bad barrel?

[mikelange]

I use almost exclusively Green Mountain barrels and, of a couple or so dozen that I've built around, I've never run across a bad one. I suppose that's irrelevant when one remembers that straight octagon barrels aren't historically correct. :haha:

Maybe, along with the occasional bad bore, Getz, Colerain, and the rest of the "correct" makers ought to build a barrel now and then that blows sky-high due to some unseen flaw in the metal. That, too, would be authentic, would it not?

 

[Swampman]

"I suppose that's irrelevant when one remembers that straight octagon barrels aren't historically correct."

It depends on what you are building. I think they are fine for 19th c. guns.

 

[LRB]

The second Green MT. barrel I bought was a bad one. The lands had a step in them as though it were rifled twice. Any product that is mass produced, or near mass production can go wrong. However, proper inspection of said products can help keep them from getting to the public and causing problems.

 

[LRB]

Davy, I run a tight patch ball through the unbreeched barrel. This tells me if there is a tight or rough area in it. It also tells me if the lands are burred enough to cut the patch. It does not necessarily distinguish between a rough spot or a tight spot. If I feel something, I then run a lead slug through it and try to feel it out. With either problem, I send them back. If it is a case of burred lands cutting patches, a little 0000 steel wool will usually correct that, but tight spots need to be lead plug lapped, and though I have done it, I am not that great at it, and it is a tedious job that really requires more experience than I have.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I did get a bad barrel from Sharon back in the 1970's. It had a loose spot in the middle which, of course, I didn't find until the gun was finished. I spent many hours of hard dirty work to lap that one out. By the time I was done I had enlarged the bore by .002". It was then a very accurate shooter but I'd rather not have had the hassle.
I also once got a barrel from the old Green River outfit. I'd ordered .54 and it was marked .54 but when I went to load up I found it was .58! Again, I had already fitted it to an 1803 Harpers Ferry and .58 just wasn't right. I had already installed under rib, sights, and all but I sent it back anyway. Never heard from them but heard from others that they had gone out of business, so I was out the work and the cost. :shake: