Barrel selection ?

I'm considering a rifle project. I want to build a rifle correct for the Alamo conflict. I'm thinking 42" swamped .50 cal B weight by either Green Mountain or Rice. I'm also thinking of doing it with parts from Track of the Wolf. Thought I'd use a John Bivins or J.P. Beck stock. Any thoughts on the project. Is the Rice barrel worth the added expense? Sounds like it could save a lot of hand work, but will it really perform, load, shoot, and clean up easier?

 

[George F.]

Hey, Davey Crocket was at the Alamo, Why not make his rifle. The blue print is readily available Through the parts suppliers like track and muzzleloaders supply. I built one for my son ten yeasr ago.I have some photos in the photo section. I used a B weight 44" Golden age swamped barrel,( 1"at the breech 50 cal.) Its a pretty light rifle, and balanced well.
Good luck.........
George

 

[Mike Brooks]

Rifles of that time were pretty heavy , with only a slight swamp in the barrel. I'd go with a "C" wieght barrel to reflect this. Either maker should shoot fine.

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greetings Rick the Ranger,

When it comes to trying to duplicate a long arm that would be period correct for the ALAMO period, the door is wide open.

Any rifle, musket, or shotgun of that time period or older would be correct. That could enclude a Hawken. The Mexican Army carried away all weapons after the battle. No detailed inventory list exist today.

The rifle used by David Crockett at the Alamo has never been identified, but he did not take "Old Betsy" or "Pretty New Betsy" with him to Texas. Those two rifles are on display in Tennessee today.

One rifle he brought to Texas was traded to one "Andy Thomas" and is dislayed at the Alamo. Originally a flintlock, it was converted to caplock, and weighs about 14 pounds.

Hope this will help you. For more information about Alamo weaponry, check out the website, www.thealamofilm.com

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant


If you are not an NRA member, I am carrying your load.

 

[flashpanner]

Some suggest that when using a swamped barrel be careful on underlug placement and depth of dove tail (keep depth to .050"). "B" weight can get kinda thin near the waist and therefore caution is needed as to not distort bore when setting the lugs. "C" weight is therefore recommended to give a bigger "comfort zone".

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greetinga All,

I made a mistake on my original post, by leaving out part of a sentence.

"Old Betsy', THE 1822 gift from the people of Nashville, Tennessee is on display at the Alamo; donated by his descendents. The rifle has been much altered from the original configuration and would not be a good pattern

Best regards and good shooting,

John L, Hinnant


If you are not an NRA Member, I am carrying your load

 

[Packdog]

In my book the Rice barrels are worth the extra expense. Great outside and inside finsh and they are properly breeched when they get to your door.
Now waiting for delivery is a different story.....You have to decide for yourself on that. Check and see who has what ready to ship.
As far as shooting, I think they all shoot as good as I can hold them or see for that matter.
PD

 

[Wehrmacht]

I've had the opportunity to closly examine the rifle that John speaks of,and I'm pretty sure that it has been restocked.It's a Dickert,if my memory is correct,and aparently the replacement stock (if it was restocked as I think) has warped a heck of a lot. That was some years ago,so I may be off a little in remembering what I saw.

As for Rice barrels,in a word,OUTSTANDING.The two that I have are superior in every respect.IMO you would do well to have a Rice,a Rayl or a Getz barrel.I've got all of these plus a couple of other makes,and any of the three that I mentioned are excellent choices.

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greetings der Forster,

The Dickert Rifle of which you speak is displayed in the same case as the "Old Betsy Rifle" presented to David Crockett in 1822. Originally a fullstock flintlock, due to neglect, it (the Crockett Rifle) has been converted to caplock with a patent breech and made into a halfstock. All of the mountings are from the original rifle,

The Andy Thomas/David Crockett Rifle is exhibited in The Long Barracks part of the Alamo grounds. It too was originally a flintlock, fullstock, but was converted to caplock.

The Dickert rifle seems to have been restocked as you mentioned. The rifle was extensively examined and studied by Chris Hirsch custom long rifle maker in Houston, Texas. He also thinks it has been restocked. At this time there is no evidence it belonged to Colonel Crockett, just speculation.

If anybody is interested, the rifle used in THE ALAMO movie filmed in 2004 by David Crockett/Billy Bob Thornton is a custom flintlock patterned on the Dickert rifle in the real ALAMO. Cannot remember the makers name right now, but he died of cancer just a few months back. He also did some other rifle work for the movie.

Hope this information will help.

Best regards and good shooting.

John L. Hinnant

If you are not an NRA Member, I m carrying your load.

 

Thanks to all that spoke up on this question. I got some good information and decided to check out Getz Barrels. Man did I have a rough time finding out how to locate them. Could not find any advertising and all internet searches produced big goose eggs. I persisted and got a good phone number after getting bad information from a black powder resource page. The second number I acquired got me their machine. I was leaving a message when Don Getz's son picked up. Sorry I did not get his name. This was the most productive and enjoyable ten or fifteen minute conversation I can remember having. He was a fountain of information and had a manor about him that was with out a hint of conceit. I gave him an idea of where I wanted to go with my project and he lead me through the mine field. Barrel options and characteristics as well as wood properties and selection. He also fixed me up with several sources for high quality components especially sources of preformed stocks. I was really frustrated with my limited resources and had not been over joyed with some of the components I had received and had to work with recently. I am reborn with enthusiasm. Placed an order for their Golden age 42' B .50 swamped barrel with round bottom rifling. I hope to some day meet father and son at an event and chew the fat. Ranger Rick

 

[Mike Brooks]

Don Getz is retired but is often in the shop putzing about, he still builds guns. His son John is the one you talked to, and he runs the business. You couldn't have talked to a more qualified person about barrel selection.