Best Quality Cheap Barrel ?

[mattybock]

I think I've seen that house, although not in person.
Curious thing isn't it? People homeless and under the illusion that the good can't be had without so much sacrifice.

I was reading this book series by a man named Gingery, and with such little investment in cash he built himself his own lathe out of sand cast aluminum and a few purchased stock parts.
I'm not sure of the cost back them, but it's possible in the modern day for... maybe 500 in green paper.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

If you ever visit the Smithsonian in DC, there are one or two spring pole metal lathes made mostly from WOOD!
During WW2 a prop was shipped to Norfolk to refit a damaged ship. The hole in the prop did not match the armature. Hole too small. It would have taken a month and all kinds of effort to ship the big prop back and rebore. An old railroad engineer used a piece of tree trunk, a hand forged cutter and a cross piece of utility pole and with a large bucket of lard, recut the tapered hole to match the ships armature in less than 36 hours. I have an old book about railroad engineering about some of the ways rail road engineers fixed things out in the wilderness and how a heavy locomotive derailed and was set back on the tracks by just three guys. (propped up on timbers and then a trench dug under the locomotive to set ties and track under the wheels.)

 

[Rifleman1776]

Truthfully, the very premise of your question bothers me.
In essence, you are searching for the world's tallest midget.
My suggestion: Set yer budget and start shopping.

 

[illuveatar]

I didn't mean to bother anyone, if you've made your decision about what is acceptable and what is not then let's talk about why. I realize that $200 for a barrel isn't too steep but I've seen CVA's, TC's and Traditions barrels sell on eBay for around $50.

The pictures posted on eBay are very high quality these days. No rust on the barrel, no evidence of someone cranking on the bolster or breech plug with a wrench. Many barrels posted online even show the condition of the bore and generally they are in great shape.

I'm not an idiot, I know a junk barrel when I see one, I'm young but I've been shooting guns for 20+ years. So when I see a decent barrel for $50 I wonder why I shouldn't just buy it and save myself $150.

I suppose I should narrow my question a bit and ask plainly, are the Rice, Colerain and Green Mountain barrels significantly more accurate than a Connecticut Valley Arms, Thompson's Center or Traditions barrel ?

Let's not talk about condition of the barrel, assume they're all new, with 1-60 twist, shooting PRBs with the ideal load worked up for that particular barrel.

Is there anyone out there who has done any type of field research on this ? rather than opinions it would be great to see some MOA data.

 

[54ball]

Are you kidding me? Field research? What about a think tank?

Some of these folks who have replied to your thread have 50 or more years of m/l shooting and building experience. Is that enough field research? If you would carefully re read the first page of this thread, before the pioneers used mud hijack, you would find the answer to your question.

Lets review...

Money is tight. I want a good cheap barrel for my next project? I cant afford $400. What about ebay TC/CVA/Traditions/Douglas used for $50 I'm not interested in saving money to buy a fine rifle or parts.

Stone wall creek has Rayl barrels around $200. CVA barrels are good but check a used one out well.

A new barrel and breach from TOTW can be had for $160 if you do some work yourself. Used barrels are a crapshoot.

GM barrels are good, they keep the cost down but prices are rising.

I have used old Italian barrels with good results, not ideal for building, GM barrels are good and faily inexpensive. Do not cut corners on a barrel.

Problems with used barrels, book recomendation, personal help offer.

Used barrels are a crapshoot. CVA can be fine shooters. GM good.

CVA Good, Numrich crapshoot GM good. Its risky to try and save a buck.

Bought 2 used CVAs one was unusable. Built a flintlock for $200. Bought new CVA bbl from Deer Creek 3 yrs ago $110 close to GM but breached and dovetailed.

Italian barrels accurate, Deer Creek has old CVA parts. Personal help offer will look whats laying around.

I built a Plainsman flinter had fun, not perfect, looking forward to next build buying books...

GM good

You can build a Southern rifle very inexpensively.

swamped colerain at $200

I'm going to make a barrel???

The pioneers used mud

I saw the mud house. people should live in a mud house

A train engineer fixed a Cruiser Prop with a tree trunk and butter, OK, It was lard. What was not said was this, It was the USS Indianapolis in which a Jap sub was able to hear and track down in the pitch black Phillipine Sea due to a wobbly prop. It slammed two torpedoes into its side but not after it delivered the big one, the Hiroshima Bomb.

Grumpy ole 76 says your looking for the tallest midget.

The original question is re-phrased and asked again..

54ball the ML forum's renowned OCD thread killer waisted a lot of time but being a smart A$$ and sumarized this whole thread.

 

[smokeum54]

in my experience 90% of barrels (with good bores) are more accurate than the person holding them. :thumbsup:
i even have two pitted barrels that are tack drivers.

 

[54ball]

All joking a side, I think your best bet would be to get some good tools and find a used, complete CVA/Jukar/Traditions Kentucky. You may be able to find one for less than $100.

Consider it a parts set. There is plenty enough wood to reshape the forestock to a true 18th Century appearence. The butt is a little thin but if you take your time you can improve that area as well. I have seen some fine Kentuckys redone in this manner.
One was even carved with a glued on cheek piece. It was very well done. If the bore is good they shoot superb as already mentioned.

Order Dixon's book if you can't swing $45 for Recreating the American Longrifle. This will show you how the rifles were really shaped. Study it and ask questions here or on other sites.
If you find a flinter it would be best to replace it with an American made lock. L&R makes a drop in or you may have enough room to install a Siler type lock.

You can convert a percussion to flint. If I remember right, the simplist method was to simply cut off the drum, as the drum and vent were the same from the factory. Research this conversion to make sure.

good luck

 

[ohio ramrod]

While I don't have any charts or tables, I have seen many local and NMLRA events won by shooters with T.C. , traditions, & CVA jukar barrels. Cost does not mean superiority. But it does usually mean consistancy. :idunno: But then this is just my opinion and worth exactly what you paid for it! :idunno:

 

[illuveatar]

Ramrod, I like that you always qualify your comments as opinions rather than gospel truth backed by 80 years of experience.

That's not a dig at anyone else on the forum, I also try to avoid speaking in absolute terms.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I saw where you guys said to look on eBay for barrels, hadn't been there in a while so I took a look.

Someone had just posted a new, unbreached, 42"GM 40 cal.,13/16" barrel with a "buy it now" price of $75. To good a bargain to pass on so it is headed to my house for a future project.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

I ..... try to avoid speaking in absolute terms.

True, and, often wise but it is really just an easy way to avoid being wrong. Do it myself all of the time, it gives "plausible deniability".

Take note of the voice of experience, it is more often than not, correct - it's just not what you want to hear.

 

[Tommy Bruce]

Well sounds like you are on your way to figuring it out. So many of those import barrels give good accuaracy but are very barrel heavy. I doubt that I could ever go back to a straight walled barrel since I've had swamped barreled guns. If you have access to a lathe one option may be to turn it Oct. to round I guess. Another issue you may run into is that these 50.00 barrels are more than likely 1 in 48 twist. Then there is the issue with what type of rifle you want to build. There is a good chance that a 28 to 33" barrel just isn't going to look right.

More than likely you will build more guns after this one so you can always upgrade on the quality of your parts as you get better. The first rifle I built from scratch was going to be a masterpiece....boy was i in for a shock. I ended up naming the rifle "Patch" due to all of the fixed mistakes. Eventually I sold the rifle bought more parts and built another gun. When I want to build a rifle this is generally what I do even today. Just remember a plain gun with a correct profile looks a whole lot better and is easier to sell that something that is bastardized over several time periods.

 

[ihuntsnook]

That's a great buy. I have a GM 50 I bought in 1979 after a visit to the shop in Center Ossipee NH. Great shooter. You will like it.

 

[sutherland]

I'm building a muzzleloader using a Long Hammock barrel. The finish inside and out is very impressive and there is no run out. I don't know the current price of them.