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Help pick a barrel for my underhammer.

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I'm thinking of getting a barrel for the numrich h&a underhammer I got, it wears a 15ga smoothbore round barrel at the moment. I'd like a rifled barrel for hunting, I'm thinking a 45 will be nice. Really any bigger and I think the recoil my crack the thin wrist. But the bigger bore would take some weight off the gun, it's a joy to carry being so lite.

I think I and fit up to a 1" barrel on this but the smaller the better I'd think. On length I'm not sure either , these gun are known to shoot well so would the longer barrel longer sight radius help.

I have to make the breach plug, I should be able to get threaded bolt and cut it down on the lathe to fit in the action. I would like to upgrade how's the barrels held in, it's got the wedge now. I thing a threaded bolt would be the easiest way.

One other thing any tips on drilling the hole for the nipple.
 
You are not in the wrong area. This is the percussion rifle section and if you are thinking of installing a rifled barrel, your in the right place.

Just a few thoughts about the change your wanting to do.
If you like light weight, IMO a .45 caliber 1 inch octagon barrel is not the way to go, assuming that you can find one.
A .45 caliber, 1 inch octagon barrel weighs about 0.191 pounds per inch. That would make a 30" long barrel of that size weigh about 5 3/4 (5.74) pounds and the gun would feel pretty muzzle heavy.
A .45 caliber 13/16" barrel on the other hand is fairly light weight. A barrel in this size would weigh about 0.11 pounds per inch, so a 30" long barrel would weigh about 3 5/16 (3.325) pounds. That 2 pound difference would be very noticeable.

From an aesthetic viewpoint, you would not want to install a swamped barrel. By the time the underhammer rifles came along, straight or tapered octagon barrels were "the in thing".
 
You are not in the wrong area. This is the percussion rifle section and if you are thinking of installing a rifled barrel, your in the right place.

Just a few thoughts about the change your wanting to do.
If you like light weight, IMO a .45 caliber 1 inch octagon barrel is not the way to go, assuming that you can find one.
A .45 caliber, 1 inch octagon barrel weighs about 0.191 pounds per inch. That would make a 30" long barrel of that size weigh about 5 3/4 (5.74) pounds and the gun would feel pretty muzzle heavy.
A .45 caliber 13/16" barrel on the other hand is fairly light weight. A barrel in this size would weigh about 0.11 pounds per inch, so a 30" long barrel would weigh about 3 5/16 (3.325) pounds. That 2 pound difference would be very noticeable.

From an aesthetic viewpoint, you would not want to install a swamped barrel. By the time the underhammer rifles came along, straight or tapered octagon barrels were "the in thing".
Yes I would go with the 13/16 barrel in 45, I'm looking at gm since I've used them a bit on hawkens and a bunch of there smokeless barrels.

I the end id like this underhammer to be like a switch barrel set, maybe with 3 barrels. He 15ga smoothbore the 45 and maybe a 36. And make a nice case to hold everything.
 
The Track of the Wolf website has a straight octagon barrel page that lists different calibers & lengths with their respective weights - might help you get a better handle of the barrel weights.... Muzzle loading rifle barrels, straight octagon - Track of the Wolf

If you find the weight not to your liking, you can always whack the length back to 30 inches or less, like the 30" barrel on my Zephyr (this is not actually my rifle, this is a better picture than I have - mine doesn't have those muzzle brake holes in the barrel).
_d7k7923.jpg
later, Mike
 
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The Track of the Wolf website has a straight octagon barrel page that lists different calibers & lengths with their respective weights - might help you get a better handle of the barrel weights.... Muzzle loading rifle barrels, straight octagon - Track of the Wolf

If you find the weight not to your liking, you can always whack the length back to 30 inches or less, like the 30" barrel on my Zephyr (this is not actually my rifle, this is a better picture than I have - mine doesn't have those muzzle brake holes in the barrel).
View attachment 43003
later, Mike
Is yours a 45? Do you think a 50or 54 would be to much for these. Tow is probably were I'll order from, I got to get stuff from them anyway.

I'll have to figure out what sights I want, I don't really want to spend the money for a good dovetail file, so I may grind one side off a cheap triangle file.
 
Troyfairweather - here's an old advertisement that show the different calibers the H&A came in originally. (I'm old enough to remember the prices at about 1/3 of those listed below - don't believe the ad when it says H&A made these for many years, just advertising baloney)
001 (2).jpg

The original H&A in .45 caliber was a 15/16" barrel x 32" long and muzzle heavy like Zonie stated. The .36 caliber was the same size barrel and the gun was a boat anchor.
The .45 caliber in a smaller "across-the-flats" (ATF) dimension would be a dandy rifle for paper targets, small game & deer. The .45 will shoot clean thru a deer side to side. The .50 caliber will do the same (just makes a mess of small game though). You just have to decide what you what to do with it.

The Zephyr I posted (click on the picture for a full size view -it's magnificent) is an improved H&A type rifle with an improved price to go along with it. It's .62 caliber with a special slow twist rifling, good for rhinos, elephants and similar large beasties. The Pacific Rifle Co. still has a website up with a phone number - have an adult beverage handy when you scroll down and find the cost though. Pacific Rifle Company

Mike
 
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Troyfairweather - here's an old advertisement that show the different calibers the H&A came in originally. (I'm old enough to remember the prices at about 1/3 of those listed below - don't believe the ad when it says H&A made these for many years, just advertising baloney)
View attachment 43021
The original H&A in .45 caliber was a 15/16" barrel x 32" long and muzzle heavy like Zonie stated. The .36 caliber was the same size barrel and the gun was a boat anchor.
The .45 caliber in a smaller "across-the-flats" (ATF) dimension would be a dandy rifle for paper targets, small game & deer. The .45 will shoot clean thru a deer side to side. The .50 caliber will do the same (just makes a mess of small game though). You just have to decide what you what to do with it.

The Zephyr I posted (click on the picture for a full size view -it's magnificent) is an improved H&A type rifle with an improved price to go along with it. It's .62 caliber with a special slow twist rifling, good for rhinos, elephants and similar large beasties. The Pacific Rifle Co. still has a website up with a phone number - have an adult beverage handy when you scroll down and find the cost though. Pacific Rifle Company

Mike
Like I said I'd like to do a switch barrel set. I have the 15ga smoothbore now, that will work for a lot of stuff. One barrel will be just for deer and black bear, and if like a 36 for small game and target shooting. Once I have the two other barrels the 15ga would be mostly for Turkey.
 
My H&A underhammer barrel is 15/16" and a .45. While it's not a featherweight it still feels (to me) so very nice when shouldered. Muzzleheavy, yes, but that's what I like in an offhand rifle. It only weighs in at around 8 to 8-1/2 lbs.
 
Have you decided on a barrel? What lengths are you looking at?
Kinda got out on the back burner for now, money's a bit tight. I'm still thinking a 45, it's not much for the longer barrel so I figured I can cut it if the length feels to long. I had the money but just picked up a nice old hammered shotgun, so I'm messing with that now. More reason to order some black powder lol.
 
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