Shooting Traditional Firearms and Weapons > General Interest

Why are modern barrels so overbuilt?

(1/3) > >>

JD45:
They are too big and heavy. I hunt with a T/C Renagade and the barrel has way to much meat in it in my opinion.

I've read a little about appalachian gun makers and their history. Most of the so-called "hog rifles" were around .40 cal and had long barrels. But they were slim.

Other than paying a fortune for a custom rifle, how can someone get a slim, shorter(hawken length) barrel caplock in .45 or .50 cal? Will you have to find a barrel and build it yourself?

oomcurt:
Well....for what it is worth...I guess a lot depends on where you were back then. I have heard that some of those rifles used in the Rocky Mtn's fur trade weighed almost 15 pounds. I have a friend that has an original rifle from the civil war...union side...lemme tell ya...that thing IS heavy!

Just my two cents....

Uncle Russ:
JD45, Welcome to the forum. :evil:

I  have several other .50 caliber rifles and I don't have any thing near that kind of problem with that small of a caliber.

I guess what I'm saying is "be very careful what you wish for".

You might want to try a few of those slim, slender, sleek looking rifles before you invest any big money...they just might give you a whole new perspective on that big Renegade.
(If you have the Renegade in .50, with a full 1" barrel, there are a lot of people out there who would like to own that gun....that 1" barrel is very sought after many shooters.)

Anyway, Welcome to the forum.
I'm sure you will find a lot to like here.

Respectfully, Uncle Russ...

Christiaan:
Firstly, the production rifles have one profile to fit a .54 cal.  All they then do is put smaller hole for the smaller calibers.

Secondly, because of litigation madness they even make the .54 too big just to be on the safe and too heavy side.

Thats what I understand from the manufacturers.

vermontfreedom:
Aside from a custom barrel - I can't help on the where to get a slimmer barrel, but I have to say I think the reason for the thickness of factory barrels is two-fold:

safety: I would have no qualms about putting a double-charge in a factory barrel (say a Lyman trade rifle or great plains) on a flintlock. that kind of manufacturing warrants against such unfortunate consequences

ease of production: make one barrel profile and just drill out the bore to the desired caliber

I will say this, nothing no one here doesn't know already - weight generally equals accuracy, all else being equal. Heavy rifle, less recoil, more accurate/precise. just the way it is.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page