Why Muzzleloading Barrels so Long?

[tiger955]

Ha Ha Ha, I like #7 "Long barrels shorten the distance of the shot".
Makes a lot of sense to me :rotf:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

It's not a matter of weight, it's one of balance. Having weight forward tends to load the moment arm of the gun forward and reduce the tremors/wobbles/wandering front sight. How much forward is a matter of personal determination. Don't think there's a formula for figuring that out.

Butt heavy rifles are poop for offhand shooting...IMO.

Don't want poop, so long barrel it is.

Thanks.

 

[tg]

I would have to say the main reason originaly was to make use of the percieved if not accurate thought that the longer the better for burning powder we now know this is not totaly true with BP even then they had short barreled guns that did quite well, in time it probably became a style issue as well as in the past more than now things were slow to change, their understanding of ballistics and gun technology was not what it is now which need be figured into the equation.Today we usually try to answer such questions with a 21st century mindset and that pretty much defeats us at the gate.

 

[C Barker]

44'+ barrels

Now that's a lonnnnng barrel! :haha:

 

[tg]

"44'+ barrels"


Just about right, I am going with a 48" on the next one someday, I have never found any disadvantgae with the longer tubes, if they do slow you down a bit they probably make you a better hunter.If you are moving so slow the snails are circling you like Injuns 'round a wagon train....slow down a bit, then you're huntin'

 

[Dphar]

Traditional ML firearms tend to be heavy. I assume that the old barrel materials, not having the strength of modern alloys, had to be extra thick.

But what about the barrel length (which also contributes to weight)? By modern standards, ML rifles and pistols have long barrels. Why?

I've wondered if in shooting round balls, for example, maybe the extra length was necessary to stabilize the rotation of the ball? But even rifled muzzleloaders designed for bullets or mini-balls tend to have long barrels.

A longer barrel would provide a more accurate sight picture between the front and back sights, right? True, but at such an expense of weight?

Hard to understand.

The true traditional guns are normal. Its modern perceptions that make them seem long and heavy.
Modern rifles are not good offhand rifles. Barrels too short and light.

The barrels of many Colonial long guns are "4 foot", actually usually 42 to 50 inches. Has to do with many things. Part of the reason was likely low quality powder.
This said rifles were generally not excessively heavy. 9 pounds is pretty common and with a swamped barrel they were not all that barrel heavy.
Fowlers with light barrels and their thin forestocks were lighter. In fowlers longer barrels were thought to give better shot patterns.

Dan

 

[George]

This said rifles were generally not excessively heavy. 9 pounds is pretty common and with a swamped barrel they were not all that barrel heavy.

I have an original smooth rifle with a 49.5" swamped, octagonal, .56 cal./28 ga. barrel, total weight 6 lb. 15 oz., and you couldn't want a more comfortable off-hand gun. My modern 20 ga. flintlock fowler, 46" octagon to round barrel, weighs 8 1/4 lb. I believe there is a significant misconception about the early guns in this respect.

Spence

 

[C Barker]

tg, no offense but you said a 44' barrel, that's forty 40 feet. Lonnnng barrel! :rotf: Now I know you meant 44 inch. Whew. I was getting worried about you and hoping you wouldn't hurt yourself hauling a really lonnng barrel around. :wink:

 

[leslie]

Do we have a shrink on here?I'll bet there is some phallic significance in the long barrel craze.LOL.

 

[oldfart1956]

It's still blackpowder and slow burning.

Slow burning? It's classified as an explosive, not a propellant because it burns so fast. Try this, pour a tablespoon of modern rifle powder on the ground and light it. Now do that with a tablespoon of black powder. Got any eyebrows left? That's how fast it burns. Under compression it burns even faster. Audie...the Oldfart.

 

[himem777]

One of the lesser reasons for long guns has more to do with human behavior than function. Military guns were long, mostly because they were one shot bayonets (but not always). Traditions from the military carry over to the civilians, "If its good for war its good". You want to see this in action ask your dads (if you are over 40) how many of them would have used a .223 in their youth (the 22-250 was available in 1937, but never much used in its day). There are hundreds of examples of this but you need to look no further than our culture's current black gun craze. my $.02

 

[Pete Gaimari]

This said rifles were generally not excessively heavy. 9 pounds is pretty common and with a swamped barrel they were not all that barrel heavy.

I have an original smooth rifle with a 49.5" swamped, octagonal, .56 cal./28 ga. barrel, total weight 6 lb. 15 oz., and you couldn't want a more comfortable off-hand gun. My modern 20 ga. flintlock fowler, 46" octagon to round barrel, weighs 8 1/4 lb. I believe there is a significant misconception about the early guns in this respect.

Spence

I have to ask this again. Your 49" barrel weighs less than a 32" Hawken barrel.

Which one will hold better for offhand shooting. I know i was told the longer barrel, but i'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around that. Won't the heavier barrel hold more steady?

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I saw a demonstration on how fast BP burns. It was to show how phony the movie version was.

We've all seen the movies blowing up a keg of powder by making a trail of powder to the keg. They light it, and it slowly burns to the keg.

The demonstration showed lighting the BP, and it just instantly lighting the whole trail of powder off.

He them made a trail of smokeless powder, and it burned slow to the keg like we see in the movies.

 

[tg]

I guess I better build me a cart :idunno:

BTW, I pulled the 44' quote from your post :hmm:

 

[Norinco]

It's still blackpowder and slow burning.

Slow burning? It's classified as an explosive, not a propellant because it burns so fast. Try this, pour a tablespoon of modern rifle powder on the ground and light it. Now do that with a tablespoon of black powder. Got any eyebrows left? That's how fast it burns. Under compression it burns even faster. Audie...the Oldfart.

It's also classified as an explosive because it ignites at such a low temperature. Without pressure it burns faster than smokeless, but with pressure, smokeless burns faster.

 

[George]

I have to ask this again. Your 49" barrel weighs less than a 32" Hawken barrel.

Which one will hold better for offhand shooting. I know i was told the longer barrel, but i'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around that. Won't the heavier barrel hold more steady?

I have a Hawken with a 34" x 1" barrel which weighs 9 1/2 lb. I find the smooth rifle "hangs" better for offhand shooting, so I guess length and leverage works better for me than just weight. Might be different for other shooters.

Spence

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I have to ask this again. Your 49" barrel weighs less than a 32" Hawken barrel.

Which one will hold better for offhand shooting. I know i was told the longer barrel, but i'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around that. Won't the heavier barrel hold more steady?

I have a Hawken with a 34" x 1" barrel which weighs 9 1/2 lb. I find the smooth rifle "hangs" better for offhand shooting, so I guess length and leverage works better for me than just weight. Might be different for other shooters.

Spence

Yes, but your barrel is short compared to a long rifle.

 

[George]

Yes, but your barrel is short compared to a long rifle.

Sorry, I don't follow that. I said my lighter but longer smooth rifle hangs better for me than the shorter but heavier Hawken, so that, for me, length trumps weight. I thought that was the comparison you were making.

Spence

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I read it too fast for my brain to catch up. :idunno:

 

[Stumpkiller]

My Cherry's barrel is 44" and that's just right. I'm near-sighted and can see to load it even in low light.