I Present to you "The Beast"...... "Confederate Cavalry Shotgun"

[1srelluc]

Shown with two CW era pistols and buckles.


It was my election night project gun and started life as a mid 1840-50s double-barrel percussion Brit-made shotgun with a lot of warts.

So, after deciding it had too many warts to leave as is I decided to make a "Confederate Cavalry Shotgun" of it.

Most all Confederate shotguns were imported (mostly Brit) before the war and pressed into service so this one fit the bill age and bore wise.....This one is a Charles Osborne, Birmingham example.....I found the name when getting the scale off the barrel.

​

I had to source and reshape a hammer as it only had one. Not an exact match but fairly close.

I looked up pics of Confederate used shotguns and a common addition was some sort of a carbine sling ring/bar arrangement. I happened to have one such old ring so I inletted the stock for it.

Most used by the Cavalry were cut-down but not as short as you might think with 20"-24" being the norm.

I decided to cut this one just in front of the rear ramrod ferrule (21.75") and then move the front ferrule from the sawed-off section back behind it.....I also shortened the ramrod to length.

I desoldered the hardware on the front of the barrel and soldered it back to the front of the cut-down barrel.

I also drilled/tapped a hole and re-beaded it.

I removed the locks and cleaned/lubed them properly, they work fine.....The half cock even works good as that's usually the first thing to fail on old well-used locks.

I ran into a bottom rib soldering problem as rust had loosened the solder, so I got it all that cleaned-up and resoldered. Very solid now.

Actual work was about four hours not counting waiting for the hammer to arrive.

 

[JGalt]

View attachment 1039265
Shown with two CW era pistols and buckles.


It was my election night project gun and started life as a mid 1840-50s double-barrel percussion Brit-made shotgun with a lot of warts.

View attachment 1039267

So, after deciding it had too many warts to leave as is I decided to make a "Confederate Cavalry Shotgun" of it.

Most all Confederate shotguns were imported (mostly Brit) before the war and pressed into service so this one fit the bill age and bore wise.....This one is a Charles Osborne, Birmingham example.....I found the name when getting the scale off the barrel.

​

I had to source and reshape a hammer as it only had one. Not an exact match but fairly close.

View attachment 1039270

I looked up pics of Confederate used shotguns and a common addition was some sort of a carbine sling ring/bar arrangement. I happened to have one such old ring so I inletted the stock for it.

Most used by the Cavalry were cut-down but not as short as you might think with 20"-24" being the norm.

I decided to cut this one just in front of the rear ramrod ferrule (21.75") and then move the front ferrule from the sawed-off section back behind it.....I also shortened the ramrod to length.

I desoldered the hardware on the front of the barrel and soldered it back to the front of the cut-down barrel.

I also drilled/tapped a hole and re-beaded it.

I removed the locks and cleaned/lubed them properly, they work fine.....The half cock even works good as that's usually the first thing to fail on old well-used locks.

I ran into a bottom rib soldering problem as rust had loosened the solder, so I got it all that cleaned-up and resoldered. Very solid now.

Actual work was about four hours not counting waiting for the hammer to arrive.

Sweet! Load her up with Pyrodex and rock salt. That's just the thing you need for reveneurs, scalawags, and carpet baggers.

 

[Dr.Destructo]

I have to say, thats a piece of artwork there. Very sleek and stylish.
When you see something like that, you KNOW they were a craftsman AND artist!!

 

[1srelluc]

I have to say, thats a piece of artwork there. Very sleek and stylish.
When you see something like that, you KNOW they were a craftsman AND artist!!

The hard part was keeping it old lookin'.....I'd really like to refinish the stock as there is some nice looing tiger-striping in the wood but I don't want to mess with the old Japanned finish.

 

[Dr.Destructo]

The hard part was keeping it old lookin'.....I'd really like to refinish the stock as there is some nice looing tiger-striping in the wood but I don't want to mess with the old Japanned finish.

If you are good with woodworking, make a replica.