Barrel length

[Magungo1066]

Hello all. Two questions. I am about to get a fowler with a 48 inch barrel. Anyone have experience with longer barrels like these? The longest I have is a 44 inch barrel on my rifle. Secondly, where does one find cleaning rods for a barrel this long? Thanks! -Larry

 

[Old Hawkeye]

October Country in Idaho or Track of the Wolf in Minnesota with make a brass range rod with a Tee handle to whatever length you specify. For transport purposes you may want to make it a two piece rod for one that long!

 

[Alexander Efremenko]

Hello all. Two questions. I am about to get a fowler with a 48 inch barrel. Anyone have experience with longer barrels like these? The longest I have is a 44 inch barrel on my rifle. Secondly, where does one find cleaning rods for a barrel this long? Thanks! -Larry

48 inches isn't too bad.
I have one with a 57.5" barrel and another with a 56 ".
They hold a decent pattern out to 35 yards wadded with just paper or an over shot card. I've knocked pheasant down at 50. Have witnesses and dog to prove it. There's a reason those gune were around

 

[Treestalker]

Wow, that's a nice length of barrel. Tennessee Valley Muzzleloaders may be a source for you. A year or two ago I saw a custom long fowler by them that had a 60" barrel and was a 16 ga IIRC.

 

[Treestalker]

October Country in Idaho or Track of the Wolf in Minnesota with make a brass range rod with a Tee handle to whatever length you specify. For transport purposes you may want to make it a two piece rod for one that long!

If you need a 2 piece ramrod in order to carry it, you'll also need a 2 piece barrel for the same reason, LOL! Have to get a roof rack for your gun and teepee poles! Bet your gun will be a beauty, please keep us informed! I have a 40" resurrected Springfield musket barrel bored out to .60 cal. A little heavy but may get cut down some to a shorter trade gun length.

 

[Magungo1066]

If you need a 2 piece ramrod in order to carry it, you'll also need a 2 piece barrel for the same reason, LOL! Have to get a roof rack for your gun and teepee poles! Bet your gun will be a beauty, please keep us informed! I have a 40" resurrected Springfield musket barrel bored out to .60 cal. A little heavy but may get cut down some to a shorter trade gun length.

You all will get some pictures the second I have some!

 

[Flintandsteel]

I have 3 with 48” barrels. 1 smooth, and 2 rifled. Rice barrels has 48” rods.

 

[Magungo1066]

I have 3 with 48” barrels. 1 smooth, and 2 rifled. Rice barrels has 48” rods.

Do they handle well with that length? As long as the gun is balanced properly?

 

[SDSmlf]

Agree on the Rice range rods, available in 1/4”, 5/16” and 3/8” diameters, 36” and 48” lengths. I’ve got a 36” long one, and as a FYI, it measures 35-1/2” from the bottom of the handle to the end of the rod, with 1/2” of the rod threaded into the handle. Would imagine the 48” one is similarly made. Allowing 1/4” to 1/2” of length for a muzzle guard, figure you would at a minimum need a 1-1/2” long jag to comfortably make it to the breech face if your bore is a full 48” in length. RICE MUZZLE LOADING BARREL COMPANY

 

[smoothshooter]

Do they handle well with that length? As long as the gun is balanced properly?

Define “ balanced properly “.

 

[Magungo1066]

Define “ balanced properly “.

As in, if it’s a nicely balanced gun/Fowler

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

My 48” 62-cal club butt fowler weighs < 8-pounds, the 54” 65-cal Fusil de Boucanier weighs 9-pounds or so as it has a massive breech before the barrel tapers (breech tapers too), and then 60” 75-cal club butt weighs 8.5-pounds or so, as has an amazingly profiled barrel on it.

For roundball loads, I started fueling them all w/ 1Fg powdah under traditional paper cartridge loads and the results are excellent! Came in 2nd place to a rifle at a woodswalk using the big 75, just couldn’t miss that day! I also use bareball loads In them too.

Handy! Yes, much if not significantly better than their length would otherwise suggest! Everyone who picks one up is surprised ... and very impressed!

 

[hanshi]

While I've owned longer barrels, all of my flintlocks are 38" except for one (a revered favorite) which is 36".

 

[smoothshooter]

As in, if it’s a nicely balanced gun/Fowler

The reason I asked is because for some proper balance is muzzle-heavy; for others it’s muzzle light. Then there’s a little muzzle-heavy vs. a lot muzzle heavy, etc.

 

[Rudyard]

Longest barrel flint gun I used had a 50" barrel . The farmer amused by it used to say "We can see thee comin afore we can see thee !". Very stout at the breach but only 12 bore evidently its third stocking so had some age to it .
Rudyard

 

[Many Klatch]

I built a 20 gauge fowler with a 48" barrel. As I got older the gun got too hard to hold. Now its a 36" barrelled fowler.

 

[Flintandsteel]

The smoothie (20ga), weighs right at 6lbs. Shoots shot AND ball quite well, and is a joy to handle and carry.
Both rifles, while a bit heavier, have Getz swamped barrels, everyone who handles them are amazed at how well they hold.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

For LONG 'wood' ramrods:

FYI, Dan Putz bought out Steve Bailey, who was THE source for ramrods, as noted from the builders at the American Longrifles site. Dan's offerings are just as good and I bought blanks to 60" for my long-barreled club butt ... and I gave up looking for any edge grain run-out on the blanks. VERY impressed!

Dan can be reached at 5Seven3-Seven68-69Two0.