longcruise
70 Cal.
I got the feeling that the question might have been about smokeless. Jim answered in terms of substitutes so that about covered it. I saw the question before it was answered.
Kibler Hawken update,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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I'm rewatching or listening to it again. Surprised not much more talk on here as he addressed a number of things brought up in this thread. A big one is it sounds like the twist rate is prob going to vary from OG examples depending on which company he has to source the barrels from.
Tasbay
40 Cal
James; While we have you here. Do you export?
pchwcf50110
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That pistol grip rifle is right up my alley
Yes, but it depends on the country.
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Hello again James, some time ago I inquired from Australia about one of your kits; but you didn't seem interested in exporting has anything changed ?
beardedhorse
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In his latest lap top meeting Jim mentioned maybe using Green Mountain and Rice Barrels. Decade/s ago a shooter named Gregory shot a score of 50 5x on the 100 yd range at Friendship. Did it off hand with Green Mountain barreled Hawken if I remember right. Those barrels were 1 in 66 or slower twist, not 1 in 48 and. 54 or .50 caliber for patched round ball.
Update per Jim Kibler’s new video:
He has not made a hard fast decision on the rifling twist. Could be 1-48 iron 1-72.
longcruise
70 Cal.
He also said he was getting a barrel machine of some kind.
Going back as far as 20 years ago that would be correct. I don't know for sure about before that.
Leaving an empty space in the safe for the perscussion SMR he said was coming in the podcast.
...A curly maple .45 SMR caplock rifle is as close to my dream rifle as I can visualise
...A curly maple .45 SMR caplock rifle is as close to my dream rifle as I can visualise
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Dixie gun works did it with their Mountain rifle. You got both locks. You could switch back an forth. Jim
would sell bunches of them. JMHO
would sell bunches of them. JMHO
Yep, you got that right.
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I see a lot of people like the 1 in 48 twist and it is a great choice and accurate. I do think in order to get a ball to give its best accuracy in a .50 cal. 1 in 48 twist rifle around 60 grains of powder is where I see my best results. I personally prefer rifling close to 1 in 66 twist . If you use a long bullet in a .50 it excells in a 1 in 48 twist and is my preference . A 1 in 66 in a fifty, I no nothing about how it performs but in a 1 in 66 twist I have found for me 80 grains in a .54 cal. rifle is extremely accurate shooting a ball and it gives a bit more energy on the target. I know why your friend was shooting a 1 in 66 twist rifle. I shot from a bench a three shot one oval hole at a 100 yards with .54 cal .530 ball, what more could you ask for?
I asked the question about military guns, specifically the Brown Bess. He didn't say he was considering a Brown Bess exactly, but that the Brown Bess had interesting lines. Of all the military guns out there, the Brown Bess seemed to pique his interest the most.
Jim's approach shows he has always been more interested in elegant design than in pleasing muzzleloading Imams. If you disapprove of his designs because they don't match your idea of what a specific gun "should be" then, to paraphrase a YouTuber I follow, go make your own damn gun.
Patched
40 Cal
“….muzzleloading Imams.” nailed it….
Kmcmichael
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I’m not a Hawkster but if I were and wanted to shoot round balls I would want the slower twist.
I have however know one 1/48 that would shoot pretty good with light powder round balls and could shoot great with Maxi balls or sabot pistol rounds. It was given to me with the data. When time permits I will do more experimenting to see if it could be a 100 yard maxi ball deer gun. I have already put a peep sight on it.
Due to windy conditions I am more conservative than most of you regarding distance.
He has expressed interest more than once about perhaps doing a Bess as there is a noteworthy anniversary coming up. By now it's several months old but there is a thread on here where he chimed in about it. That being said militaria is not his forte so who knows how serious he is about it.
longcruise
70 Cal.
Hunters have been using thousands of those 50 caliber 1:48 twist guns for over 50 years to kill deer at 100 yards with balls and have won plenty of matches as well. Getting them to shoot requires an open mind and shedding a lot of "conventional wisdom".
Kmcmichael
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Maybe. All rifle barrels are a law unto themselves. If I only had the one gun, I would probably do that.Hunters have been using thousands of those 50 caliber 1:48 twist guns for over 50 years to kill deer at 100 yards with balls and have won plenty of matches as well. Getting them to shoot requires an open mind and shedding a lot of "conventional wisdom".
I have several nice guns with slower twists. Some I have not yet did load development on. The percussion gun is rather low on my interest and list. I would mainly like to shoot a deer with it since it was a gift from an old friend.
I have been down the road of having the wrong twist on unmentionables. The conventional wisdom was certainly dead on with those.
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