PRB Pistol Barrel Twist Rate

[Anonym]

I'm thinking about making a pistol using barrel stock to shoot PRB for deer hunting. The twist rate is 1:28 (for shooting plastic jacketed things out of rifles), and I need at least a 12" barrel in .50 cal to hunt with around here. Question is, can I use a 12"-14" piece of this 1:28 barrel and effectively shoot PRB out of it, or is it too fast/slow?

Thanks!

 

[CoyoteJoe]

That should work just fine.

 

[rawhide]

I'm usming this was a rifle barrel your using? you should do fine. if it is say a pistol barrel most round ball pistols are 1:20 twist plus they have taller lands for prb. maybe a tight fit...

 

[Dphar]

I'm thinking about making a pistol using barrel stock to shoot PRB for deer hunting. The twist rate is 1:28 (for shooting plastic jacketed things out of rifles), and I need at least a 12" barrel in .50 cal to hunt with around here. Question is, can I use a 12"-14" piece of this 1:28 barrel and effectively shoot PRB out of it, or is it too fast/slow?

Thanks!

For a hunting pistol I would not want a twist faster than 1:48. With a 12" barrel you will be getting 1300+ fps with a stout load.
I have made several with 1:66 in 50-54 plus some with 1:70 in 54 and 58 and they all shoot well enough for hunting. I have made some with 20" twists but don't see the point. I can't get pistol barrels from Green Mountain in the sizes I like anyway so its easier to cut up a GM rifle barrel.
This is the first targeting of a 54 caliber 66 twist barrel with 45 gr of FFF Swiss.

This upper leg bone belonged to a mule deer doe killed at about 25 yards with a 54 caliber 8" barreled pistol with a 1:70 twist. Broke the leg bone, broke a rib, took out the heart and was under the far side hide. I was shooting 70 grains of FFF. Yeah, too much. But thats what the gun liked to shoot.

I thought I had a picture of a group with a 70 twist 58 cal with 50 grains but can't find it on the computer.

Dan

 

[rawhide]

holy moly :shocked2:

 

[Anonym]

DANG! Well, that's some interesting food for thought. Might need to do some more thinking before I invest. Thanks for all the good info!

 

[nkbj]

If it's a 28" twist, what pattern of rifling are you liable to be getting? Could make a big difference for you in what ends up working or not working.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Well Dan you may have given me an idea. I have all the parts of a .54 caliber T/C Scout, one of the dumber ideas T/C has come up with, but I could just make a pistol around that barrel. :hmm:

 

[Anonym]

Basically I'm looking to use part of a 1:28" T/C Encore barrel as a pistol. I was hoping the twist rate would be better suited for PRB with the shorter barrel length since some of the newer pistols have a 1:20" twist (I think).

 

[Zonie]

The only possible fly in the ointment when it comes to using patched roundballs is the depth of the rifling on fast twist barrels.

IMO, as long as a fairly tight patch/ball combination is used with light to mid power loads the 1:28 twist barrel should work.

 

[gordy]

I would have to go along with Zonie , even though it may not be the best combination of rifling for prb it should perform well with light to moderate loads. I would think the depth and type of rifling would determine what the max. load would be best . I have toyed with the idea of making a pistol with a section of fast twist barrel but havn"t found a "loose" barrel that has a fast twist ? There has been a few on the auction sites but they went for more then I wanted to invest in the project . :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[nkbj]

And, if it was shallow groove rifling, you might end up with a round ball plinker that also handles REAL's and such with much more powder (if the stock design can take the barrel thrust). That's what I was thinking about with the earlier post. Maybe, just maybe, you might happen upon an older fast twist CVA barrel with deeper rifling, but the more recent (last decade or so stuff like Green Mountain) might turn out to be shallow. And that might be a blessing to versatility.

 

[Anonym]

I don't think I'd consider the Encore barrel to have deep rifling at all. Mine is about half the depth of my GM and GRRW barrels for my Renegade.

Thanks to everyone for the input. Sounds like it should be a fun project, but might be one to postpone until I have better funding where the wife's concerned. :thumbsup: I've just got the itch to deer hunt with a ML pistol and my state's regs are pretty tough (.50cal or greater w/ 12-in barrel minimum!). :idunno:

Justin