This started in design phase a few months ago, but not much work happening till the last 2 weeks. The goal was a Bluewater gun capable of taking 200 lb tuna in Panama.
If you have ever see the guns I work on, you know it's always a team effort with Pugz and Ken Hall and Matt Hall. We try to split the work up and each contribute innovative ideas to the process.
This particular gun, I wanted to address the problem of band alignment, and also make it a breeze to tie in bands. The concept of a "muzzle plate" came into the discussion, and after a few concept iterations I decided pinning in some wishbone inserts would give me the geometry and ease of use I was after.
After speaking to a couple accomplished gun builders I was well aware how important proper ballast would be on a gun of this magnitude.
So far we have nearly 2.5 pounds of lead hidden in the barrel, with the muzzle plate making another 1/2 pound. And it still floats in the pool