Extra looooong rifles, anyone?

[Russ T Frizzen]

I have some rifles with 42" + barrels and have never found a single thing to complain about concerning them. A swamped barrel is best for balance and nice to carry. The long barrel offers a longer sighting plane which is a plus. The long ones offer no problems in typical forest cover. They are as easy to load as a short gun and are sweet to look at with their graceful and elegant lines. I also have fowlers with barrels in this length range and wouldn't part with them in favor of a shorter gun either.

There are some who prefer short guns for various personal reasons, and there's nothing wrong with that, and others who believe old wives tales and myths about long rifles and fowlers and stay with short guns for all the wrong reasons. It's their loss.

 

[Cosmoline]

 

[TinStar]

Looking at TOW's and Pecatonica's catalogs I noticed that TOW's JP Beck kit comes with a 42" and Pecatonica's with a 36". Which would be more accurate; and did the old makers have favorite lengths that they generally stuck to? From what I have read velocity doesn't change all that much in barrels over 24" or so. Is that true?


TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

 

[jimmytheshank]

I have heard that friction starts to make a difference but not that much. I aint to sure. Since this thread is about Loooooong barreled guns,and since quite a few of you are out there, howsabout you guys that own guns with barrels over 44" inches post some pics for the rest of us who are looking at getting a really looooong gun? :wink: :grin:

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Come on Jimmy and Leon, welding barrels together? :haha: You guys do know that TG was kidding don't you? :hmm:

 

[jimmytheshank]

Hmmm,..........I thought it was Paul who said that. Anyway, I would certainly hope so. But after hearing some horror stories about certain building practices, ( not in the States, mind you), I wasnt too sure. Thank goodness your only kidding. But it makes you wonder if somebody out there thought it was a good idea at one time. :shocked2:

 

Steve,
I have a 20Ga fowler with a 72" barrel that is 7'4" overall. It has a 1 piece barrel, modified flint lock, brass hardware and a walnut stock. The gun weighs in at an even 11 pounds and I can shoot it offhand. Getting ramrods for these pieces is obviously a little difficult but not impossible. I have a couple of wooden rods and a 2 piece brass rod. The brass rod is pretty heavy and whips like a fishing pole so I generally use the wooden ones. The biggest problem is hauling it around safely, from the standpoint of damage. Making a case used up the better part of a heavy blanket. I still have 1 walnut stock blank left that will take up to, +/-, a 60" barrel. I can't post pictures but can email some to you.
Mark

 

Leon,
There was a chunk gun at the York shoot a few years back that had a 6' barrel on it that was welded up and it shot pretty good.
Mark

 

[bioprof]

Rice Barrel Company added 46" swamped barrels to their line of products. I would think that they would balance well with a stock with a wider butt. I've never used one, but quite a few of the major builders have probably built rifles with them.

I have used one of their 44" Dickert swamped barrels on an early Lancaster and it balances quite well.

 

[kherring]

I have rifles with 44, 42, and 38 inch barrels. My favorite is the 44" swamped barrel. It's very light and balances better than the others. The funny thing is that at 5'7" I cant look down the barrel while loading. If you are having a rifle built, I would recommed going with a swamped one. You will be very happy with it. The light weight and not being muzzle heavy will more than make up for the few extra dollars.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Looking at TOW's and Pecatonica's catalogs I noticed that TOW's JP Beck kit comes with a 42" and Pecatonica's with a 36". Which would be more accurate; and did the old makers have favorite lengths that they generally stuck to? From what I have read velocity doesn't change all that much in barrels over 24" or so. Is that true?

You can have accurate barrels in all sorts of barrel lengths, but the longer barrel length has a longer sighting plane and that is a tremendous advantage. In a longer barrel you can burn more powder than you can in a short barrel of equal caliber.

If you take two barrels say a 24" .50 caliber barrel and a 42" barrel in the same caliber, and use the same charge, say 40 grains, you might get a slight friction loss in the longer barrel and a higher velocity in the shorter barrel. Maybe. But in real life, no one does this. Practically speaking, the longer barrel is always going to have a higher velocity and, particularly at longer ranges, its accuracy potential is better due to that longer sighting plane. And the longer barrel is capable of burning more powder, so you can develop a more potent short range load than you can in the short tube.

I wouldn't choose my barrel length on the idea of friction loss due to barrel length. These are fun things to debate, but in the field don't amount to a hill of beans! I have .62 caliber rifles with 42" barrels and 24" barrels and love them both. I don't even know what the velocities are for sure but the little one probably doesn't get much past 1200 fps. The long one isn't exactly setting any speed records either. But any deer or bullseye target is in grievous danger at 100 yards or so. And that is why I had these guns made. I prefer the longer barrel rifle because of its better balance and sighting capabilities. Both rifles have swamped barrels but the long gun still wins the balance contest and with all of its other classic long rifle strong points, is the one I will always reach for first.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

..., but I will say that I have found a 44" barrel much easier to load than a 24" barrel (you can hold it in the crook of your arm while measuring powder, etc. A shorter gun has to be leaned up against something to free up both hands).

I've gotten around that by using the technique we were taught in the gas-mask drill: forearm/barrel(s) between my knees, butt on the ground to the rear, muzzle angling forward in a safe direction. If you're out wandering the fields around here, there's often nothing nearby substantial enough to lean a firelock against, anyway.

Regards,
Joel

 

[tg]

With any length of barrel you can free up your hands by having a loop of leather tied off to your bag/strap/belt or whatever at the height you want to put over the barrel so you don't have to hold it all the time, this is great for trail walks.

 

[sheba]

I have a Snaphaunce fowler with a 50inch barrel

 

[whitedog333]

This is my original H. Leman flintlock with a 47" barrel.Not too long to handle.I'm 5'11"

Overall length is 64"

 

[Stophel]

Dutch fowling guns.

 

[whitedog333]

This is my original H. Leman flintlock with a 47" barrel.Not too long to handle.I'm 5'11"

Overall length is 64"

I just wanted to add that when I was given this rifle long ago, it had no ram rod. I was lucky the barrel wasn't any longer as I was able to get a bundle of Hickory 40 caliber rods of 48" length from Dixie Gun Works. It looks pretty neat with it's long barrel but it just barely fits wrapped up in a blanket behind the seat of my pickup. It isn't something that I would want to carry in the back bed for someone to reach over and grab. I've seen some modern made works of art with much longer barrels though and so I'm certain that the wood necessary to make ramrods is available, even if one has to carve one out of a long section of wood. Done THAT before.

 

[jimmytheshank]

Thats a pretty sweet rifle there. :thumbsup: :bow:

 

[whitedog333]

Thanks Jim. I've actually shot it but I'm told that I'm taking a chance on injuring it by different folks who're smarter than me about such things. I see you're in San Antonio. Do you know Bruce Winders the Curator of the Alamo Museum?

 

[jimmytheshank]

No, not personally. As many times as I was there you would think I'd know everyones names and their families too. :redface: