Long Pistol Barrels

[Eric Krewson]

I have built enough long guns, what I have made and collected has given me 2 or 3 of most calibers plus one each of several smoothbores of different gages. I have never built a pistol and am drawn to making one of the so called long barreled "bear pistols", a 50 cal to shoot an adequate short range (25-30 yards) deer hunting load.

I have filtered through the search sections and have found that some use slow twist rifle barrel cutoffs for stouter loads and some have fast twist barrels made that will shoot lighter loads better.

So, if I make a pistol with a 15" barrel and plan to shoot 45 or 50 grains of powder behind a patched round ball would a rifle barrel cutoff suffice or should look to have a custom barrel made for my project. I have seen no pistol barrels offered by Rice, Colerain or other barrel makers but I suspect they would make one for the right price.

If you guys were making such a pistol what rifling twist would you use?

 

[Phil Coffins]

Use what you have. Even a smooth bore will shoot well to 25 yards, then if you think you need faster twist get a barrel of the same size and fit it to your completed pistol. You may wind up with a box full of barrels of various bores and length to fit any need!

 

[rich pierce]

With a longer barrel and stout loads you should be fine with a slower twist cutoff.

 

[Stony Broke]

I think if it were me building one, I would look for a barrel in something close to a 1/20 twist or something close to that. I guess a guy could get by with a 1/48.....but I think I'd prefer a faster twist.

 

[1950DAVE]

FCI lists them as per my price sheet of 2019.
Dave

 

[simonbeans]

I had Oregon Muzzleloading barrels make me a .58 smoothbore. It took a while, 3 or 4 months but it is a nice barrel. I believe they will make almost any type of barrel you desire (within reason). As for FCI, well, I tried them for the same .58 barrel and their initial reply was positive however after ordering it from them (no moneys were asked for and none sent) they "disappeared" and went non-responsive on emails for over 2 years now. My FYI, your results may vary.
Allan

 

[Eric Krewson]

I headed down in the woods to cut me a stock blank, I have a big walnut that has been down for a while but like all walnut it is very rot resistant and still as hard as a rock. I made a couple of cuts with my chainsaw and the sparks flew, I didn't see that rock under the log. I headed back to the house to try another day, my saw would cut through butter at this point.

I have several parts of the trunk with grown over limbs that I can cut a piece out of and have a nice grain flow around the limb to make the butt of a pistol.

I cut a gunstock out of it a couple of years ago but it has to many inclusions and small knots to use for a high end rifle, nice wood though. Finding a good pistol blank should be a piece of cake.

I have a wood drier and could dry the blank in a couple of months easily.

 

[user 48679]

I like that wood - depending upon how long it's been down, it may not need artificial drying.

I would respectfully suggest testing the moisture.

Harbor Freight has a Mini digital moisture tester @ $14; E-Bay for $8 (google)

Are you thinking rocklock or a capgun ?

 

[user 48702]

Not custom, but might give you an idea. The specs on Pedersoli's Bounty Hunter pistol is .50 cal, 16 3/8" bbl, 1:18 twist, 12 groove.

 

[rafterob]

I recall reading sometime back that 1/4 twist in the length of the pistol barrel was common. In a 15" barrel that would be a 1:30 twist. In My Traditions Kentucky pistol, that is roughly the twist (1/4 turn) in the length of the 10" barrel.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I am a bow maker hence the drying box and a pinless moisture meter, I know my wood.

For all the nay sayers who will say I will warp the wood and get checks ; I have found if I put a coat of shellac on my wood before I start the drying process it won't check but will still dry out. I also have a rheostat on my drying box and can adjust the temp to be just over ambient for the first few weeks .

 

[rich pierce]

Nobody knows wood better than a bow maker. It’s a whole different level than gun stocking. The wood on a gunstock is essentially a handle for a tool that never experienced much stress.

 

[Nameless Hunter]

I am a bow maker hence the drying box and a pinless moisture meter, I know my wood.

For all the nay sayers who will say I will warp the wood and get checks ; I have found if I put a coat of shellac on my wood before I start the drying process it won't check but will still dry out. I also have a rheostat on my drying box and can adjust the temp to be just over ambient for the first few weeks .

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For those of us without your level of wood knowledge, what is a wood "check"?

 

[user 48679]

For those of us without your level of wood knowledge, what is a wood "check"?

A crack or cracks that can develop during the drying process.

 

[Eric Krewson]

These are drying checks that I got on a piece of osage that I got lazy with and didn't take he sapwood off of. Sapwood dries faster than heart wood and causes cracks or checks.

It is the same on a green slab of stock wood if you rush the process, the surface will dry faster then the center and crack. Like stated; I have found a coat of shellac will slow the surface drying down and you won't get checking. This has worked for me on cherry and walnut.

When I went on a cherry stock blank cutting expedition on a tornado downed tree close to my house, I cut the blanks straight from the log.

Everyone here told me cherry had to be aged in slab form because it would check in blank form and be ruined.

I found two things; green cherry blanks wouldn't check if they have a coat of shellac on them and in the average cherry log there may be so many flaws and inclusions as to make trying to cut stock blanks from it with a chainsaw a waste of time.

Shellacked, no checks but a lot of flaws in the wood;