Rice barrel and caywood lock thoughts

[texcl]

Well, I've had my new virginia rifle for over a week now and have put over 100 round through her, I thought I'd give my thoughts on the rice 42" .58cal c weight swamped barrel and the left handed caywood fowler lock I chose to use on this rifle. 1st the rice barrel has the round bottomed rifling and my 1st impression was how much less resistance I felt when loading the rifle with a tight p/b, it was very noticable, there were no tight spots in the barrel and it shoots great. Even with the thin c weight .58 barrel, the rifle will shoot one ragged hole at 50 yards if benched. The barrel also cleans much easier than any of my other barrels, so I'm glad I spent the extra time and money on it. I was worried about my choice of locks because I'd heard no so great things about the trade lock from some highly respected and knowledgable guys. But I'm left handed and my only 2 choices for a l/h fowler lock was the l&r which I've used and not been very impressed with and this caywood lock. Well I'm happy to report that this caywood fowler lock works great, it showers lots of sparks is very smooth and the internals appear to be quite robust, and the fit is great. It is not too sensitive to flint position and has a good sized pan with a raised lip to keep rain out as well as rain gutters, I even like the way it looks. Overall quality is much better than L&R, truth be told I would have gotten a chambers fowler lock if available in l/h, but the gamble worked out for me. The real test is how it holds up over time, so we will see how she fares.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I'm glad that lock is working for you. That is the only left handed Caywood model I have had any success with.

 

[MikeC]

I'm glad that lock is working for you. That is the only left handed Caywood model I have had any success with.

I have had no problem with the one Mike used on my LH Carolina Gun and would not hesitate to use one again. :thumbsup:

 

[texcl]

Yup, I'm pretty impressed with the caywood. I'll tell you what though,if chambers would make a left hand late ketland and a left hand fowler lock I'd bet they'd sell a bunch of them. I had to build my tennesse rifle with a l&r manton lock, and while it is very fast, it took alot of work to get everything to fit right, and I still don't like the feel of it, it is fast and functional. I'd love to build another with a chambers late ketland lock.

 

[Gemoke]

Don`t ya just love them Rice barrels. I got a B weight in 54cal and it`s a real shooter.

 

[texcl]

Yup, I'm real happy with it. Not only does the thin swamped barrel lighten and balance thing up, but it thinned out the rifle, (compared to the d weight I was considering)I love the way she looks. The bore is perfectly centered and smooth, I've seen quite a bit of run out in some of my other barrels. So far I'm up to 110gr load with no noticable degradation of accuracy. I'm thinking of stopping here since I feel I have plenty of power for bear or elk, which is the toughest animal I'll shoot on any regular basis. I think it would even work well on nilgai with a hardened ball inside 75 yards. I'm going to borrow my partner's chrony and see what the velocities are.

 

[Dphar]

Yup, I'm real happy with it. Not only does the thin swamped barrel lighten and balance thing up, but it thinned out the rifle, (compared to the d weight I was considering)I love the way she looks. The bore is perfectly centered and smooth, I've seen quite a bit of run out in some of my other barrels. So far I'm up to 110gr load with no noticable degradation of accuracy. I'm thinking of stopping here since I feel I have plenty of power for bear or elk, which is the toughest animal I'll shoot on any regular basis. I think it would even work well on nilgai with a hardened ball inside 75 yards. I'm going to borrow my partner's chrony and see what the velocities are.

If the velocity is better than 1600 there is probably little need for more powder. I have not owned a 58 in 30 years or so so I am a little "rusty" concerning the caliber. The real purpose of heavy powder charge is to flatten trajectory. If you hunt in the west you need a 110-115 yard zero. This will require over 1600 to get the trajectory flat enough for shots to 130 or so with no hold over on deer. I like 3" (maybe 4" max) above and below line of sight as a point blank trajectory. This will kill deer/antelope with a center hold to 120-130 yards. You simply hold center and the deal is done. Shots much past this get pretty iffy and wind will shorten this up significantly too. The 58 will easily do for deer to 150 and Elk about as far in the power department though with elk you gotta avoid the big bones in the shoulder.
Dan