Single shot smoothbore to slug gun

GameStalker30-06

GameStalker30-06

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Newfoundland
Hey! I've been collecting winchester 37A's for the past little while now all in excellent shape.. I have a an extra "double" 12 gauge 37A that I have been thinking about turning into a single shot (of course) slug gun. For what I want, I will need to cut the barrel to probably 20-22", either drill and tap the barrel for direct scope mounts, or d & t barrel and try and find a cantilever mount that will fit it. (Any ideas)!

I may also install some iron sites...maybe not. depends on how I think it will look..What I really want to know is..would I need to reinforce the buttstock somehow...for taking the load of just slugs instead of light bird/rabbit shot??? since the tang area is known for eventually-(not always) cracking on these models.

anybody have any ideas, comments or better advice that would help me along with this project??

Been wanting to do this know for quite a while..

Billy
 
I've made up a number of 20" "bear guns" from Winchester 37s and Cooey 840s. The stock on these guns is heavy enough that it won't fail, in fact I did some carving on one of them that resulted in a palm swell that felt lots better than the 2X4 feel of the factory stock. In any case, the stock needs to be cut to fit you with the addition of a quality recoil pad. These guns were cheap, effective, quick and portable.

I didn't attempt to scope any of these guns, but the chamber area of the barrel is thick enough to accommodate screws for a Weaver or Picatinny base. I had a set of Remington 700 sights silver soldered to one of these guns, on the others I just used a bead mounted on a pedestal. A couple of them had Poly Chokes installed (that gave them a cool look) and one was threaded for Rem-Chokes. Mostly I found that the straight tube gave good results for the purpose intended.

I found that a steel band sliver soldered to the barrel was a better mount for a sling swivel than was the spring loaded forend, and adopted this on most of these guns.

There are many finishes I tried, and you should let your budget decide. I've tried blueing, paint, and bake on gun finishes. The bake on finishes are the toughest and most resistant to bug dope, but they are also the most expensive.

A problem that seemed to plague a number of these guns was that the firing pin did not protrude very far from the breech face. As a result I experienced spotty ignition with Federal slugs which have primers set deeper than other brands. Winchester slugs I found to be the most accurate.
 
Woww..lots of info there...sounds great...I may stick with irons for now then too....lol..As I said I've been wanting to do one for a while now...So I may just as well get started soon..Got any pictures....Would love to see some of the ones you did...

Thanks alot.

Billy
 
Perhaps look around and see if you can try shouldering a rifle or shotgun that has a ghost ring sight setup. My old guy eyes make using a ghost ring or peep sight setup a LOT faster and more certain for getting the initial sight picture than regular open sights. You may find the same thing with your case.
 
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