Barrel length question

[oldwood]

Bud , I'm with you. My total barrel cutoffs are many + . The one thing I modify my cutoff procedure with is the 4" belt sander using blue or green belts for metal. They don't wear out . Keep a square handy to check progress , and turn the barrel with fingers , while in contact w/ sander. Once the square says the barrel is perfect ,I use a one inch mounted stone to deepen the square muzzle crown , then I Have a crowning gadget I made 40 years ago. I found a barrel of different size ball bearings in a salvage store. Picked some likely sizes from 1 1/16" down to .280 to accommodate all calibers.. Glued the bearings into a pc of maple I can put on the floor. Add a smear of valve grinding compound , place the muzzle down on the bearing , rotate barrel between palms of hand and a pinch of 400 grit paper on the thumb or finger to remove any minute burrs , perfection. Since my old shoulders have become troublesome , I bought the most amazing tool ,a portable , battery powered hack saw. Love it................oldwood

 

[Doc]

I have shortened many unmentionable rifle barrels with a hacksaw, files, and a 3 inch machinists square. Corwned them with a round headed brass screw and valve grinding past. Never had a problem with accuracy.

Bud, Yes it most certainly can be done. But please try to understand what one person calls accurate, may not be the same term for another. On occasion I’m sure it can be done very well.
Doc,

 

[rusticbob]

I love short guns. It makes it much easier to travel with. Unless you walk to the range, or walk to your preferred hunting spot, you need to put your gun, rifle or shotgun, in a vehicle. My 14ga flintlock Fowler has a 24” jug choked barrel, and throws a nice tight pattern. And my Pedersoli Scout .50 shoots as accurate as I can hold with these old eyes and open sights. It has a 28” barrel, and weighs about 6 1/4 lbs. As an added bonus, I have two grandsons, ages 10 and 6 who will get there training and possibly first hunts with these guns. Short and handy works for me.

 

[bud in pa]

Bud, Yes it most certainly can be done. But please try to understand what one person calls accurate, may not be the same term for another. On occasion I’m sure it can be done very well.
Doc,

It all depends on how fussy you are!

 

[nhmoose]

I like my ML to be long barreled and my Modern stuff very short. Some need permission and tax paid.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I want to get a flintlock for squirrel hunting. I have a TC Cherokee.32 percussion which I hunt with now and love the gun. But I want a flintlock in either .32 or .36. The choices are few. I would get a kibler smr but they look so loooong with that 44” barrel. The pedersol kits are unavailable. You guys that have the kiblers, does the barrel length bother you? I assume they balance pretty good. I never hear any negatives. Thanks

Kibler makes a great gun. Sadly, I don’t yet own one, but there are several club members that have Kibler’s, and they really are all they are cracked up to be…it’s not hype, these are really good guns.

I do have personal opinions and preferences on strait barrels.

13/16ths .32 calibre & .36 calibre guns…I prefer these guns to be 36” barreled firearms. This length improves the balance of the gun, and makes them less barrel heavy and more maneuverable in dense cover hunting small game.

13/16ths .40 calibre and .45 calibre guns…36” barrels make the most perfectly balanced gun in these calibres, I’d even say the .45 calibre is perfectly balanced. While the 42” barrels are only slightly barrel heavy. I wouldn’t even call it barrel heavy…just a bit tippy and for me it actually helps my aim.

15/16ths .50 calibre and .54 calibre guns…32” to 36” are solid barrel lengths for both calibres. At 42”, both calibres are going to be barrel heavy. The .50 calibre, very barrel heavy and the .54 calibre just a little less so…both are manageable, but not very comfortable to take on long treks in the field.

 

[frankie]

Barrels are just cut off w/a hack saw. Square the end until it's at right angle to the longitudinal barrel flats. To crown the barrel once the end is square , and flat. Just get one of those electric hand drill mounted , inch and 1/8 diameter round stones for large calibers , and a 5/8 " diameter for under .40 cal.. Mount the gun barrel vertically in a bench vise. As you run the drill , rotate the round stone mounted in the drill motor in circles until the bore is coned deep as you want it. Use some 400 grit emory paper on the end of your thumb to smooth the crown.All should be perfect if with patch round ball , providing patches are not cut. Use an awl and gently drag the awl from inside the bore to the muzzle entrance and check for a burr. If a small burr is detected, use the 400 grit emory to smooth it out.

Oldwood, can one use a metal cut off saw.

 

[oldwood]

Frankie.........I learned to use a hack saw around 8 years of age. Dear old Dad didn't have any such power hack saw equipment in his shop , I sufficed for his "power" saw , though if necessary , he used the power saw at the mine , where he ran the machine shop. He had a near 100 year old lathe at home he used , but for the 18 years I lived at home , I thought the lathe too tedious for my tastes , however , He taught me how to precision measure stuff the way a professional machinist does. My old shoulders gave out , about 10 years ago ,and my wife bought me a most wonderful tool , a battery powered hand held hack saw. Cuts through iron like it's butter...............And Frankie , save your shoulders , a lovely metal cutoff saw would make near perfect square cut ends on m/l gun barrels............oldwood

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Black Powder burn rate is constant. The only way to get more distance is to have a long barrel.
It was not until 1895 did they figure out how to make hotter powder for shorter barrels.
Way past the ML period