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March 25th, 2016
Pre-war H&R .410 and 28-ga. shotgun frames are ideal “Bunny Gun and Backpack Rifle” platforms. My lucky trade with Nick Croyle for his .410 boyhood gun started it all. The first “Bunny Gun” barrel #1 John Taylor fabricated for it was 26 inches long, 16 inch twist, chambered in .32 S&W Long. He did not do a “stub” conversion, but completely “scratch built” it, so that the original .410 barrel remained an option, which experience has proven to be the correct choice! Bunny Gun Barrel #1was later rechambered to .32 H&R Magnum for experiments, and recently was rechambered again to a .32 based on .38 Special brass necked down in cut-off .300 AAC Blackout dies. A story for another time…
Bunny Gun Barrel #2 was a .32 ACP, made from an M1 Garand pull-off, finishing 18" long, being wonderfully handy. Soon after receiving it, Andy Evans converted a Remington 580 bolt gun to .32 ACP for me. So, I rechambered my short .32 ACP to a .32 S&W Long, this time having a correct rifle throat. Its 10 inch twist stabilizes heavy bullets subsonic, an improvement over Bunny Gun #1 First Iteration. A true Backpack Bunny Popper. When taken down the rig stashes in a military Mossberg 500 shotgun scabbard which has ample room to store two barrels wrapped in a “gun sock” and fit the whole caboodle inside my ruck. Assembled, the gun stows in the scabbard with a sleeved extra barrel, attached outside the ruck, protected and accessible. Ammo stores either in a GI paper .30 cal. cartridge box tucked in a leather Hunter belt carrier or in four Quik Strips tucked into pack pockets.
I acquired another small-frame H&R from Ric Bowman, a 28-ga. with deeply pitted barrel which couldn’t be salvaged. Its action and wood were sound, so I asked John Taylor to set up Bunny Gun #3 as a .38 Special, bushing the firing pin for +P loads. We agreed that barrel #4 should be of a caliber which “starts with one,” so to the growing pile was added a .45 ACP, described in FS231-9. A lucky finding was that Nicky’s .410 barrel fits and locks up properly on either frame, providing the option to pack a rifle-shotgun combo. Nicky’s .410 barrel was originally a 26-inch full choke with 2-1/2” chamber, but now it’s a 20” cylinder bore with 3-inch chamber. How it got that way is interesting.
Long ago, during a pre-match breakfast discussion, Frank Marshall, talked about shooting Game Getter ball loads and lead bullet .44-40s in his .410. So, of course, I had to try it. A few years later after shooting hundreds of balls with no issues, a ball cast of something other than pure lead age-hardened, and refused to go through the choke. The gun actually recoiled FORWARDS, as the muzzle split 3 inches behind the bead sight, at the choke constriction, spreading like the hood of a cobra!
Bill Bender was at the range with me and howled with laughter, because he knew exactly what had happened, as we both recalled Frank’s tale. As a kid in Montana, Bill had done exactly the same thing during the Depression, but instead of home cast balls, he had gotten hold of a one of those new-fangled jacketed softpoint .44-40 rounds instead of a soft lead blackpowder one. Same result and fix.
Bring out the toolbox. Lop off the muzzle with a tubing cutter 2 inches behind the split after measuring to make sure it would still be “legal.” Twenty inches is OK. Recrown the inside bore edge with a pipe taper-reamer. Dress the outside cut edge with a file. Five minutes, life was good again. Later our mutual friend Gunsmith Jimbo installed a new bead sight and lengthened the chamber to 3 inches; the bore now being a true .427 inch cylinder from end to end. I could hear the spirit of Frank Marshal speaking to me in his best Robert Newton impersonation as Long John Silver in Treasure Island:
"Aye Laddie, now ye have a proper blunderbuss, for shooting shot or ball at pelicans, parrots or marauding monkeys for the stewpot or to fend off any Spanish pirates, says I...."
Returning to current reality.....Numrich had brand new, unused Marlin 1894S .44-40 Microgroove 20" barrels in stock. The temptation was simply too great, so I bought one, and sent it to John Taylor.
