, probably front and rear? I will have to take the "ribs" off mine and see how far the barrels are separated? Perhaps wedges might still work to allow some sort of regulation?

A lot of people have complained about their Baikals were not able to be regulated(?).

Now as to Howdahs and regulation. How regulated were real original howdahs? They were designed to be shot at very close range. Say ten feet or less. So really point and shoot, preferably touching the fur without getting scratched or bitten!

A reason a cutback 20-bore might be just as good as a rifled pistol. Because of such inaccurate but close range shooting.

Nowadays if shooting targets, touching the paper target wouldn't be very competitive or exciting.

I think if making such a rifled howdah, it would be nice to have something, something like accurate and able to be shot well at sensible distances.

Then there is the discussion of recoil. The lightish weight of Baikals in .45/70s for some people are not comfortable to shoot. So cutting back to a howdah and shooting? How(dah) would that work?!

What weight would a cutback Baikal howdah work at? What weight was an average .577 brass case break open Howdah?

Lets have a discussion on recoil and what is manageable.

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John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

Edited by NitroX (24/06/20 08:40 PM)

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