Numrich Arms Swivel Barrel Rifle

[smokymountainmike]

Today I ran across a Numrich Arms .45 caliber swivel barrel percussion rifle. Does anyone know what size ball this rifle takes or what rate of twist the barrel is. The rifle is in good shape and has 27.5 inch barrels. Thinking about buying it and was wondering what they are valued at in good shape. Thanks for any information about these rifles.

 

[bubba.50]

a lot of early numrich .45 barrels were actually somethin' like .445 & a .433 ball works well in them.

 

[smokymountainmike]

I will probably buy this rifle if we can get right on a price. If I buy it I will slug the bore and see what it measures.

 

[Grimord]

I have one of these rifles. I shoot a .440 ball with .015 patch. I believe the twists on the barrels is 1:48.
Question, does the gun you are looking at have a forearm? I have been looking for the aftermarket forearm for this gun for years. Haven't found one or seen one, although I have an old Numrich catalog that show a after market forarm for the swivel barrel guns.

Fyrstyk

 

[Rifleman1776]

hotoSmile:

 

[smokymountainmike]

This one didn't have a forearm on it. How accurate is the one you have?

 

[Grimord]

At fifty yards I get 1.5-2" groups with one barrel, and 1-1.5" groups with the other barrel. I have changed the sights so that one barrel has a gold bead front sight (The 1.5-2" barrel) and the other more accurate barrel has a white bead front sight. All groups mentioned are from the bench. I have also mounted a folding peep sight on the tang and removed the two rear sights as they are right at the balance point for carrying the gun. I made up a leather sleeve to go over the barrels in place of a forearm to keep sweaty hands from marring the finish. All in all the gun shoots good. I only wish the lock and trigger were better. The lock is sloppy, and the trigger terrible which maybe the cause of some of my accuracy problems.

Parts for the gun are hard to come by. I had to replace the main spring, and couldn't find one anywhere, so I took the measurements, and bought a spring from Dixie gun works that was close to the size, and filed it down to fit. The hammer seems to be quicker now. TOW has nipples for the gun. They have an odd screw pitch of 1/4"X32.

Hope this helps.

Fyrstyk

 

[bpd303]

I have one also and the lock leaves a little to be desired, although mine has not given any problems. My trigger pull was ok and improved by some judicious polishing and a good oiling. Both of my barrels shoot the same group 3/4 to 1 inch at 50 yards when I do my part, although 1 barrel likes a little more powder to do it. I differentiate the barrels by the marking on the barrel flats. My #1 barrel that likes 45 gr of Goex fffg has the serial number on it and the other barrel that likes 50 gr has the name Numerich Arms / West Hurley New York on it.

 

[smokymountainmike]

Thanks for the information on the rifle. This one has a tiny amount of movement between the barrels and the receiver but I guess that is nothing unusual for the type design. The lock doesn't have a strong mainspring but it does function as it should. They appear to be fairly accurate and it is a unusual rifle. I think I will buy it before someone else snatches it up.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I had one , sold it, and got it back twentyfive years later. The only problem with them is the unusual lock . It uses the same spring for the sear and mainspring. (different sides of the leaf). This gives them a heavy trigger pull. I did not mind it when I first had it but after shooting a target rifle for over thirty years with a very light pull I now find it too heavy for my liking. Making a new lock for it is on my "to do " list.I shoot a .435 ball with .015 patch and find it very accurate off a bench, but with the heavy trigger pull I can't shoot it as well offhand. :idunno: :idunno:

 

[bpd303]

The main spring in mine is pretty light so the trigger pull isn't too bad. When I first got it I was concerned that with the light main spring it would have ignition problems, but so far it always sets off the caps.

I would be concerned with the movement with the barrels, they should lock up tight when turned. I would think if they are loose accuracy would suffer.

 

[nwtradegun]

be aware that numrich arms rifle are odd balls.
340 rd ball for 36 cal, 433 for 45 . nipples are also odd not ur common 1/4-28. I have owned 4 of them so check before u buy any parts.

 

[F.G. Ford]

I have had the Numrich double twist rifles.
As mentioned the locks work, but they are not the best.
One thing that concerned me was the very thin wall that holds the percussion drum. There is not much metal there. If you remove the drum, inspect the threading of the drum and the barrel wall thickness, the hair on the back of your neck will tingle!
They are fine squirrel rifles ( a little heavy )with light loads they are quite accurate.
Fred

 

[Wireforhire]

My Numrich has rear pep sights but it's missing the fronts sights ...any suggestions. Old guy with old eyes. ZEE

 

[okawbow]

Those swivel breech rifles were not manufactured by Numrich of Hopkin and Allen. I think they were made by Ruger for Numrich arms. I may be wrong, but it was a well known, quality maker. The bores on mine were a true .45”. I used a .440 ball. The mainspring is notoriously weak and sometimes won’t set the cap off. I replaced my lock with an L&R back action. Check the action before buying.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Those swivel breech rifles were not manufactured by Numrich of Hopkin and Allen. I think they were made by Ruger for Numrich arms. I may be wrong ...

They were made by the former Armi San Marcos (ASM), who made them for Beretta and more importantly … made them to Beretta’s quality standards.

However, when the Beretta contract ended, ASM still had parts and the tooling and setup to make/sell or distribute them under a few other MZL names, but note - they were not of the same high quality as the ones specifically made for Beretta.