North Star West Barrels

[KW]

Hi all. Ok so I have had a question brought to me and I need an answer. I was told the the barrels on the NSW guns are a "slimmed" version of another makers barrel, is this true? If so, how much is it changed and what would the maximum powder charge in it be? Thanks for the help.

 

[Rebel]

Send a pm to this fella, laffindog he owns NSW. He should be able to give you an answer.

 

[Shelby Skinner]

Matt gets his barrel blanks from Longhammock barrel company. They aren't "slimmed". They are profiled. Mostly any metal Matt cuts off deals with the tapering of the flats out to the wedding band transition. The thinnest parts of the barrel are as they come. The NSW barrels are as strong and capable as any smoothbore barrels on the market and certainly several times as strong as any original.

 

[matt denison]

This thread has already generated a couple PM's so I guess there is some interest and so to avoid any confusion I will answer some of the questions here.

NSW barrels are bored and reamed by Riley Smith at Longhammock Barrels in Florida. They are Excellent. Riley also puts on the initial taper to the muzzle leaving a blank area at the breach end so I can install the breachplug and have material enough to create the flats, wedding bands and etc. I ask Riley to do the taper because his machinery is faster and meaner than mine so I can hold costs down. Barrel wall thickness at the muzzle on our 20 gage is .065" which quickly increases due to the taper. Breech wall thickness at the breech is .230" (near quarter inch). They are very strong. Tolerances are exacting, +/- .002". In an experiment a couple years ago we found that 240 gr. of FFg and two patched round balls didn't blow one or even cause any dimentional differences. This would equal about a triple charge. We got bored and quit the project. By the way, we learned how hard it is to put a second ball down on top of a previously loaded one because of the air pressure between the two balls. It's hard to believe someone can double charge a muzzleloader without realizing that something is wrong.

I've seen original trade gun barrels that measured as thin as .024 at the muzzle. That's about the thickness of a matchbook cover. IMHO that is too thin to be safe. Sure they're light and handy but they can be creased or dented too easily. Imagine you have loaded your gun, leaned it against a tree, the wind blows and your gun falls over and smacks on a rock putting a crease in the barrel. Can't shoot it, can't pull the ball. Get the hack saw..

Matt, aka LaffinDog
North Star West, Inc.

 

[KW]

Thanks laffindog. Glad to get the info from the horses mouth. Have been looking at your kits for a bit now. Don't think I will be doing any 240 grn charges :shocked2: any time soon. Now all I need to get on is the overtime. You don't do layaway do you? :grin:

 

[KW]

This may be a silly question, but I was just thinking. Is that thickness the same for all available calibers or does it change depending on caliber? I know probably a no brainer, but we all have duh moments. Thanks