Longer, fast-twist barrel

[Clark]

I have lurked here for several months trying to figure out what sort of muzzleloader I want. In my only other post I was pointed in the direction of Pecatonica River and their replacement fullstocks for T/C Hawken/Renegades. The barrel channel is 36" long which should allow for a longer barrel than what comes with a standard T/C Hawken/Renegade.

I like the look of a longer barrel so I would like to stick with something 30-34" range. I would also like a faster twist barrel, thinking 1:48" twist so I have the option of conicals or PRB. The problem is I can't find anyone who will readily make a .50 or .54 barrel with that twist and length. Does Fox Ridge make custom barrels for T/C muzzleloaders? Or would I have to go somewhere else?

Clark

 

[E Poffinbarger]

Clark:

For what its worth, here are my biased opinions in the selection criteria of a muzzleloader:

Caliber choice = .54 big enough to reduce the accuracy impact of fouling residue, but small enough to still have good tragectory.

Rate-Of-Twist = IMHO somewhat caliber dependent. For a .54 caliber, 1:32 for bullets; 1:56 or greater for patched round ball. Simply put, if you want to be able to shoot both types of projectiles accurately, then either have interchangable barrels or a rifle for each.

Barrel Brand = Douglas, Green Mountain, T/C or Investarms to name a few of the reasonably priced.

Rifle Brand = Owner's Choice, to me a custom made longstock would be the ultimate rifle, however I don't own one. As far as off-the-shelf products I'm not fond of CVA, Traditions or anything made in Spain.

Hope this helps,

Osage

 

[E Poffinbarger]

Clark:

Heck, I went back and re-read your post again and realized that I didn't really answer any of the questions that you ask.

I guess I sorta panicked since I personally have never been able to get a 1:48 twist barrel to shoot either type projectile with any level of consistent accuracy.

As far as long barrels, I like em' a lot, someday hopefully I'll own a long barreled longstock .54 caliber rifle.

Osage

 

[Jarikeen]

You could look at the Pedersoli Scout in .50 Cal. It has a 1:32 barrel with about .006" deep rifling and will shoot either PRB and conical. I get the impression that the fast rate twist barrel will still shoot very accurately with PRB, but you will need to be particular with load developement and probably find that lower powder loads work best - probably in the range from 35 grains to 50 grains with .50cal.
I've never had any accuracy problems with a 1:48 on .45 or .40.

 

[roundball]

I have lurked here for several months trying to figure out what sort of muzzleloader I want. In my only other post I was pointed in the direction of Pecatonica River and their replacement fullstocks for T/C Hawken/Renegades. The barrel channel is 36" long which should allow for a longer barrel than what comes with a standard T/C Hawken/Renegade.

I like the look of a longer barrel so I would like to stick with something 30-34" range. I would also like a faster twist barrel, thinking 1:48" twist so I have the option of conicals or PRB. The problem is I can't find anyone who will readily make a .50 or .54 barrel with that twist and length. Does Fox Ridge make custom barrels for T/C muzzleloaders? Or would I have to go somewhere else?

Clark

TC's Fox Ridge shop does not make any custom muzzleloaders, barrels or muzzleloader parts.
They do boast a "custom shop" but it's not for muzzleloading at all.

The fact no one seems to make a long length 1:48" might be enough to make you pause and rethink what you're asking for...ie: if it was probably a good barrel configuration to have, somebody would probably be offering it.

GM makes drop-in barrels for TC Hawkens (and some for Renegades) that are 33" long...I have a few of them in different calibers, both rifles & smoothbores and they are an excellent length for me, plus accurate.

 

[faw3]

This is a easy one call Long Hammock and get your barrel made the way you want ( I think they do up to 2" x 46" or 48" wide and long and any twist you want. You can get the breech from Track of the wolf to fit it to a T/C then ship it all off to John Taylor on here and he;ll wip it right together for you(or just call or PT him on here and let him do that hunting down for you....thats if you cant find the barrels from above. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

Here's a pretty straight forward solution...get a 15/16" x 33" GM .54cal smoothbore drop-in barrel for the standard TC Hawken stock, and send it to Ed Rayl in West VA to add the rifling you want.

I sent him a .62cal smoothbore barrel this spring and had him add .012" x 1:72" rifling to make it a .62cal rifled round ball barrel...and it's a tack driver...charged $65.

He could rifle a .54cal smoothbore with whatever grooves / twist you want. (standard TC barrels are .006" x 1:48" twist)

 

[windwalker_au]

the oregon barrel co will make anything you like,you can get them through The Gun Works Muzzleloading Emporium,[url] http://www.thegunworks.com/custprodgun.cfm?CatID=3&ShowLevel=1[/url]
bernie :thumbsup:

 

[Clark]

Thanks for the replies guys, there are more options out there than I thought!

The fact no one seems to make a long length 1:48" might be enough to make you pause and rethink what you're asking for...ie: if it was probably a good barrel configuration to have, somebody would probably be offering it.

This has crossed my mind before but just because nobody readily offers it doesn't mean it is a bad thing...just not popular enough to mass produce.

About the twist..I'm still torn on this. I'm new to muzzleloading and would like the option of shooting either PRB or bullets. From what I have read on here, it sounds like yes, accuracy can be a problem in this twist of barrel but with enough perseverance and experimenting a reliable solution can be found.

The rifling is something that I am willing to change. Maybe a change in twist rate and the rifling depth would give a better compromise for shooting both PRB and bullets? I'm new to this so I have no clue.

Thanks again for the help, I'm one big step closer to ordering components and building this gun!

Clark

 

[roundball]

Even if you look only at TC's .45/.50/.54cal standard 1:48" barrels, it's well established that excellent accuracy is available for both conicals and PRBs with that twist...excellent in the context of 99% of ML shooters who are casual plinkers, weekend shooters, hunters, etc.

Serious competition PRB shooters would understandably want a specific dedicated round ball twist in those calibers for round balls only, to squeeze out every possible eyelash of accuracy that they can.

But if you still want a barrel to do both, you normally can't think in terms of making one with deeper grooves for better RB but still shoot conicals acceptably as there will be blowby all around the conical through the deeper grooves.

For example, TC's standard barrel is primarily designed for the conical with about .006" grooves...because in a combination use barrel, the design point has to be the conical...sort of the lowest common denominator kind of thing if you get my drift...then the PRB simply tags along and uses that rifling...the good news it does so extremely well. If you go to deep grooves then try to use standard caliber conicals, not sure they'd work too well...you could possibly have the barrel slugged after you have it made, then have a custom mould made for it, then cast your own conicals...a lot of then, then, then, thens.

But I'm no authority on all this...surely there is a more knowldegeable conical guy on the Forum that has actual hands on experience doing what you just suggested.