# Hunting > The Magazine >  breathing new life into a beautiful old girl

## greghud

You will have to excuse my poor internet access, I will try to keep this build up to date as best as I can




I picked up this old bonehill snider, it was in good shootable condition, but unfortunately, in its past the barrels muzzle was damaged and accuracy was poor.

I ordered a green mountain barrel, for a muzzle loader with the intention of cutting out the breech plug and then rebarreling the snider  with it.





On the lathe
Cutting the threads






Profiling the barrel down to size




I ordered a bit of wood to replace the original stock.







Updates as I am able.
Greg

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## Toby

Nice looking bit of wood

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## madjon_

Good sh1t Greg

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## craigc

Looks cool

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## HNTMAD

choice

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## ebf

Awesome, keep the updates coming  :Thumbsup:

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## Scouser

Well done mate....i love watching these projects come together.....

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## Rusky

Fucking awesome. Wish I had some skills like that.

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## sakokid

Good skills

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## greghud

life as it dose, gets in the way of things, but I have managed to get a bit more done.

buzzed up the stock roughly

then started on the barrel band and front sights.
I used an old barrel from a browning a5 that was fucked, I chucked it in the lathe and profiled it to size.
I found some old front ramps that looked ok for the job and I also recovered the front sling mounts off that a5 barrel to act as my front banded sling mount,

wielded on.

shaped the front banded sight and sitting in place for the photo.

I have been working on getting the stock inletting fitted to my liking. it has been a challenge, but I am getting there.


heading in the rite direction at the very least.
greg

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## Marty Henry

What rear sights are you fitting, I bet a folding leaf express would look good on it!

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## Toby

My stock duplicator project is back on. I like that design. 

Nice work too

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## Maca49

> What rear sights are you fitting, I bet a folding leaf express would look good on it!


I've got a set of old express s
Leaf sights if you want to look

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## greghud

> I've got a set of old express s
> Leaf sights if you want to look


tell me more!
i am getting rite into recovering old gear and reusing it!
greg

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## Scouser

Looking good mate.....looking really good...... :Cool:

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## greghud

Progress!!!!!!
not much time dedicated to my personal work lately, but that is changing!
i have spent a bit of time getting the barrel sitting in the stock, and had to think about how i would hold it in the stock.
i have decided the best bet is to fit a recoil lug into the barrel and then bed the barrel into the stock.
the action is only held with a bolt, that passes through the stock and holds the trigger into place. this is at the back of the action, on the tang. traditionaly, the barrel then is secured to the stock at the front with barrel bands.
being that nothing else about this build is traditional, i decided to fit a recoil lug up ahead of the action to secure the barrel.
i have a banded front sight and a banded sling mount so a discrete front mount will probabaly look astheticly, at least, a little better than another band.





i have been using a very course file to shape the forend, not my first choice, but i have enjoyed the workout non the less!
it dose provide a exelent finish as is, so i will need little sanding when i am finished. something at least.



the alignment of the action to the lower trigger group is quite a testament to the firearms manufacturers of the past. there is little room for error in aligning the upper action, the lock and the trigger assembly. because each is seperate and independant of one another, but each needs to be aligned perfectly to funtion properly, i have taken extra time to ensure i have each component aligned corectly.



i had the kids in the workshop today and they decided on the forend tip. i had a piece of purple heart, that imidiately drew the girls atention. 
they decided the angled tip should be forward, i have not seen a forward forend tip before but they were insistant! so i cut the tip to suit and have it now sitting in the vice with the glue setting as we speak.





see how long before i get to do some more....................
greg

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## greghud

rough cut the barrel channel


[img width=450 height=600]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k292/greghud/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150109_180337_zpshvzpfyk1_1.jpg[/img]

forend tip shaped



greg

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## kotuku

such a sexy wee vixen you have there sir.may you deal to many jungle infidels :ORLY: bloody nice work greg.

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## greghud

fitting the recoil pad.

sanded with 100 grit and wet for the photos

greg

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## Marty Henry

Have been keeping track of the project and am most impressed. A lovely bit of walnut, but I'm not sure about the recoil pad

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## greghud

I have not been able to find a rear sight that I am happy with so, wadda ya doo?



bored out the centre to the same profile as the barrel.



flatten off the top



dovetail cut



shaped the top.