He cut off the breech threads, made and fitted an underlug and extractor, then rechambered the barrel in using the same reamer he recently used to correct my “too tight” Ruger Vaquero. Now both of my .44-40 revolvers and .44-40 rifles would all interchange ammo. We knew that the tiny iron action wasn't up to a high intensity cartridge like the .44 Magnum, which operates at about 38,000 psi. Factory .44-40s don't exceed 13,700 psi and handloads suitable for the Winchester 92 and Ruger Vaquero generally don’t exceed about 22,000 psi, being similar to 3" .410 rounds and the .45 ACP +P, which we already knew from experience, are happy performers from this small action. So, no worries.
Another factor recommending .44-40 chambering, thwarting any fantasy of chambering in .44 Magnum instead, was the very light weight of the gun. My goal was a 4 pound taken down package. It is exactly that! Having fired Ken Warner’s 4-1/2 pound .44 Mag. Cadet Martini, I had no desire to repeat that painful experience. The .44-40 makes more sense and is just enough gun for most needs.
I wanted simple, rugged iron sights which would withstand rough field use which would be easy to adjust. John fit TSR100 Tech Sights, adjustable front and rear post and peep, which resemble issue sights on the M16A1 rifle: both practical and tactical. I reamed the aperture of the short range leg to a .125” “ghost ring” to set up a basic 50-yard, woods, snap-shooting zero. From there I will see how much elevation change is obtained by flipping up the “long range” leg on the peep, hoping that it is close to point of aim at 100 yards, or a just a couple inches higher would be OK. Range report will tell.
Upon completion the finished barrel length is 19-1/2." The little gun weighs exactly 4 pounds and is only 34-1/2" overall! This is 3 inches shorter and a full 3 pounds lighter than my “Tactical Cowboy Gun” an 1894S Marlin equipped with XS Lever Scout Rail, ghost ring peeps, Trijicon RX09 reflex sight in A.R.M.S. double throw-lever mount with Lever-leather butt cuff carrying 8 extra rounds.
The purpose of my Bunny Gun Combo is to serve as traveling and backpacking companion to my fixed sight Ruger 5-1/2" .44-40 Vaquero. A handy, utility gun. Full charge .44-40s intended for the Winchester 92 and Ruger revolvers give from 950-1120 fps with the Accurate 43-230G bullet from the revolver and 1250-1450 fps from a rifle with 20 inch barrel, depending upon whether I use 7.2 grains of Bullseye, 18 grs. of #2400 or 24.5 grs. of RL7, which work in strong rifles or revolvers.
Fortunately, there are no predators here in West Virginia big enough to eat ‘cha. Deer can’t tell the difference between a .44-40 or a .44 Magnum. And, if I choose to carry a different revolver, I have the other handgun-caliber barrels to select from. A tiny single-shot .410 shotgun combined with ONE handgun- caliber barrel to match which ever handgun I carry is the plan. No quiver full of barrels. A takedown shotgun with extra rifle barrel and a Ruger revolver together weigh less than my 1894S Marlin lever-action, providing great flexibility and 100 yard reach in a compact package!
Two guns are always better than one.
And being able to choose, at will, between a shotgun, a rifle or a revolver is simply the dog's bollocks!
.44-40 Load Data – Rifle Vs. Revolver
Starline Cases, Remington 2-1/2 primers, OAL 1.60” throughout.
Bullet____Powder (grains)_____Velocity @ 15 ft. (fps)
Ruger 5-1/2” /H&R 19.5”
Rem .427” 200JSP, Bullseye 7.2, 919, 13 Sd/1140, 12 Sd Standard Pressure
Bullseye 8.4, 1048, 9 Sd/1264, 20 Sd Group 2 +P
Rem .430” 240SJHP, Bullseye 7.2, 895, 11 Sd/94, 23 Sd Group 2 +P
Bullseye 8.4, 987, 9 Sd/1122, 15 Sd Group 2 +P
Accurate 43-200Q, Bullseye 7.2, 973, 15 Sd/1190, 21 Sd Standard Pressure
RL7 24.5, 891, 23 Sd/1359, 20 Sd Standard Pressure
Accurate 43-230G, Bullseye 7.2, 997, 10 Sd/1201, 6 Sd Group 2 +P
RL7 24.5, 1041, 31 Sd/1357, 28 Sd Standard Pressure
RL7 30.0C, 1168, 30 Sd/1684, 18 Sd Group 2 +P
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