Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Fabricating new tube magazines?

Picked up a bubbad vetterli (think Swiss 1860 Henry but bolt action), and both the barrel and stock have been cut short. I’m debating whether to try and repair the cracked, chopped forend or cut it down to before the cracks and make myself a new, exposed magazine tube that would run out to almost the muzzle like an old Winchester. Any recommendations on fabricating a new magazine for that essentially, especially the plug at the end, or is the answer to just take the old one to lowes and see if I can find some tubing that’s the right diameter, inside and out?

Wow, that's a big bite of a project.

Rather than Lowe's, get yourself to a welding shop or better, someplace that does hydraulics. What you want is tubing that is pretty inside, no seam because it's a real pain to smooth that seam with home tools.

Brownells or Numrich used to have "universal" brass rimfire tube mags that you could cut to fit your application.

They still do, but not for a cartridge formed from 8mm Lebel brass. They’re for rounds with smaller rims. I think I have mostly figured out what I’m doing, tried to repair the forend without much luck so I’m going to make it a Vettchester of sorts. Found an aluminum tube that’s smooth enough inside I’m going to use, going to have to do some work to make it fit but it’ll be worth it

Nothing brass available in the diameter you need? Can you use/modify any of the newer Henry Rifle big-bore tube-fed options?

Have you checked:

https://www.onlinemetals.com/
https://www.speedymetals.com/

Tubes for rim fire are easy to find. I have used discarded metal arrows.

No options I’ve seen with sufficient internal diameter, a Model 71 magazine tube maybe would’ve done it but I’m not 100% certain on that since the parent brass for my 41 Swiss rounds uses a 0.630” rim. I ended up making one today from the aluminum tube, it’s not pretty but it’ll work for a little while at least. I’ll look into a better option once I have this rifle completely up and running, it still needs to be recrowned, needs at least a front sight, and I need to slap a spring and some sort of follower into the tube now that it sits in the forend alright.

A mag tube from a 28 gauge pump shotgun ? Rim diameter of the 28 ga is just slightly larger than that of the Lebel.

28 gauge would be just a bit too loose. Actually just did the tube today, epoxied a plug into the end and will be using an 8mm mauser case shoved into a cut down Lebel case for the follower, with a Model 71 mainspring in the magazine. Should hold 9 rounds, not half bad for a rifle with a 21” or so barrel