More details of my clone of Billy’s Rifle/Shotgun from Predator.
For anyone who hasn’t seen the film, it’s a must watch.
I of cours had to watch the movie a dozen times or so to get the details correct.
I also got a lot of info from the Internet Firearm Movie DataBase.
It’s a fantastic resource for anyone attempting to clone a movie gun, and is just a great place to waste a lot of time if you are a gun nerd/movie buff.
www.imfdb.org
I had an old Colt SP1 already, as well as old beat up Mossberg 500.
I just had to find a set of Lone Star Ordanance Handguards And figure out how to mount it.
Apparently the films armorers were trying to make The rifle look like an M16A2, but in 1986 when the movie was made, The new round Colt A2 Handguards must have been tough to find and the LSOs were sourced as a stand in.
Once I sourced a set of Lone Star Hanguards, I had to figure out how to mount the Shotgun to it.
I noticed 4 threaded scope mount Holes in the top of the Mossberg receiver, and figured I would just use some machine screws that I got from the hardware store.
I started out with 2 screws that lined up with the holes in the bottom LSO hand guard, as I was hesitant to drill holes in the plastic.
It was really solid so I drilled the other two holes And it’s now held on with 4 Screws.
It fit like a glove.
The Mossberg weighs about the same as the SP1, and is therefore very unbalanced and muzzle end heavy.
Sonny Landham must have got a real workout lugging that behemoth through the Jungle.
Not being able to reach the tang safety, I decided to swap out the trigger pack for one from a Mossberg Maverick 88 with its trigger guard mounted cross bolt safety
I was nervous the first time I slid some 12 Guage shells into the tube and sent half a dozen rounds down range.
The recoil was really not that bad, probably because the whole thing weighs north of 12 pounds.
Aiming it and shooting it from the shoulder is very uncomfortable and shooting from the hip seemed the best method.