H/A underhammer Barrels.

[Katahdin]

Anyone have a spource for H/A Under hammer barrels?? 36,40,50 54.I have a Heritage Model in 45 looking for other calibers,just cause..

 

[Billnpatti]

When I built my H & A underhammer, I got my barrel from Long Hammock in Florida. Because of the design of the action, the rifle had to have a breach plug that was especially fitted to the action. I sent my receiver off to Long Hammock and he made me a barrel and installed the breach plug which he made to fit my specific action. I have been quite happy with my Long Hammock barrel.

 

[Katahdin]

Mine is a Numrich Arms so it might be easier.

 

[bob308]

I can fit any makers barrel to a h&a action. without drilling the barrel for the touch hole. I make a breach section for the barrel with a chamber. it works just fine I have been shooting one for 20 year in the matches.

I have a hoyt .40 cal barrel I am going to put on one of actions. I have 5 under hammers all are .45's I would like to have one in.36 or fine a shot out .36 to rebore to .38.

 

[hawkeye2]

Numrich and H&A are the same gun. Numrich had acquired the rights to the H&A brand when they went out of business and so he used it. Any barrel can be fitted to the action with a simple breach plug which any machinist can make or you can find them on that general auction site that we can't mention here on a somewhat regular basis.

 

[Katahdin]

The reason wrote H/A Numrich was to point out it was not an original,just in case there was a difference.Thank You for the information.The last real Gunsmith, in my area, died a year ago at 94 years old.Got a great smith down country,road trip in the future!!
Never thought about the barrel and the breech plug fit,sometime it is the obvious I miss the quickest.

 

[Billnpatti]

Numrich and H&A are the same gun. Numrich had acquired the rights to the H&A brand when they went out of business and so he used it. Any barrel can be fitted to the action with a simple breach plug which any machinist can make or you can find them on that general auction site that we can't mention here on a somewhat regular basis.

At some point in time, Deer Creek Products in Indiana had the rights to make the H&A under hammer. That is where I got most of my parts to build the one that I have. He still had many of the parts laying on his shelves. I bought most of the parts from him and then he sent my action of to Long Hammock for them to make the barrel and fit the breach plug to the action. The breach plug has no tang, it has a round stub that fits into the action and is held in place by three (or is it four?) set screws. This has to be a precision fit so the folks at Long Hammock needed the action to make a plug that fit snugly. One neat thing about these guns is that a barrel maker Like Long Hammock can make barrels of different calibers to fit your action and you can simply loosen the set screws, remove one caliber barrel and install another one of a different caliber.

 

[Katahdin]

One rifle, many barrel options.I liker it.new saying,"Beware of the man with one rifle and many barrels" Might get a smooth barrel for bird hunting.

 

[Billnpatti]

One thing about having several barrels is that each barrel will have to have its own thimbles and if you want a forestock (not a necessity) you will have to make one for each barrel because the forestock is pinned to the barrel. Fortunately, the forestock is a simple thing and not difficult to make so making one for each barrel is no big deal....if you want one. The forestock on my rifle was broken in an unfortunate accident and until I got around to repairing it, I shot my rifle without a forestock.

 

[Katahdin]

Along the lines of the Target Model. I have a complete wood shop,taught wood working/cabinet building for 8 years.Wood matching might be the challenge.
Many fore arms, little price to pay for all the enjoyment the rifle brings..
Thanks for your help,how many different Caliber barrels are there for this rifle mmmmmmm,sweet is there a maximum caliber size??

 

[nwtradegun]

http://underhammers.blogspot.com/2010/05/replicating-original-numrich-arms.html http://www.underhammers.com/

 

[hawkeye2]

You can put any caliber barrel on the action from .22 to ?? Your shoulder and forearm when the cap pieces embed in it will will tell you if you've gone too far. The largest caliber the original H&A was available in was .58.

 

[Katahdin]

Those little cap pieces are just a way of letting you know it went off!!Most deer seasons in Maine your jacket might catch on fire but the cap will never get to you. :grin: I'am leaning toward a 40 or 36 and a 54, maybe a smoothie in something around a 16 gauge.

 

[bubba.50]

Numrich used to stock the 36cal barrels but it has been a while since I looked.

 

[Billnpatti]

Mine is a .45 and that seems to be a popular caliber for this rifle but I see no reason why you could not put any caliber barrel you wish on it. If I was still able to go squirrel hunting, I'd have a .32 caliber barrel made for mine. Then, I might have a .50 cal. barrel made for it for deer hunting. I think a .32, a .45 and a .50 would have all of my bases covered.

 

[Billnpatti]

You didn't say whether you have shot your under hammer rifle yet. If you haven't, what you will find is that when holding your rifle in the traditional manner with the supporting arm on the barrel or forestock you will often feel the sting of cap fragments hitting your supporting arm. It can be a bit unpleasant. What you need to do is to cover your supporting arm with a sleeve made of a heavy fabric such as denim. While a long shirt denim shirt or jacket may be a bit too warm in the summer, you can make a sleeve just to cover your supporting arm. I made one out of some canvas and put elastic in the upper arm to hold the sleeve in place. it works like a charm. However, I have since changed the way I hold my rifle. It is very light and can be held in the manner that I use. I place my supporting hand (my left hand) over my right hand in the same manner as a two handed hold on a handgun and place my left elbow against my side. I have found this hold to be even more stable than the traditional manner. If the rifle were as heavy or had as long a barrel as a traditional rifle, this kind of hold may not be workable but on my light H&A rifle, it is very easily doable, is very stable and keeps my forearm out of the way of cap fragments.

 

[bob308]

I have been shooting under hammers for over 20 years now and never set my sleeve on fire. never had a cap fragment in my arm. some of the cap fragment problems come from the shield that goes around the nipple is missing. they are easy to make out of a copper pipe cap. even had a nipple blow out with no damage to any one or me. in fact I started shooting under hammers when I had a cap fragment hit my cheek right under the eye.

 

[FishDFly]

Have to go with bob308, your judgement of underhammer's is bunk.

 

[Katahdin]

Shot it some no problems yet with the caps.Most of the shooting was in the winter,so a jacket was worn.Summer shoot could bring a different result,time will tell.Been told it will/could/might happen,time will tell.

 

[Tinker2]

I have been shooting under hammers for over 20 years now and
never set my sleeve on fire. never had a cap fragment in my arm.

billnpatti

The first rifles came without a forestock.
I got my first underhammer in the early 60’s SN# 2000 no fore end.


bob308

After digging a number of caps out of my arm with a needle nose pliers and a knife I also changed the way I shoot.
Although it has not had that problem in a long time and may have been the nipple.


Vomir le Chien

I hope your dog feels better.
One of my underhammers is a 20 gage. Makes a nice gun.



William Alexander