Underhammer for an idiot

[BillinOregon]

I am of course, referring to my own self...
Lacking a milling machine, a lathe or the skill to use either, it occurs to me that a very simple but perfectly functional underhammer receiver could be constructed by sandwiching three layers of steel -- say a 3/8 inch core between two quarter-inch left/right layers. The core layer could be hacksawed and filed to house the trigger/hammer/sear and even spring parts, and also cut out in the front to act as a mortise to receive the tenon of the breech plug. The rear of the center core could be partially relieved for tapping for the buttstock throughbolt. The whole sandwich could then be shaped into a pleasing bend without bending -- just grinding, contouring, polishing and drilling/tapping for attachment screws. This would allow the home idiot/hobbyist (minezelf) to assemble most of the parts of an underhammer rifle by simply grinding, sawing, filing, drilling and tapping. Very few skills and almost no sense required. Sounds like my kinda project!
Can you say "underhammers on the brain"?

 

[BillinOregon]

As Officer Toody would say: "Ooh! Ooh!" (Anyone remember Car 54 Where Are You?)
The underhammer for this idiot gets better. I can get a tap and a bottoming tap for the barrel, then use a 5/8 hardware store bolt, run it in tight, mark it, back it out, then cut off the excess, leaving a half inch or so to be ground flat on each side then filed to form a hooked breech plug, which then would be traced on the core sandwich plate. This, when filed out, would then accept the breech plug, and the whole thing would be fixed in place by hanging the plug in the receiver and drilling the whole shebang for a screw. Once the pattern is set, several breech plugs could be filed out to match, making possible the interchangeable barrels so many UHers seem fond of.
Does this make any sense at all?

 

[walruskid1]

step away from the underhammer and put both hands on the bench! :nono: actually it sounds perfectly possible, with one hell of a lot of hand file work.

 

[BS]

Have you thought about a sliding underhammer?

Do a search at Dixie Gun Works for:

underhammer

or:
Link to underhammer

 

[BillinOregon]

BS: That is wild, but it negates the direct-fire benefit some cite as a key advantage of the underhammer action. Still, food for thought!
Bill

 

[John Taylor]

Sounds like it would work but the center only needs to be 1/4" thick to take a standard H&A trigger and hammer. Were you planning on welding the 3 pieces together or using rivets?( silver solder might work good also) The breach plug could be filed flat to slide in between the 2 outer pieces and a taper pin used to hold it in like the old H&As.

 

[gmww]

This proposed project has some very interesting concepts. I think it could work. I've been currently putting to gether spare parts I'm finding on ebay! :rotf: Really, I just finished a $9.00 rear stock to fit my underhammer action. If you need a rear stock you might want to PM me. The seller got a bunch more for the same price, but in walnut. I got the ugly sister that sanded into a princess.

 

[BillinOregon]

John: I hvae yet to learn to weld, so was thinking of drilling, tapping and screwing the sides together -- probably not the elegant solution, but it should work. What did the old HA taper pin look like? How was the pin held in?
GMWW: PM sent.

 

[John Taylor]

I don't remember the size but I think it was a #5. The taper reamers and pins are not very expansive. Reamer around $25 and the pins are around $.50 from McMaster Carr Taper pins have 1/4" taper per foot and you just tap them in. When you want to take it apart, just tap it out.