Swammped barrels

[Ohioan]

The search function here is finicky, and I can't quite get what I want out of it. So, I have to ask..
Track of the Wolf sells colerain and Rice swamped barrels.
Are the Rice barrels really that much better?
Or is the extra $70 or so just for the barrel that is pretty much finished (draw filing and such?)

 

[Johnny Tremain]

If I ever made another flinter, ID use the same Rice barrel I did with the one I have now.

All that technical talk didnt get me to buy it.
But the way it shoots, Ill never use anything else

 

[LRB]

The Rice barrels are much higher quality, inside, where it really counts, and outside. The bores are more uniform, and cut much cleaner. They are stress relieved before, and after all operations are completed. With a Colrain, you take your chances. You may get a good one, you may not. Been there, done that. Rayl is another good barrel, and Getz, and Hoyt, but you may have to wait a bit for these. You stand a much better chance of getting real accuracy from any of these others.

 

[redwing]

I have a Rice .54 44" long Swamped. These barrels are worth the extra bucks. They are sooo! smooth when you put the first ball down. They feel like a rifle you have been shooting for years from the first ball. :thumbsup:
The Getz is also one H*** of a fine barrel. I have a WE Rayle it is also great. We are so lucky to have so many fine barrel makers. Buy American. :wink:

 

[runningbadger]

I have a 44" swamped Rice barrel and a 42" Colerain
and I would love to be able to replace the Colerain with another Rice Barrel. Both barrels shoot great though.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I've never had a bad Colerain, or a bad anything for that matter except for one maker and I've had consistantly bad barrels from them.

 

Who???

 

I've never had a bad Colerain, or a bad anything for that matter except for one maker and I've had consistantly bad barrels from them.

I agree with this post entirely. Even to one bad one which I won't name since the last time I did I got viciously attacked for it...I will add that a rifle maker I have dealt with uses almost nothing but Colerain barrels and competes with one in shoots. I have both Colerain and Rice [and Getz, Rayl, and others]. As I understand it, Colerain is the old Paris barrels which had a great reputation. The chief complaints about Colerain are the finish, which is easily taken care of, and I have heard a few complain about factory breeching--again, something the maker should be able to take care of--in the old days makers did the finishing and breeching themselves.

 

[Stophel]

The only bad thing I can say about Colerain barrels is that their octagon-to-round barrels are lumpy (on the outside). The round sections will have very visible dips and bumps (unfortunately, more dips than bumps, which are much harder to get rid of). Otherwise, they all have seemed quite fine to me.

 

As I understand it, Colerain is the old Paris barrels which had a great reputation.

Actualy Mike, it was Don (and Dick now deceased) Getz that bought out Paris. Paris barrels did have a good reputation as I understand it but over the years, Don, and now John, have changed the method of manufacture to the point that a getz and a paris are not the same animal.

 

[akapennypincher]

Rice and Getz Barrel are Top Notch. When you consider the time you put into building a Rifle is not $70.00 nothing compaired to your times VALUE???? :surrender: :surrender: :surrender: :surrender:

 

[LRB]

I've had experience with three of the Colrains which had tight, and loose areas in the bore. None of the three would group tighter than 3, to 4 inches at 50yrd, with any load. I have also had two which were very good, and would shoot 1, to 1 1/2" groups. Had to return one because of a way too rough bore. I don't remember which, but a couple of these mentioned, had to be straightened. Maybe I've been unlucky, but I don't call that good enough odds to try anymore of them. I'll pay the extra money to get a better barrel.

 

[Don B]

What about Green Mountain. Or don't they make swamped barrels?

Don

 

[Stophel]

I had a Rice barrel that was slightly crooked. No problem, I told him, and he promptly swapped it out for me. Everybody makes a boo boo every once in a while. Barrel for barrel, though, I do like Rice barrels probably best of all that I have tried. I use many more Colerain barrels, though. They are usually readily available, and I have several on hand, plus, when people send me a barrel to stock for them, it usually is a Colerain.

I've only used one Getz barrel so far, and it was quite nice. I've never used a Longhammock nor a G.M. swamped barrel, though they should all be fine too. With all the competition now, a consistently bad barrel maker wouldn't last long.

 

It was a custom maker that told me that Colerain was the old Paris--and I have heard also that the Getz boys bought out Paris--isn't it true that the Colerain barrels are made more like the original Paris barrels? You say that Getz are now different from Paris...what I should have said was that the guys who make Colerain barrels were trained by Bob Paris and make his style barrel--as you say the Getz boys no longer do...so Colerain is the current closest thing to Paris...?

 

[Ohioan]

Well, I wanted to hear from people who had experience with both barrels if the Rice barrels were actually better. If they are, then yes, $70 is worth it in the long run.

Then again, $70 will buy a good bit of powder to practice with.

 

[Zonie]

Yes, GreenMountain makes swamped barrels.

I tend to think that most of the current barrel makers make quality products.
The Rice barrels seem to be better finished than the others but when it comes to shooting, almost all of them are better than the guy who is pulling the trigger (once the right load is found).

zonie

 

Also the Rice barrels include a fitted breach plug, and the best outside finish of them all.

Bill

What disease did cured ham actually have?

 

[pulaski]

Ohioan
The short answer is yes (my opinion) .
The out side of a Rice barrel has a better finish,with work the Colerain would be the same .
The inside of a Rice has a smoother finish , with work the Colerain could be the same .
I've shot and still shoot rifles with both barrels . The difference was the amount of time before the barrels found consistancy .
The Rice barrel still shoots within an inch of the first shoot ever .The Colerain wandered around a bit before it settled down .
Both guns will shoot as good as as I can hold ,now.

 

[LRB]

Mike, the Colrain is cut with six grooves just like the Paris. I believe the Rice, Getz, and others are cut with seven grooves. I don't know if, or how, this might affect accuracy. I doubt that it does. I would not know about the Paris, except the last gun I built had one. The Paris was indistinguishable from a Colrain in all aspects, inside, and out. Even looked as though they were done by the same machinery. My customer bought the barrel from Tip Curtis, and Tip had been sitting on it for many years.