1:56 twist opposed to others

[Many Klatch]

Years ago I was buying a barrel for my .54 rifle. I called Getz barrel and wound up talking with Don Getz. He recommended the 1 in 56 rifling as something the hotdogs were shooting. I bought the barrel with 1 in 56 rifling and the grooves are half round instead of square. The gun shoots well and it never seems to get really dirty until 20 or 30 shots have gone down range. I only shoot round ball so I can't tell you how it would work with a bullet.

Many Klatch

 

[David W.]

The 1:56 twist is an excellent choice for the prb from .45 to .58 caliber. If it is a Colerain you want, it will be no good for a conical. The great thing about the Colerain is their round bottom rifling. It makes seating a prb easier, has less fouling, and darn hard to beat on accuracy. Clean up is quicker too.

 

[bigbuckdn]

well my starting to make a discision looks like for pure hunting the 1:56 is getting some good feed back

 

[OLDPUPPYMAX]

You need a heavier load in your .70 because of the weight of the ball. The accuracy of the ball is most dependent upon rps--revolutions per second. And naturally it takes a bigger BP load to create the necessary speed for a .70 ball as opposed to a .54 or .58.

 

[David W.]

I had an old H&H 54 cal barrel with 1:56 twist that was the best shooter I think I have ever owned.

Generally speaking, faster twists like lighter powder charges. Slower twist barrels seem to like heavier charges.

That old H&H shot like a house afire with nearly any charge of powder I put in it, but it really liked moderate powder charges.

Some folks like Colerain barrels, some don't. I have never used one, so can't say how good they are, from personal experience.

I do have a Rice barrel that is slick as snot, though I haven't shot it yet, but it is probably one of the slickest barrels I have ever owned.

DeHass makes one fine barrel too, but Mark only makes straight and tapered barrels. Real good shooters too.

God bless

One reason you have a good shooter is because you have an H&H barrel. Glad to see someone else besides me has one. As a matter of fact, I have 10 of them. Three are built into rifles and the remaining are yet to be built. They are such fine barrels, that I can not decide what to put them in.

BTW, Colerain makes an outstanding barrel. The round bottom grooves are great for accuracy with a PRB. Nothing wrong with Rice or DeHass either.

 

[bigbuckdn]

thanks guys

 

[bigbuckdn]

I have made a discision on this matter and want to thank you for all your input

 

[David W.]

Let us know what you decided on. Any of the mentioned barrels Colerain, Rice, DeHass will shoot as good as open iron sights will allow.

 

[T.C.Albert]

Sorry to chime in late...but I believe a very well known barrel maker has said else where that the 1:48 twist was expressly developed for T.C. so it could shoot both conicals and R.P.B....both passably well, but niether superbly...kinda split the difference. I may have all my wires crossed, but I think generally its recommended to have the barrel rifled to shoot either one or the other...otherwise the 1:48 was the compromise??

 

[tg]

"Sorry to chime in late...but I believe a very well known barrel maker has said else where that the 1:48 twist was expressly developed for T.C. so it could shoot both conicals and R.P.B....both passably well, but niether superbly"

Either Mr. T or C made a statement to that exact point during an interview for BP Digest in the mid '70's...good luck on your project Chuck, keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Tracy]

Many of the orignal Hawkens rifles built by the Hawken brothers were 1 in 48 twist.

 

[tg]

"Many of the orignal Hawkens rifles built by the Hawken brothers were 1 in 48 twist."

This is true but TC making their guns to this twist was pure coincidence,they tried many original bullet molds and nothing worked well so the tried a bullet using the band method used on artillary rounds, the 1/48 just hapened to give them a gun that would shoot both types of projectiles with acceptable results. the originals likely had pretty deep rifleing which may have helped with ball accuracy.

 

[T.C.Albert]

I do think the originals were rifled deeper...so a patched ball didnt strip out under a heavier charge like the TC with its shallower grooves was rumored to do...shallow grooves are good for direct steel to lead bullet contact it seems, not so good for PRBs maybe...

I think the original Hawkens with 1:48 did indeed group very well with various charges etc..during Roberts(?) famous range tests...
TCA

 

[OLDPUPPYMAX]

As I'm sure has already been stated, accuracy with a round ball--all else being equal--is a function of revolutions per second. The faster the spin, the better the accuracy. The spin rate is controlled by rate of twist and black powder charge--a bigger charge making for more revolutions per second. Your friend's 1/56 will generate a faster rps than your 1/70 with identical loads. Therefore he can use a lighter load and equal your rifle in spin rate. I don't know how to calculate the necessary additional load you would need in your 1/70 to duplicate his rate of spin, but any how now you know the reason for the difference.