The last of the Thumper Carbine barrels have arrived, These are slightly different than the others in an attempt to stay within my parameters, yet get full powder burn with heavier loads in the carbine form. The lighter bullet you use, the further down the barrel the complete burn moves. On a 54 cal with a 450 grain bullet, the calculations give you 22.9" down the barrel with FFFg. To that end, these last two barrels are cut to 23" with 54 cal bores, one at 1:38 the other at 1:32. They are 15/16th" barrels from Hawken guns and mounted in White Mountain Carbine 50 cal stocks. The weigh in at 6lbs 10 ozs, just a tad lighter than the 1" barreled guns at 22" long.
These were a little bit tougher to assemble as the variation in lock/stock and barrel geometry seems to be greater in the 50 cal and Hawken barrels than the other Renegade barreled guns. I had to do some lock swapping and barrel switching to get the hammers to line up on the nipples, unlike my other assembled guns that seem to be interchangeable. With that said, unless you compare them side by side with the 1" guns, there are no appreciable visual differences. Do note that I have the rear sights mounted differently. One has it further to the rear by 2" and the other has it mounted in the standard holes of the Hawken. I wanted to see it there is any difference in sight radius accuracy.
This spring has been a tough one on me so my accuracy work has been significantly delayed...two skin cancer surgeries on my head and lower lip, COVID and an exceptionally cold and wet spring has put a serious dent in my range time, but the weather is starting to turn, my time with the Doc's are over and I will be hitting the range to complete this test. I suspect that these two guns will do just fine. Mr. Hoyt's work on these are a step above what he previously provided me, with smooth bores, nicely done crowns and beveled outside edges on the muzzle with nicely cut dovetails that need very little file work to fit my sights.
These were a little bit tougher to assemble as the variation in lock/stock and barrel geometry seems to be greater in the 50 cal and Hawken barrels than the other Renegade barreled guns. I had to do some lock swapping and barrel switching to get the hammers to line up on the nipples, unlike my other assembled guns that seem to be interchangeable. With that said, unless you compare them side by side with the 1" guns, there are no appreciable visual differences. Do note that I have the rear sights mounted differently. One has it further to the rear by 2" and the other has it mounted in the standard holes of the Hawken. I wanted to see it there is any difference in sight radius accuracy.
This spring has been a tough one on me so my accuracy work has been significantly delayed...two skin cancer surgeries on my head and lower lip, COVID and an exceptionally cold and wet spring has put a serious dent in my range time, but the weather is starting to turn, my time with the Doc's are over and I will be hitting the range to complete this test. I suspect that these two guns will do just fine. Mr. Hoyt's work on these are a step above what he previously provided me, with smooth bores, nicely done crowns and beveled outside edges on the muzzle with nicely cut dovetails that need very little file work to fit my sights.
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