• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Coneing a Barrel ???

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dry ball john

32 Cal.
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
48
Reaction score
0
I have heard the term coneing a barrel, what is it -does it affect accuracy-is the procedure worth it- would like to know whats involved
Thanks db
 
It involves using a special tool to put a "cone" or taper in the muzzle end of the barrel. It would/does make loading a PRB easier and eliminating (in most cases) the use of a short starter. There are various comments regarding the accuracy of the barrel after the treatment but the majority of them do not indicate any loss of accuracy.

There is a thread about it under General Muzzleloading right at the top of the page.
 
DBJ,
Find out all you can about coneing...I have heard,for the most part,it does not effect
accurercy.It does exactly what stubshaft
said.....expidites loading :hmm: What is the need
for it,if not being attacked by hostiles.I personally would not do it or have it done.But to
each his own.
snake-eyes :2
 
dry ball john said:
I have heard the term coneing a barrel, what is it -does it affect accuracy-is the procedure worth it- would like to know whats involved
Thanks db

1 of my rifles has a "coned" green mountain barrel. as far as accuracy, well i dont know i got the gun coned, so i dont know about before, however (i love that word) i can hit a 0.50 cent piece at 50 yards with it free standing every time. shes wicked on the long shot. personally i like coned barrels, and will get around to coning my other rifles.
 
I can't even see a 50 cent piece at 50 yards! My shooting buddy is also a coin collector and had some "reproduction" Morgan Dollars (read counterfeit) that were mixed in with a quantity of genuine silver dollars he acquired a while back. We took them out to the last BP shoot and set them up at 40 yards. Could not see them at all with the naked eye and barely discernible with compact binoculars. Painted 'em orange and then you could just make 'em out with the naked eye, but we had to move them in to 20 yards before anybody could hit 'em... good fun!
 
I can see them being hard to see, hell I have a hard time and limit myself to 75 yards for hunting unless conditions are absolutely perfect. Now all my guns are coned using Joe woods tool and I know as long as I do my part I have a .54 and a .58 custom rifle that I could keep all shots on an orange stick on target the size of a dollar coin, bench rested. I surprised myself at well I can shoot the .58 off hand and would scare the hell out of the orange dot but I know I couldn't keep em all on it.
 
dry ball john said:
I have heard the term coneing a barrel, what is it -does it affect accuracy-is the procedure worth it- would like to know whats involved
Thanks db

DBJ Just coned my first barrel 54 cal GM 1-70 32 " drop-in percussion--This barrel shoots a tight patch-ball combo..so for ease of loading I coned it....Very Happy with the results..this was an evening project,..I took my time!

coning tools..40-58-62 and the 54 is on the tap wrench..(these I ordered from Joe Wood)started with 220 wet and dry used dry 320-400-600-took it to 1500 This cone is slick!

IMG_0981.jpg


.018 ticking patch dry thumb start flush to muzzle

IMG_0978.jpg


.027 cotton duct patch 3/4 thumb start

IMG_0979.jpg


groups at 50 before conning

IMG_0929.jpg


group after coning for test

3" target at 50 yards
first shot almost dead center
next shots around target
started to swab between shots and the 3 in the lower left are those....this barrel is now a swab between shots for best accuracy....i can live with that....
IMG_0995.jpg


Don't have a picture of the cone job sorry..this barrel is on its way to get fitted for a flint breach plug.

