Barrel demand ?

[talon]

What types of barrels are the most popular or in the most demand? Smoothbore, rifle, ect. Thanks.

 

[jtmattison]

I would guess slow twist rifled barrels are demanded most by builders.

HD

 

[Slash]

In the last few years, swamp barrels have become more popular in our shop. We still have more people order with straight octagon barrels, but I think it is the cost that may dictate that. We also seen more interest in octagon to round rifled barrels.
Slash

 

[Stophel]

Lately, everybody that talks to me has been wanting smoothbore guns.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Stophel, that is amazing. When I built my first smoothbore back in 1973 (a Brown Bess repop) everyone smiled and looked at me sideways but even then people were surprised at how well the smoothbored gun could shoot. That was the hay day of CVA and TC and no one could figure out why anyone would want an unrifled gun. Things change....

 

[Mike Brooks]

Stophel, that is amazing. When I built my first smoothbore back in 1973 (a Brown Bess repop) everyone smiled and looked at me sideways but even then people were surprised at how well the smoothbored gun could shoot. That was the hay day of CVA and TC and no one could figure out why anyone would want an unrifled gun. Things change....

I started building guns in 1980, I've always built more smooth bores than rifles. I probably have 2/3rds smooth bores on my list right now.

 

[Stophel]

And they still want to shoot patched round balls in them....

 

[Roy]

about half smoothbores and half rifles in my book...

 

[Mike Brooks]

And they still want to shoot patched round balls in them....

Yep, but true fowling guns are catching on..... :applause:

 

[Birddog6]

Almost all of my inquiries are for rifles & 9 out of 10 of them will want a swamped barrel with round bottom rifling.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

And they still want to shoot patched round balls in them....

Now that is funny!!! :rotf:

 

[Robert Egler]

And they still want to shoot patched round balls in them....

Now that is funny!!! :rotf:

Actually, I shoot a patched roundball from my 54 cal smoothbore. At my usual hunting distances (less than 50 yards) the accuracy is not that much different from my rifled barrel. Easily good enough for deer. Absolutely wouldn't take a shot at a deer at 100 yards with it, but that's not much of an issue for me.

Of course my usual load is shot, that's why I got a smoothbore, but it shoots PRB ok too.

 

[Stophel]

I do it too, but I think it may well be a "reenactorism". My very strong feeling is that 200 years ago, they just did not shoot patched round balls out of smoothbores...not much anyway. I think that for large game, buckshot or buck and ball was used generally.

Just the way it appears to me.

 

[Don B]

Stophel,

I'm curious. Why do you think so?

Don

 

[Stophel]

The evidence is circumsantial. Whenever someone in the 18th century describes a rifle, they often go into detail on the loading procedure, talking about the patched ball, and how it won't "carry shot", INDICATING that patched balls were just not something that was done with smoothbore guns (they took pains to describe the patched ball as something different). So far, I haven't seen nor heard of any reference of any kind of someone using patched balls in smoothbores. Plenty of references to buckshot, buck and ball, and even loose balls or balls with paper cartridges (and possibly wadding), and I think that this was just S.O.P. with smoothbore guns. If you wanted to shoot patched balls, you got yourself a rifle. It was just the convention. Naturally, I'm not saying it was never done, but it SEEMS like it was not the norm, and in fact, it appears to have been a rarity at best.

Again, it's all "circumstantial" evidence, and just the impression I get. I'm not trying to chisel it in stone. :wink:

I do it myself (though I need to learn to shoot shot and buckshot properly), and I'm going to do what I want anyway :blah: tee-hee, but if someone has a period reference of some kind to shooting patched balls from smoothbores, I would LOVE to see it...just so I can justify my own shooting of patched balls in my two .54 smoothbore guns! :grin: