Miniature Antique Double Barrel Sawn Off Shotgun

This gun when complete measures exactly 40mm from the back of the stock to the tips of the barrels. In this instructable, I will show you how to make one, or at least give you some guidelines if you want to build a similar one yourself. I didn't base this gun on one specific gun, I just used Google Images to look for some sawn off shotgun pictures for a bigger replica I am making and decided to give it a little relative in the form of this older-looking miniature firearm. I will also show you how to make a tiny gun rack to display it better.

Step 1: Materials and Tools Required

To make this small shotgun exactly like mine, you will need the following:

Materials;
2 bicycle pump screw-in valves (I would have used small pipes, but didn't have any)
A few pins
A soft drink can or sheetmetal of the same thickness
Wood (I used balsa offcuts)
A fuse like the blue plastic one in the pictures or similar wire/sheetmetal strip
Varnish of choice (the varnish I used takes about 7 hours to dry and I had to redo it about 3 times)

Tools;
Sandpaper
Glue (I used cheap Japanese superglue and I can't get a white residue off that it left behind)
Black pen
Longnosed Pliers
Knife
Paintbrush for varnish
Toothpick for applying superglue to small parts
Scissors or shears to cut can

Step 2: Start Making Main Components

Without barrels this gun would be pointless, so make sure your bike valves are the same.
Cut the "screw-in" part of the valve off and save as much of the tube part as you can. They can be fine trimmed later.
As shown on the last page, take the copper off of the blue fuse and be careful not to damage it.
Also, cut and bend into shape the part of the receiver that fits under the barrels. The rectangle of can I used was about 6x8mm, then bent in two places to make a "U" shape. Keep this piece as straight as you can.

Step 3: Wooden Bits

Now you will have to make the stock from some wood. I used 1.5mm thick balsa. First draw the stock onto the wood with a black pen. After you cut it out of the wood, flip it over and trace it onto the wood using the same pen. Keep in mind the grain of the wood and how it will look after varnish.
Cut the second piece out and glue the two halves together with the pen ink on the inside. This will make a black line down the middle of the stock. Many old gun stocks were made with two pieces of wood sandwiching a metal frame. After varnishing, the black ink will look like this metal frame. Also cut out the front stock which fits under the barrels. Also add a small piece of balsa on the front of the rear stock, so the receiver can be easily attatched. Don't glue any metal parts yet.

Cut the rear part of the receiver out of the straightened can sheet. This rectangle should be about 22 or 23 mm long and 3 or 4 mm wide. bend this in the same way as the other part of the receiver. The result should look like this  I l   
                                                                                                                                                                              U

Step 4: Make Sure the Puzzle Works

Slide and hold some of the parts together to make sure everything will fit.
Sand the two stocks with fine sandpaper.(I used 100 grit and wish I hadn't)
Bend the copper part of the fuse to fit the underside of the rear stock and bend a small "C" in it to house the triggers. Also, shape the back dome to neatly fit the back end of the stock. Clip off the dome on the other side as you don't need it, but leave enough copper to be able to glue this part to the underside of the stock.
Bend a small piece if a pin into a "7" shape and make a hole in the front of the stock and glue this in. This will be the hammer.
Glue the 2 barrels side-by-side and glue part of a pin onto the groove in-between them. Like this:  O'O  NOT this:  O-O

Hold everything together and if it doesn't fit nicely, make necessary adjustments. Trim the barrels now.

Step 5: Varnishing and Detail

Varnish the 2 stocks and layer until they appear dark enough.

While you are waiting for the varnish to dry, make the top part of the stock to hide the back ends of the twin-barrels. I cut this piece from a semicircular piece of can and bent the corners down. In the middle of the curved edge, I cut a small "v" out of it so the hammer would fit nicely behind it. Like so: ____
                                                                                    (        )
                                                                                        ^
For the 2 triggers, bend 2  5mm cut-off sections of a pin and make holes for them in the underside of the stock. Then glue them in. *Before you glue them in, make sure they will fit neatly in the copper trigger guard.

My gun didn't quite fit right and I had to glue some pieces of pin between the front stock and the barrels. I also had to do this with the bottom part of the receiver.
Glue the parts together as shown in the pictures.

Step 6: Finishing Up and Making a Miniature Gun-rack

Add the front stock and receiver-cap and you're done!

To make this gun a nicer display piece I made a simple stand from balsa.
I then put two pieces of pin through to support both the triggers and the front stock. I left the wood bare because it contrasts nicely with the gun.

I attatched some pictures to add a sense of scale.
In the last picture you will also see the 12mm long handgun I made with the leftovers of this gun.

Comments

[MandalorianMaker]

another gr8 ible

[awesomecreations]

Thank you :)

[AndrewCampbell]

I love antiques and I love weaponry just as much. Thanks for sharing this rather exclusive step-by-step guide to create my own miniature shotgun. I have to admit that the guidelines do not look simple and require expertise, focus and skills. I will try my best to achieve it though, even if it does not look exactly the same but at least something similar would do.

[mikroGanesh]

Yeah nice one
I did make a micro 23 mm ver., need some time to post pics and vdo of it

[awesomecreations]

Cool! If you look at Step 6 of this instructable (last pic) you will see a 12mm long handgun I made from offcuts of this.

[mikroGanesh]

superb!

will let you know once I post the pics and its hammer action

[awesomecreations]

Nice. I saw a Youtube video a while back with a miniature rifle (Nagant?) that has moving parts. I don't remember the model of firearm used but I'm sure you'll find the video after a little Youtube surfing.

[tjesse]

When I was a kid I used the cap gun caps to fire BB's in a homemade gun like this. I thought you might want to give that a try. It would be a bit bigger and don't expect the BB to have a lot of stopping power, but would still be fun. Just cut the dot of explosive out of the roll. The striker does not need to be real strong. I used a thumb tack with just a bit of pressure.

[awesomecreations]

From the offcuts of this, I made an even smaller 12mm handgun.

[Bobblehead Einstein]

awesome include the pic of the 12 mm handgun next to this one :)

[awesomecreations]

Okay. The handgun was so small and simple that I didn't worry about taking photos during the construction process. To make it I used a piece of the valve tube cut off of this sawnoff shotgun, a cable tie for the handle, a pin for the trigger, a staple for the trigger guard and for the slider I used some metal from the same can.

[awesomecreations]

It is the last pic in this instructable.

[Bobblehead Einstein]

In case you notice , the pic's are a bit blurry & here is a tip for ya-keep a magnifying lens between the object and the camera (adjust the distance of the lens accordingly) & you should have some good result's.below is a pic of super glue using the method mentioned above.

[awesomecreations]

Thanks. Will this method work for a phone camera with autofocus?

[Bobblehead Einstein]

i myself use a phone camera,auto focus can't say because this feature is not there in my phone , but i highly recommend you to give it a try....work's like a charm