Hope this helps...Dan
 
Jack Wilson said:
Ghettogun said:
i can hit a 0.50 cent piece at 50 yards with it free standing every time
That would be an interesting bet.
First we had the "Great Pinyone", now we have the "Amazing karwelis". :haha:

why dont you come and shoot against me! labor day weekend, big horn mountain man rendezvous! and yes mr jaack wilson you have been challenged!
 
karwelis said:
Jack Wilson said:
Ghettogun said:
i can hit a 0.50 cent piece at 50 yards with it free standing every time
That would be an interesting bet.
First we had the "Great Pinyone", now we have the "Amazing karwelis". :haha:

why dont you come and shoot against me! labor day weekend, big horn mountain man rendezvous! and yes mr jaack wilson you have been challenged!
That's okay, you're too much for me. :applause:
 
Here's your answer. I have one and they work great and are easy to use but require the patience to do the job right. If you are someone who gets in a hurry or is easily frustrated by the emery paper getting out of alignment, you might want to pay a gunsmith to do it for you. I just take my time and re-adjust or replace the emery paper when it gets twisted up. Some barrels take m ore time and others go pretty fast. It all depends on how hard the steel is.

I have done all of my muzzleloaders and am quite happy with the results. I use pre-cut patches but if you like to cut yours at the muzzle, the coning makes it a bit harder to cut the patch without pulling your ball out of the muzzle. Use pre-cut patches and you will have very little, if any, use for a short starter. Just press the ball in with your thumb and seat it with your ram rod. It eliminates one more item you have to remember and fool with when loading. :thumbsup:
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=4330.0
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I agree, if you want to cut patches at the muzzle the cone will drive you crazy. As far as the pre-cut patches, watch out for the diameter. My 32 cal is coned and the diameter of the precuts is about the size of the outer diameter of the barrel. It is a pain in the royal butt to center the ball and start it. I can't tell you how many times I dropped a ball in next to the patch or had to ram home an off center patch. It didn't effect the accuracy a bunch but it does on the 40 to 50 yard shot trying to hit a squirrel in the right spot. My solution was to buy some ticking and cut my own patches (square patches by the way). I bought the rifle coned-- I would not pay for doing it to my 45 cal. I use a short starter with the coned barrel because I don't want to run the risk of busting my 32 cal rod-- they are too thin to take the chance in the woods so the "one less thing in the loading process" argument is moot with me and the 32.
 
Only if you don't know how to put a razor's edge on your patch knife. Cutting patch fabric should involve not more effort than a flick of the wrist. When I see people "Sawing" the fabric with their knives, they need HELP!
 
I normally cut a pile of square patches but I did try cutting at the muzzle once to try it because people were saying you couldn't. I had no problem doing it with a sharp knife. But it was just a test, I don't normally cut patches at the muzzle.
 
Been using water soaked square pillow ticking patches forever in my GRRW .58 fer stand up on yer hind laigs and shoot work;......they work great and no slimy mess.
Sperm oil fer hunting (which i don't do much anymore) it always has been plumb center fer me.
 
Billnpatti said:
Here's your answer. I have one and they work great and are easy to use but require the patience to do the job right. If you are someone who gets in a hurry or is easily frustrated by the emery paper getting out of alignment, you might want to pay a gunsmith to do it for you. I just take my time and re-adjust or replace the emery paper when it gets twisted up. Some barrels take m ore time and others go pretty fast. It all depends on how hard the steel is.

I have done all of my muzzleloaders and am quite happy with the results. I use pre-cut patches but if you like to cut yours at the muzzle, the coning makes it a bit harder to cut the patch without pulling your ball out of the muzzle. Use pre-cut patches and you will have very little, if any, use for a short starter. Just press the ball in with your thumb and seat it with your ram rod. It eliminates one more item you have to remember and fool with when loading. :thumbsup:
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=4330.0[/quote]


Sooooo whats the differance between the coned barrel and T/C's QLA that most folks on here are so down on? :hmm:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
karwelis said:
1 of my rifles has a "coned" green mountain barrel. as far as accuracy, well i dont know i got the gun coned, so i dont know about before, however (i love that word) i can hit a 0.50 cent piece at 50 yards with it free standing every time. shes wicked on the long shot. personally i like coned barrels, and will get around to coning my other rifles.

"..... See that thar fly? NO? Course ya dont; I just shot his head off. 57 paces to the inch! Now dont question me boy cuz I am just that dang good."

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
 
Back
Top