Rice “Drop in” Barrel Review (Video)

[Idaholewis]

My final review of my new Rice “Drop in” .45 Cal Barrel.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Can’t watch videos now, hoping the review is positive. Having a round bottom .40 Rice fitted to my TVM gun.

 

[Idaholewis]

Can’t watch videos now, hoping the review is positive. Having a round bottom .40 Rice fitted to my TVM gun.

Semi positive, Accuracy has been AWESOME with the Barrel, I list a few Problems/issues i had, If you are having the barrel fitted to your Stock that will take care of 1 of my issues i list in the Video, The other is a tight spot in the Bore, But it does not effect accuracy at all

 

[Shifty]

Hey where did you buy your 45 LRH/GM barrel i can't find them on the GM WS ?

 

[Idaholewis]

Hey where did you buy your 45 LRH/GM barrel i can't find them on the GM WS ?

They have not been made in Many years now, I got lucky and Bought mine directly from Green Mountain about 3 years ago, at that time they had between 40 and 50 of the .45 LRH Drop ins Left on the Shelf, I got mine for 76 bucks! I have kicked myself over n over for not Buying several of them at that price. Pecatonica Long Rifle supply caught wind and Bought the Remaining Barrels, I did turn 1 friend loose on the Deal, He Bought 6 of them, Just to Re sell.
I own 4 GM LRH Barrels, I got lucky and bought all of mine Brand new unfired, I have the .45, .50, and .54 (The .54 LRH Took me around 2 years to even see one! I found this one, and haven’t seen another since) And my Friend Ron Gave me a .45 Cal 1:18 Twist 32” Barrel, it is my understanding that GM made very few of these 32” 1:18s

If you keep watching places like Gunbroker, And Ebay these GM LRH Barrels pop up now n then.

 

[Dixieshedhunter]

What model rifle is this?

 

[Shifty]

They have not been made in Many years now, I got lucky and Bought mine directly from Green Mountain about 3 years ago, at that time they had between 40 and 50 of the .45 LRH Drop ins Left on the Shelf, I got mine for 76 bucks! I have kicked myself over n over for not Buying several of them at that price. Pecatonica Long Rifle supply caught wind and Bought the Remaining Barrels, I did turn 1 friend loose on the Deal, He Bought 6 of them, Just to Re sell.
I own 4 GM LRH Barrels, I got lucky and bought all of mine Brand new unfired, I have the .45, .50, and .54 (The .54 LRH Took me around 2 years to even see one! I found this one, and haven’t seen another since) And my Friend Ron Gave me a .45 Cal 1:18 Twist 32” Barrel, it is my understanding that GM made very few of these 32” 1:18s

If you keep watching places like Gunbroker, And Ebay these GM LRH Barrels pop up now n then.

Thanks Idaholewis i guess you are speaking of Idahoron

 

[Idaholewis]

Thanks Idaholewis i guess you are speaking of Idahoron

That’s the Guy! It was through Ron’s Videos that inspired me to do this stuff.

 

[Idaholewis]

What model rifle is this?

The Stock is a TC Hawken .54 Cal (1” Barrel Channel) The Barrel was built by Rice to be a “Drop in” fit for the TC Hawken/Renegade.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Semi positive, Accuracy has been AWESOME with the Barrel, I list a few Problems/issues i had, If you are having the barrel fitted to your Stock that will take care of 1 of my issues i list in the Video, The other is a tight spot in the Bore, But it does not effect accuracy at all

How’s the cleanup time? Also, does the bore foul up quickly or can you fire several shots between swabbing it out?

Sad to hear of a tight spot... seems like poor quality control. I would not accept that in a barrel and would send it back to Rice.

 

[Idaholewis]

Cleanup is no different than my Green Mountain Barrels, Rice uses a Left hand Twist, all of my others barrels (at least 15) Are Right hand Twist, The left hand Twist took a little getting use to.
As for the Tight spot in the bore, I find that odd as well, And really let it bother me at first, especially when they advertise their Procedure to keep that from happening on the Main Home page of their Website. I discovered it immediately as i shoot a lot of Slip fit bullets, Both Grease Groove, And Paper Patch For Target/Bench shooting, The bore in this Barrel is .450, I size my Bullets to .449, When i start them they obviously go on their own, About 12” down this Rice Bore the Bullet will “Stop” it will actually hold the weight of my Rangerod, but takes very little to get it through this tight Spot (about 2-3 inches) Then the Bullet Slides freely again the rest of the Way to the Powder Charge.
This Barrel required a lot more tinkering to get it Fit in my TC Hawken Stock (.54 Cal, 1” Barrel Channel) It was loose/sloppy at the Breech end, I had to Build up a Pad inside the Bottom Flat of my Stock back by the Tang to get the Slop out. The Breech plug Hook is slightly different, I give precise measurements in the Video between the Rice and Green Mountain Barrels. None of my Green Mountain Drop in Barrels are like this, They fit the TC Hawken and Renegade Nice n SOLID.
The Hammer face to Nipple alignment was off pretty Bad, and it was in a TOUGH area to bend, The hammer Face needed to be bent forward, it would not even hit the Nipple. That particular Bend is TOUGH, I pulled the Hammer and Heated it with Acetylene torch to bend it, it is stil not perfect, But i have it Reliable Now, a Side to side bend is easy, But a Forward or Backward bend is a BUNCH tougher to get. This is something else i have NEVER experienced to this Extent with ANY of my 4 Green Mountain LRH Drop in Barrels.
The last thing is a minor Cosmetic nuisance to me, Rice left the Muzzle Cut Sharp Square instead of Breaking the Muzzle edge Flats, to me personally it looks Ugly and Cheap, Not sure why they would do that? This Barrel was professionally Blued (150 bucks) It would be easy enough to “Draw File” the Sharp Flat edges, But i am not gonna do that to this Deep rich Pro Blue Job, I would never get it matched back. I can live with the Sharp edges, it just looks odd and Cheap to me. Again, NONE of my Green Mountain LRH Barrels are like this, they were all VERY nicely finished, They came Blued. These Rice Barrels come to you in the “White” It is up to you to Blue, or Pay to have it done. With the Professional Blue Job, this Rice “Drop in” Barrel was 500 Bucks.

 

[brayhaven]

I tried a rice barrel that was not a good experience, but it was way back when the original owner ran it. I looked at some of their barrels under the new owners at their booth at friendship, and they looked much better. But that initial experience soured me. Have used a lot of barrels from other makers & they were all good. I found GM to be great barrels and reasonable. The drop ins they made were good for someone wanting a great shooting ml at a reasonable price to get into the sport.

Btw, I have a good method to “professionally” blue a gun with stuff you can get locally. If anyone is interested. Or we could put it here if they have archives etc..