I will have to come back to it, ran out of time.

greg

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## john worthington

top work im watching with interest .i have some off cuts of ebony, purple heart ,wenge etc just yell if you are looking for somthing
cheers john

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## DanS

Looking awesome !!! Top effort can't wait to see it all finished!

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## greghud

Got the sight out of the mill









No time to do any work and I am so close to putting a shot thru her.  :Sad: 

Greg

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## greghud

Got the brass bar in to make the escutcheon's for the off side of the stock.






With the roar and duck shooting coming up I have very little time but managed to get some sanding done.







Getting there.
Greg

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## greghud

Bloody duck shooters, man I have had ENOUGH of fixing fucked semi auto shotguns.
Anyway, I have to admit, I am as excited as a teenager about to get a root. 
I just got a parcel from the states with what must be the rarest brass cases in existence! I got 6 boxes of 24g magtech brass that I will convert to 577 snider and 577.450 as I need them.
thus the inspiration that I needed.
I spent about 3 hours hand sanding the barrel with wet and dry. 
I took it to 2000 grit wet and dry. absolute mirror finish! I now needed to fit the sights and banded sling mount.



that done I spent the rest of the afternoon wrecking the finish by soldering the sights on.   :Thumbsup: 


 :ORLY: 

everything else is soaking in a phosphoric acid solution over night to be ready for a bath in the blueing tank in the morning. 
so close, I can smell the goex burning!
greg

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## greghud

Bloody duck shooters, man I have had ENOUGH of fixing fucked semi auto shotguns.
Anyway, I have to admit, I am as excited as a teenager about to get a root. 
I just got a parcel from the states with what must be the rarest brass cases in existence! I got 6 boxes of 24g magtech brass that I will convert to 577 snider and 577.450 as I need them.
thus the inspiration that I needed.
I spent about 3 hours hand sanding the barrel with wet and dry. 
I took it to 2000 grit wet and dry. absolute mirror finish! I now needed to fit the sights and banded sling mount.



that done I spent the rest of the afternoon wrecking the finish by soldering the sights on.   :Thumbsup: 


 :ORLY: 

everything else is soaking in a phosphoric acid solution over night to be ready for a bath in the blueing tank in the morning. 
so close, I can smell the goex burning!
greg

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## greghud

spent bloody ages cleaning up the mess made by the solder,  : :Have A Nice Day:  then hours polishing the barrel back to mirror bright.
the old original parts soaked in phosphoric acid to remove any rust in the pitting, it has caused a "Damascus" effect to the steel.
it will go when the blueing covers it. kinda cool tho.

blued all the metalwork and soaked it in oil.

assembly required

not looking too bad. mite need to take it for a shot in the morning. :boogie:

greg

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## PERRISCICABA

Absolut amazing, what a great work, you are a very "special talent" man, it is looking amazing. 
Thank for share and all the reports updates 

Mac

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## Speill

Nice work Greg - don't keep us waiting - how'd it all go?

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## jakewire

Your a clever bugger Greghud, damn good work. :Have A Nice Day:

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## Tahr

Amazing.

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## rs200nz

Man that is amazing.  What is the significance with the different colour front piece?  Beautiful rifle mate!

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## greghud

> Man that is amazing.  What is the significance with the different colour front piece?  Beautiful rifle mate!


it is there as a aesthetic embellishment, no real purpose for it.

time for some shooting!
now for those not up with the 577 snider, its a black powder cartridge. so the reloading process is much more complex. I wont cover it all, but to cut a long story short, its a pain in the arse.
getting brass for a cartridge that has been obsolete since the 1930's is a little challenging.
so I used 24 gauge brass hulls from Magtec, shortened them and sized them down to 577 snider. 
I have a 480g hollow based mini mould from lee that cast undersized. so I have lapped out the mould a few thou. I will try these and if that is no good then I will look at other options.
75 grains of triple 7 ffg with a card then a wax cookie before seating the bullet.

off to kiddies sport tomorrow and then if I can escape, I will put a shot or 2 through and see how close the sights are.



greg

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## PERRISCICABA

Hey @greghud, congratulations to the achievement, you have done an amazing job overall, the rifle is stunning and the "special" work in the reloading is just another work of art. 
All the best and good, very good luck during the test fire. 

Mac

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## rs200nz

sweet thanks for that.  Looks amazing!

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