Any 8 Bore Percussion Barrel and Breech Plugs Availabe?

[CalebS5]

Hi all,

I’m brand new to the forum and I hope I’m posting in the right place. I have been looking around for parts for the possibility of building an old school big game gun. I’d like to find the parts to build a half stock 8 bore percussion. I emailed Rice Barrel but the 8 bore barrel he offers is not available with rifling. He also does not produce a percussion breech plug. Does anybody know of anyone who does/would make these parts?

Thanks for all your help.

Caleb

 

[Zonie]

I can't help you with the barrel but, if you plan on using your 8 bore gun for hunting, check with your state's regulations.

In Arizona, a gun larger than a 10 bore is illegal to hunt with.

 

[CalebS5]

Hey thanks for the heads up. I double checked since you said that, never hurts. I live in Indiana so biggest animals we have are deer. Not too large haha. But our state laws are only for minimum caliber, if its larger than .45 its fair game. Thank you though for bringing that back to my attention.

 

[Zonie]

I should have added, an 8 bore has a bore diameter of .835". That means the breech plug will need to have either a 15/16 or a 1" thread on it. I don't know of any company made breech plug with threads that large.

It would be possible to make one using a 15/16" or 1" threaded bolt with a tang welded onto it but the welding should be done by someone who is very good at welding to keep any voids from being in the weld.
Voids wouldn't be dangerous but if you were filing the plug tang to match the barrel and opened up one of them it would be ugly.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

But our state laws are only for minimum caliber, if its larger than .45 its fair game. Thank you though for bringing that back to my attention.

Just don't go for Waterfowl with it....Federal Regs limit the gauge used for waterfowl to 10 gauge, muzzleloader or not.....

LD

 

[ugly old guy]

I can't help you with the barrel but, if you plan on using your 8 bore gun for hunting, check with your state's regulations.

In Arizona, a gun larger than a 10 bore is illegal to hunt with.

Federal regulations make anything larger than a 10 gauge, be it a cartridge gun or muzzleloader, illegal to hunt critters with anywhere in the USA.

 

[CalebS5]

I believe the federal regulation is actually only aimed at waterfowl, but I will certainly look into it again, definitely enjoy my hunting privileges. And I have no intentions of shooting shot out of it anyways. Regardless of hunting regulations the build is more of something to bring me pleasure, even if I can’t whack the local critters

I’m actually quite green to all of this, I’m 22 and have a ton to learn about every aspect of life, let alone gun building. So any advice at all on here whether its hunting regulations or building is greatly appreciated. I have always liked the older things, not much into modern firearms for the most part, a lot look like plastic trash to me. First gun I’m trying to tackle actually will be the “Daniel Boone” flintlock Mike Miller makes in his instructional video. So I’m completely new to all of this and need all the help and insight others are willing to offer.

I’m just trying to get the parts for the 8 bore now so I have them for later. As it appears it will be much harder to source the parts for it than the flintlock.

All that said though, in reference to the welding, my dad has actually been a certified welder my entire life, and come to think of it his friend is a machinist. May be able to get them to fabricate a plug and tang for it, and test it from behind a large tree XD.

Any recommendations on steel? How hard does it need to be? 1045 steel too soft or too hard?

Thank you for your input and your sincerity in making sure I wouldn’t do anything that would get me into legal trouble, I truly do appreciate it and will look over the laws again.

 

[52Bore]

I have an original 26" Damascus rifle barrel, breech and tang with no visible name. If I recall the bore is around .800". PM me if you're interested, it's not cheap..

 

[Dave James]

I would reach out to some of the custom makers like October Country, and www.stolzergunsmtihing.com they both have built /build them