Barrel Choice

[2country]

Would someone explain a little on barrel choices?
A,B, C weight
Barrel type swamp, straight etc
Grove count, depth and style
Length and velocity, how much loss from a .36 inch, .38 inch from a 42 inch?
Barrel thickness verses pressure, 3/4, 13/16, 7/8, 15-16

Thanks

[RobD]

all i know is that it's all about weight distribution, where a swamped barrel might be better than parallel for offhand shooting.  barrel thickness dovetails with overall weight and weight distribution.   same for full octagon versus octagon-to-round versus full round.  it's been said by some "in the know" that much past a 24" barrel ain't doin' much for accuracy, though it might hafta do with a better powder burn for more ball/bullet speed.  dunno much about the number of grooves and depth, but rifling twist is all about caliber and projectile weight and there are formulas for those considerations.  i can't see much difference 'tween .36 and .38 calibers.  

the larger percentage of all this stuff hasta do with functionality and then requirements.  i think we all look for a good mix of requirements, functionality, consistent accuracy, and definitely aesthetics.  i don't get too wrapped up with it all, and to each their own.  i like full octagon parallel barrels that have some pleasing aesthetic length and overall weight, to better replicate mid 18th century arms.  with smoothies i prefer an OTR barrel.  lots of aesthetics abound.  it's all good one way or t'other so choose what pleases yer eye best.

[2country]

Better powder burn. This is what has my interest. I thought I wonted a 42” for this reason, would a 36” be just as good or is that enough to lower a particular calibers maximum loading?

[RobD]

imho, yer splitting hairs much beyond 36" - then it becomes more of a matter of manoeuvrability.

[Keb]

Would someone explain a little on barrel choices?
A,B, C weight
Barrel type swamp, straight etc
Grove count, depth and style
Length and velocity, how much loss from a .36 inch, .38 inch from a 42 inch?
Barrel thickness verses pressure, 3/4, 13/16, 7/8, 15-16

Thanks

"A,B, C weight" Those are names the different modern barrel makers put on their products to identify the widths from breech (A is smallest) to muzzle and show the double taper sizes (swamped).

Swamped barrel is bigger in the breech tapering slightly toward the muzzle . Somewhere along that taper they go straight a short distance then flare back out to the muzzle, thus, double taper or swamped.
A straight barrel is just that, same width from breech to muzzle. Some are a straight taper, going from big to small breech to muzzle with no "swamp".

"Grove count, depth and style". I am assuming you are referring to the rifling here. They say the round bottom is better than the square bottom rifling and the depth matters. I'm not so sure it really does matter. I think this might just be a sales gimmick. I've always had good luck with both types and couldn't see any difference in them. They all can be made accurate and they all need to be cleaned.

Velocity/length is something I have never been concerned with. Same with pressure. Again, you can usually get any well made barrel to perform if you spend time shooting it. I'm sure there are some people that need to know all that stuff but I'm just not one of them.

Think about this. There are some people that can shoot a smoothbored gun as good or better than other people using a rifle. That tells me not to be concerned with a bunch of trivial matters and I need to spend a lot of time behind one gun throwing lead and burning powder. Know what load that gun likes and you will know where it will hit before you pull the trigger.

[RobD]

what keb just posted ... times 2!

[Uncle Russ]

Yep, Keb knows about what he speaks.  
Don't let the, he said, she said, they said, I read once, kind of trivia take your eye off the ball.
Get to know the gun you decide on, and don't let hearsay make choices for you.

Uncle Russ...

[Hanshi]

For all around shooting including hunting a swamped barrel can't be beat!  They're usually lighter and shift the balance back away from the muzzle making a better balance rifle.  I have both and wouldn't have a rifle built without one.  A to D with A being the lightest and D being the heaviest.

However, for offhand shooting a straight barrel is KING.  The muzzle heaviness makes the sights move very, very slowly.  That front sight seems to simply "hang" right on the target.  I've done my best shooting offhand with straight barrels.  In the woods the swamped barrel is KING!

[2country]

All good information. The weight of the gun is important to me due to medical reasons
(7 lbs or under).
So a 36 inch Colerain B swamped barrel weighs about 4.5 lbs. Don’t know about the A barrel.
A Colerain 13/16" octagon 36 inch barrel weighs about 4.2.
I would be better of with the Swamped barrel?

Could I go to the 42” swamped and still be better than the 36” 13/16" octagon weight wise?

I don’t know how much stock and all weigh.
Is a walnut stock lighter than maple?

The maximum load I beleave for the 40 cal. with round ball is 70 grains of black powder.
Not that the gun will like it or that it will ever be loaded to the max, but will a 36 inch long barrel allow for all the powder to burn?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to choose my rifle wisely.
Thanks everybody.

[Keb]

There are a couple other things to consider when thinking about a new gun. A shorter length of pull will make the gun less muzzle heavy which will improve balance. Caliber will also move weight toward the butt. A heavier butt plate will also do the same thing. I'm not as concerned with the total weight as much as where the gun balances. A gun weighing 8 1/2 lb. that is heavy in the butt holds much better than an 8 1/2 lb. muzzle heavy gun. A lot of people like them guns with no butt plate but I like the extra weight back there. All that being said, I'd assume the heavier swamped barrel would be less muzzle heavy and  hold better than a lighter straight barrel. It's not so much about total weight but where that weight is located.
This is just my opinion.

[Bigsmoke]

FWIW, the length of the barrel has as much to do with style as anything.  A longer barreled rifle just looks better.
Functionally, I think performance wise, barrel length doesn't really do anything.
Where a longer barrel does shine, though, is with sight radius.  The longer the barrel, the better the sight picture will be.
None of my big bore guns has ever had a barrel longer than 36", and the .62's - .72's all seemed to be able to utilize 200 grains of Ffg powder just fine.  And the 8 bore burned 300 grains and the 4 bore liked 400 grains.  In shooting over snow, I never really saw much raw powder spit out on the snow, either.
Not sure how long you are going to be able to go with the lightest weight possible.

[Hawken]

A longer barrel has a LOT TO DO with available SIGHT RADIUS and accuracy as for my thinking! Short barrels are made for revolvers and pistols!

And I ain't gonna ever believe that a smoothbore (shotgun barrel) GUN is going to be as accurate as a RIFLE barrel!!

[RobD]

ya know, aside from a few minor important considerations, this ain't s'posed to be rocket science.

it will ALWAYS depend on the prime use of the firearm, AND yer aesthetics.

'nuff said.

[2country]

Who do you think has the best barrel? Colerain or Green Mountain

[RobD]

either maker will do, you'd be splitting hairs.  

just get a barrel to your requirements and spex.