15/16" .54 barrels

[Walks with fire]

Would the GM 15/16" .54caliber 36" long barrel be too light weight to achieve really good accuracy with 100-110 grain charges or would there be a bit too much barrel whip with such heavy charges? Anyone have one that cares to comment?

 

[Mike Brooks]

What powder charge you use will depend on what twist the barrrel is. You can't just come to a powder charge amount willy nilly and be assured it will be accurate. Regardless , you won't get barrel whip with that short of barrrel anyway.

 

[Walks with fire]

Thanks Mike; the barrel has a 1/70 twist and the objective to be able to shoot the maximum charges (120 grains of 2f or 110 of 3f; according to GM)and get a decent group @ 100 yards or a little beyond. Before anyone starts that I don't need that much powder let me say I know that but it's not a question of need it's a question of want.

 

[smokeum54]

Before anyone starts that I don't need that much powder let me say I know that but it's not a question of need it's a question of want.

i want a winning lotto ticket and jessica alba's phone number. what my .54's want is anywhere between 60 to 100 grains of 2 or 3 f powder. not trying to be a smart a$$ but all guns are different. if you want to use the max charge of 2 or 3 f then youll have to find the right patch thickness, lube and ball size that fits your gun best. are you looking to kill deer or punch paper? also all of my .54's are 15/16 barrels and ive shot up to 120 grains of 3 f thru all of them. the only gun ive experienced barrel whip from is my lyman deerstalker, it only has a 24 inch barrel. but that could also be due to the way i hold (shoulder) that particular rifle.

again, not trying to tell you what you dont want to hear but sometimes the bang isnt worth the buck.

 

[gearheart]

Max loads are the manufacturers way of saying. "We will not be held liable should you decide to get curious and exceed these limits." These limits are placed to ensure that you will not suffer harm and sue their a$$ off. These are not recommended loads by any stretch of the imagination and are almost never synonymous with most accurate loads. The only reason I could see to want such a load would be as a prank, giving the gun to someone else to shoot so I could watch it beat them up. :shake:

 

[aeatwood]

I have the 15/16" .54 drop in barrel for the T/C Hawken. It is only 32", and it shoots wonderfully. It doesn't "wake up" till you pass 100gr 2F, and it shoots best with 120gr Goex 2F. Sub 2" 5 shot group at 100 yards. I have to use a hight-contrast target and a 6 o'clock hold to be able to do that, and I can't do it back-to-back. I have to let my eyes rest for a while.

My patch combo was Hoppes #9 Plus, .020" denim, and a .530" Hornady RB. I did have to break the corners at the muzzle w/ 320 grit emery paper to keep from cutting patches. My gun will shoot that combo all day long and not require wiping.

I've just ran out of Hoppe's and am going to try to work up a load w/ Mink oil for hunting. I also may have found the perfect cold-weather lube.

Red Wing Mink Oil is a shoe treatment. According to the lid on the can, it contains Mink Oil, lanolin, and silicone. It is much softer than TotW's mink oil, and should be available everywhere locally. It might need a bit of beeswax or canning paraffin for stiffening, but it looks promising right out of the can.

 

[Stubert]

I also have a GM 54 15/16 barrel, it likes 90 -110. grains 2f and a round ball 1-70 also

 

[jerrywh]

It is my understanding that muzzle loading barrels don't whip. They will be influenced by pressure of the stock on the barrel.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Back when I thought bigger is better and more is more I rebarreled a Lyman Trade Rifle with that same GM barrel. It shot great with 140 garins of 3f, a .527" ball and buckskin patch. The only deer I shot with that load, a small buck at about 40 yards, still ran the usual 30 yards and I recovered the ball just under the hide on the off side, it looked like a pregnant quarter.

 

[Rifleman1776]

It is my understanding that muzzle loading barrels don't whip. They will be influenced by pressure of the stock on the barrel.

Just call it harmonic vibration and everyone will be happy. :wink:

 

[jerrywh]

They don't do that either.

 

[Walks with fire]

While we are on the subject!!!

Do you believe in glass bedding a muzzleloader barrel?

If yes; do you believe in a full length bedding or just the tang and hooked breech area and floating the rest of the barrel other than the pins or keys?

Do you believe these things have an effect on muzzleloader accuracy?

 

[Rifleman1776]

Jerry, your "understanding" is a misunderstanding.
Anything that goes 'bang' will shake, rattle, roll and vibrate. ML barrels are no different. 'back then' this effect was understood and many credit the development of the swamped barrel for dampening the harmonic vibration. If there was no such thing even bench rifles would have lightweight 7/8" barrels. Go to a muzzle loading match sometime, it will be educational. You will see the bench and slug rifles with big, heavy barrels. All an attempt to minimize harmonic vibration that affects accuracy.

 

[Amikee]

I'm waiting for my new custom. It has 42 rice, swamped barrel and is fully bedded. I was told by the seller that this is done to improve accuracy. I'll be posting range review soon. Thanks

 

[Walks with fire]

I am really getting the itch to get a long rifle after years of using the TC half stock rifles. I gotta unload a few rifles before I can justify the expense but I hope to be holding one by next deer season.

 

[tg]

I do not think that it hurts to bed a ML barrel I have done a couple but I doubt that it really helps accuracy, the relationship twixt barrel and stock is different with ML and a regular centerfire from what I get from the guys in the know, the key point in a ML barrel stock relationship is to relieve the pin holes so there is no binding IMHO, and in this game when one gives into wants over needs one can often miss the boat completely, it is just the nature of the type of gun compared to centerfires.

 

[Amikee]

Hello
This rifle wasn't ordered by me with bedding. Someone just had this idea when placed the order for build. Personally I've never heard of bedding a muzzleloader so we'll see on the range.

 

[Zonie]

... from what I get from the guys in the know, the key point in a ML barrel stock relationship is to [color= blue]relieve the pin holes[/color] so there is no binding IMHO,...

Just to clarify what tg was saying, he was talking about elongating the pin holes in the barrel underlugs so that they are longer in the direction running parallel with the barrel.
He was NOT suggesting that the pin holes be enlarged in all directions.

He was also not suggesting that the holes in the wood be changed in any way.

Guns using flat wedge keys usually have slots in the barrels underlugs that are already longer than the key is wide so they don't have to be modified.

 

[shortbow]

Zonie, on the pin holes in the stock, there's something I've been thinking on doing, haven't yet, but would be interested in your take.

And that is, how about just very slightly coning the wood at the mouth of the holes to better preclude the possibility of splitting out a sliver when removing the pins?

 

[paulvallandigham]

Jim can speak for himself, but putting a bevel on the ends of the pins is the more usual way to allow pins to enter and exit the wood without splintering out wood. :hmm: :hatsoff: