Barrel twist for deer hunting

[nkbj]

Get a second hand flintlock Traditions Deerhunter and get good with it. They have good rifling. Mine has a lock on it that's so reliable it causes percussion guns to weep. Shoot hollow based bullets, round ball and Lee REAL's. Then if you decide that you like flintlocks, sell the Deerhunter and spend the big bucks on a piece with the aesthetics that catch your eye and really makes your heart sing.

 

[Patched]

personally, I think there ain't a dimes worth of difference between 1-48 to 1-72,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Yer right…no difference if yer ringing steel plates at 40 yds using 40 grs of powder….
A 1-72 twist will allow you to use 3 times that 40 grs charge without “skipping” the rifling thus preserving your accuracy and energy at 100yds+….
Deer and even elk don’t necessarily need a heavy whalloping but it’s gotta be in the right place…the 1-72 twist “heavy” load gives a flat trajectory … making the right place so much more likely to be hit so much more often.
(I tried those dept store 1-48 guns in my youth…great fun for targets….all my serious killing guns are 1-72 to 1-75 54s)

 

[kansas_volunteer]

Yer right…no difference if yer ringing steel plates at 40 yds using 40 grs of powder….
A 1-72 twist will allow you to use 3 times that 40 grs charge without “skipping” the rifling thus preserving your accuracy and energy at 100yds+….
Deer and even elk don’t necessarily need a heavy whalloping but it’s gotta be in the right place…the 1-72 twist “heavy” load gives a flat trajectory … making the right place so much more likely to be hit so much more often.
(I tried those dept store 1-48 guns in my youth…great fun for targets….all my serious killing guns are 1-72 to 1-75 54s)

Are we to infer from this Sam and Jake didn't make serious killing guns?

Exactly how do you know balls skip over 1:48 rifling with heavy charges. Please cite a primary source.

 

[westrayer]

Production guns will be 1-48" twist. I have owned 1-60" twist barrels and they shot roundball like a dream. But they were in Renegades so they were heavy and the stocks didn't have enough drop in them for me. The Green Mountain 32" barrel was a beast to carry all day.
Currently I have a Deerstalker in cap and a T/C Hawken in flint. Each in .50 and each likes 80 grains of FFFg under a patched roundball. I get about 2" group at 50 yards but it opens up to about 5" at 100 yards. Still good enough to do the job so long as I do my part.

 

[olskool]

Yer right…no difference if yer ringing steel plates at 40 yds using 40 grs of powder….
A 1-72 twist will allow you to use 3 times that 40 grs charge without “skipping” the rifling thus preserving your accuracy and energy at 100yds+….
Deer and even elk don’t necessarily need a heavy whalloping but it’s gotta be in the right place…the 1-72 twist “heavy” load gives a flat trajectory … making the right place so much more likely to be hit so much more often.
(I tried those dept store 1-48 guns in my youth…great fun for targets….all my serious killing guns are 1-72 to 1-75 54s)

well ok then,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Grenadier1758]

Once again, I must say that the depth of the rifling is the important factor to consider. The 1 in 48 twist barrels with a depth of rifling as used by many reknowned gun makers of the 19th century were very accurate. They used cut rifling with a depth of the groove of 0.010" to about 0.014". Deep grooves, thick patches and fairly tight patch to ball fit prevented this skipping over the lands we encounter with the modern shallow grooved, button rifled barrels. The thin patching used doesn't engrave on the ball and fill the grooves. It is the button rifling process, not the rate of twist that is the issue for modern rifles.

 

[nchawkeye]

Once again, I must say that the depth of the rifling is the important factor to consider. The 1 in 48 twist barrels with a depth of rifling as used by many reknowned gun makers of the 19th century were very accurate. They used cut rifling with a depth of the groove of 0.010" to about 0.014". Deep grooves, thick patches and fairly tight patch to ball fit prevented this skipping over the lands we encounter with the modern shallow grooved, button rifled barrels. The thin patching used doesn't engrave on the ball and fill the grooves. It is the button rifling process, not the rate of twist that is the issue for modern rifles.

Exactly, Sam & Jake didn't use button rifling, no need too, they were still shooting round balls in the 1840s...

That is why it is hard to compare a T/C barrel to a properly made round ball barrel.

 

[Okie Hog]

The problem with the Thompson Center rifles ain't the 1/48'' rifling twist rate; It's the very shallow grooves.

In order to get reasonable accuracy from patched round balls; those TC rifles require a tight fitting patch/ball seated hard on the powder.

Yep,many muzzleloader shooters claim that rifles with faster rifling twist rates won't shoot patched round balls worth a hoot. I've found .50 and .54 rifles with 1/32 " rifling rates to fire patched round balls very accurately using 60-70 grains of Pyrodex RS or Black MZ powder.


Doc White did a lot of research, shooting patched round balls from fast twist rate rifles;

http://whitemuzzleloading.com/round-balls-in-fast-twist-rifles/

 

[longcruise]

. Deep grooves, thick patches and fairly tight patch to ball fit prevented this skipping over the lands we encounter with the modern shallow grooved, button rifled barrels.

Well, I've made it a point for many years to enquire of the definitive source that proves that this happens whenever it has popped up. I don't "think" it happens but I could easily be wrong. Maybe someone has proven that it happens, so just wanting to backfill this hole in my knowledge

 

[Banjoman]

I think when we talk about deer hunting, we should remember that Native Americans hunted deer with hand made bows and arrows for centuries.

Just my .02 cents worth.

 

[cynthialee]

I hunt with a TC Hawken with a 1/48 twist. Seems to do just fine and dandy.

 

[snakeman]

Fifty cal patched round ball. 1 in 66 twist. 70 yards.

 

[Patched]

Are we to infer from this Sam and Jake didn't make serious killing guns?

Exactly how do you know balls skip over 1:48 rifling with heavy charges. Please cite a primary source.

Infer what you will about Jake and Sam’s guns…the ones I examined had deep cut rifling…wasn’t able to ascertain the twist rates.

I’ll cite myself as the primary source for PRBs skipping the rifling….every 1:48 twist barrel I’ve owned and shot had the typical TC shallow groove rifling…great shooters with tightly PRBs and very light charges…

But you can check out this English “old school” dangerous game hunter that did his homework before heading off tiger hunting and Cape buffalo busting.

James Forsyth’s 1867 book “The Sporting Rifle and Its Projectiles” addresses the “ball skipping the rifling” issue…as did Sam Fadala in his published book.