• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

buying a barrel

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sinner

40 Cal.
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
556
Reaction score
93
I'm looking to buy a 32-42" .54 1:60-1:70 barrel and am wondering GM vs. Colrain vs. ??
I'd appreciate any input.
 
They all shoot probably better than most of us can hold them. I have a Colerain oct/round .54 that shoots real good. They are known for a rough outside finish you need to draw file and use some elbow grease to prepare. Rice barrels unless you buy the cheaper gun maker barrel is finished nice on the outside and they are also smoothed inside and ready to shoot soon as you build the gun. I find a big difference in loading and cleaning the Rice barrel over the Colerain, the Rice is just a lot smoooother and damn accurate too.
 
I haven't looked to see if they offer swamped,but your GM is probably staight oct.
I have a 38" Rice in .54 and 42"Colerain in .50.
I have had the colerain barrel for 10 years and have yet to be really satisfied with its accuracy.The rice I have had about 6 months, the other day I took it out and fired at one of my plate targets- at 50 yards offhand I hit dead center,I have yet to do that with the Colerain gun.So to me , that says the Rice is far superior.
As far as the finish being rougher on the Colerain than the Rice,they both needed to be draw filed,as I remember the GM had the least tooling marks when I received it.
To summerize- buy the Rice barrel,with round bottom rifleing, it seems to clean much easier also.
 
I think when it comes down to it, IMHO the Green Mtn. will be more accurate & the Colerain will clean easier. That being said, unless you are a seriously dedicated target shooter, you will probably never tell the dif. in the accuracy. I can't tell the dif in my shooting them unless I work for weeks with one & this is strictly bench shooting. But I have had several Colerain barrels shoot 1.5" 3 shot cloverleafs at 100 yards off the bench & that is a good as I will ever do again. The Green Mtn. will be smoother inside & out. You will have to breech the Green Mtn. and the Colerain will need rebreeched, as they do a pitiful machine cut stab at it, and usually falls short of being correct. Most people use them & don't even check the fit, but I have to know it is right.

No doubt about it, the Colerain will clean easier & be cleaner when done, as that round bottom rifling is hard to beat in cleaning, no sharp inside corners to clean out..

I feel the Rice is a superior barrel to both, but you are paying allot more for the barrel too. Even tho they cost more, I prefer to use the Rice barrels.

Keith Lisle
 
To me, the Rice is deffinately worth the added cost, if accuracy is a real concern. Unlike Birddog, I have had bad luck with all but one of 8 or so Colerains I have had experience with. Tight spots, loose spots, and rough bores.
 
Greetings Sinner,

After over 30 years of bench shooting I've been fortunate to be able to use a few barrels that shoot very well, most do, once you find the proper load. The following is a list of barrel's still being made that I've used:
1.Rice barrels..(828)628-362
2.Rayl barrels..(304)364-8629
3.DeHaas barrels (660)872-6308
4.Moody barrels (417)935-4297

Over the years, I've found:
1.1X48 twist for 32cal.to 40.
2.1x66 twist for 45cal.to 54.
3.1x72 twist for 54cal.and up. seems the average, but there isn't a firm rule.

Square cut rifling with .010 to .012 deep with grooves wider than lands I've found to be a little more accurate, with the round bottom grooved barrel a litter easier to clean.

These are based on my findings, and not the rule, every barrel has it's own sweet spot in it's prefered load, and cleaning routine.

I hope this helps, mgcrumster
 
AZ Muzzle said:
Two weeks ago, I bought two Green Mountain Barrels from Pecatonica River Long Rifle Supply, Inc.

They told me that they had a bunch in stock and it took me three days to receive my order.
http://www.longrifles-pr.com/gmstraightoctbarrel.shtml

Mark B


I too just purchased a GM barrel, and awhole kit for that matter, from Pecitonica. Confirmed in the mail. NOT a bad way to fly!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There are two different styles of round bottom rifling out there. The most common among many custom style barrels has round bottom grooves with almost none existent nearly equal width lands. Easy load and easy clean.

Another style which is almost a custom cut barrel style has rounded bottom rifling that is 5 or 6 times wider than the lands. More of a Harry Pope Style of target rifling. A little harder to load but a dream to shoot and clean. Standard square bottom equal width rifling is ok, if it is the right twist and depth. I think the biggest over standard square bottom rifling comes with having wider grooves than lands. And then from having rounded corners to the grooves.

There was a style of rifling developed by Alecxander Henry for the British war dept that realy didn't have lands and grooves. It was more rounded hump lands and even the grooves had raised convex swales down the center.
 
DTCoffin said:
I haven't looked to see if they offer swamped,but your GM is probably staight oct.
I have a 38" Rice in .54 and 42"Colerain in .50.
I have had the colerain barrel for 10 years and have yet to be really satisfied with its accuracy.The rice I have had about 6 months, the other day I took it out and fired at one of my plate targets- at 50 yards offhand I hit dead center,I have yet to do that with the Colerain gun.So to me , that says the Rice is far superior.
As far as the finish being rougher on the Colerain than the Rice,they both needed to be draw filed,as I remember the GM had the least tooling marks when I received it.
To summerize- buy the Rice barrel,with round bottom rifleing, it seems to clean much easier also.

Like I said in my post, if your Rice was rough like a Colerain on the outside, you got the cheaper gunmakers barrel. A regular full priced Rice barrel comes with a better finished outside, at least everyone I ever saw and I used one gunmakers special on a project, there was a big difference in the finish.

Regardless, if the barrel wanted is in stock at Rice, I reccomend you get it. :v
 
Sounds like the Rice is the most preferred. Thanks guys! It may take me a little longer, but that is what I'll buy.
 
I have not heard anything bad about them, but they aren't handled locally anymore. Years ago a lot of people went to them when Douglas stopped making ML barrels.I was at Log Cabin last week and they had a good supply of Ryals.
 
Your main concern needs to be the quality of the bore. Anyone can take care of cosmetics, but if the bore is not done well, it takes a pro to correct that. If it can be corrected. Rayl makes a very fine barrel also, and stands behind his work as does Rice. You could not go wrong with either, and the price is roughly equal.
 
Back
Top