Shotgun to Black Powder Adapter

[Alystyr]

Why not get a modern gun made for black powder?

It seems to me that using an adapter would allow a standard center-fire shotgun to be more versatile, letting one use a favorite firearm in "black powder season" as well as the conventional "gun season".

 

[9thIDdoc]

A smooth bore "musket" loaded with shot would be an alternative.

 

[rockledr]

Have you fired it yet? Give us a range report please. I would also like to know what load you go with. Curious people are curious.

 

[Ringel05]

It's a challenge to get a slug down a barrel and prime it and fire a rifle and it's doubly hard to pour powder and shot into a shotgun that is not intended for muzzle loading and ram it home with a stick. Muzzle loader rifles and shotguns are cheap enough..Why not get a modern gun made for black powder?

I have muzzle loading rifles and pistols...the shotguns I found were pretty expensive. They are much more difficult to find than other BP firearms. The Pedersolis are very expensive. The Knight TK2000 is pretty high dollar too, and hard to locate.

I already had a few H&R Pardners. The Model 940E was only $100 and the adapter was like twenty bucks. The older H&R Huntsman 50 cal had push in breech plugs, and this isn't that different from that system.

Have any suggestions for affordable BP shotguns?

Depends on what you want, lot's of old (and some reproduction) shotguns out there that go for under a grand. Some are cartridge black powder loads and some are muzzleloaders.
You can get a good Cimarron Coach Gun for around $600 or less. Any .69 caliber smoothbore (percussion or flinter) is essentially a shotgun.
I have a 12 gage CVA double barrel percussion I might consider parting with, I'm looking for an 1870s - 80s break open cartridge shotgun.

 

[9thIDdoc]

Used to have an original Manton percussion 10 Ga double barrel that was my favorite for hunting rabbits without dogs. That combination of 10 Ga. and no choke was highly lethal on rabbits in heavy cover.

 

[whitehall]

Converting BP guns to smokeless is illegal and probably not a good idea but I can understand the motivation to want to shoot cartridge ammo. I don't understand the point of converting a smokeless shotgun to BP. Maybe it's fun to see that blast of smoke. Preppers might think that they can make BP if the doo doo hits the fan and it's true but you still have to buy the percussion caps.

What are you saying is illegal? They sell conversion cylinders for cap and ball revolvers. Nothing illegal about it.

You can buy a cap and ball revolver over the counter but if you convert a cap and ball to fire smokeless cartridges it becomes a modern handgun subject to the same laws as if it was a Glock.

 

[rockledr]

Converting BP guns to smokeless is illegal and probably not a good idea but I can understand the motivation to want to shoot cartridge ammo. I don't understand the point of converting a smokeless shotgun to BP. Maybe it's fun to see that blast of smoke. Preppers might think that they can make BP if the doo doo hits the fan and it's true but you still have to buy the percussion caps.

What are you saying is illegal? They sell conversion cylinders for cap and ball revolvers. Nothing illegal about it.

You can buy a cap and ball revolver over the counter but if you convert a cap and ball to fire smokeless cartridges it becomes a modern handgun subject to the same laws as if it was a Glock.

That is true to an extent. If you ship the gun and the conversion cylinder together they are considered a modern firearm. However ship them seperately and it is still an antique weapon and doesn't need a BG check. But that is not the point you said it was illegal to convert them when it is not.

 

[Ringel05]

Converting BP guns to smokeless is illegal and probably not a good idea but I can understand the motivation to want to shoot cartridge ammo. I don't understand the point of converting a smokeless shotgun to BP. Maybe it's fun to see that blast of smoke. Preppers might think that they can make BP if the doo doo hits the fan and it's true but you still have to buy the percussion caps.

What are you saying is illegal? They sell conversion cylinders for cap and ball revolvers. Nothing illegal about it.

You can buy a cap and ball revolver over the counter but if you convert a cap and ball to fire smokeless cartridges it becomes a modern handgun subject to the same laws as if it was a Glock.

That is true to an extent. If you ship the gun and the conversion cylinder together they are considered a modern firearm. However ship them seperately and it is still an antique weapon and doesn't need a BG check. But that is not the point you said it was illegal to convert them when it is not.

Actually depends on what state one lives in, some states allow it, some don't and from what I can tell all he was saying is if a BP (non cartridge) firearm is converted to a cartridge firearm then all federal, state and local laws come into play, if it's supposed to be registered in your state it better be registered. Be careful with conversions in some states it's akin to standing on the precipice of a chasm waiting to fall in.
If the barrel is not rifled and it's converted to cartridge it's suddenly a shotgun that is under-length without a proper tax stamp....... Oops........

 

[rockledr]

Converting BP guns to smokeless is illegal and probably not a good idea but I can understand the motivation to want to shoot cartridge ammo. I don't understand the point of converting a smokeless shotgun to BP. Maybe it's fun to see that blast of smoke. Preppers might think that they can make BP if the doo doo hits the fan and it's true but you still have to buy the percussion caps.

What are you saying is illegal? They sell conversion cylinders for cap and ball revolvers. Nothing illegal about it.

You can buy a cap and ball revolver over the counter but if you convert a cap and ball to fire smokeless cartridges it becomes a modern handgun subject to the same laws as if it was a Glock.

That is true to an extent. If you ship the gun and the conversion cylinder together they are considered a modern firearm. However ship them seperately and it is still an antique weapon and doesn't need a BG check. But that is not the point you said it was illegal to convert them when it is not.

Actually depends on what state one lives in, some states allow it, some don't and from what I can tell all he was saying is if a BP (non cartridge) firearm is converted to a cartridge firearm then all federal, state and local laws come into play, if it's supposed to be registered in your state it better be registered. Be careful with conversions in some states it's akin to standing on the precipice of a chasm waiting to fall in.
If the barrel is not rifled and it's converted to cartridge it's suddenly a shotgun that is under-length without a proper tax stamp....... Oops........

I understand all of that. I have a nice little collection and have been at it for over 30 years. I don't like to see people state things as fact when they are not. When they do this we end up with a lot of people believing BS, like the gun show loophole. What it comes down to is people need to research the law for where they are and what they want to do.