Rice 62 cal round radius barrel-range report

[dbutch]

Temp 15 to 27 ... cross wind 10 to 20 mph low overcast.
Rice 32 inch 62 cal. round radius rifled barrel 1 in oct. fitted to a T/C Renegade.

Load..80 to 125 FFF-Goex Blakpowder
62 cal OxYoke bore button
17- 24- 27 thousands ticking and 40 cotton
duct-patchs cut at muzzle
Hoppes black powder solvent and lube-
.610 home cast round ball
No swabbing between the 35 shots made today

First shot........ first group at 50 yards ...black circle 3 "

50 yards 7 shot hole

50 yards before and after sight adjustment

First shot at 100 yards ..should have quit right there.

100 yard groups bottom 24 thousands denim top group 40 cotton duct

Loading bench

For the first range session, this barrel rocks!
The rifle was a pleasure to shoot until I hit the 125 gr load. Did not go past that point- did not want to create an unwanted flinch.

I could not keep any patches intact at 125 gr. FFF.

anything below 125 gr held together--the slip on Limbsaver pad made this break in a comfortable from the sand bags.
At this point the Rice barrel gets an A+ rating

 

[Goshawk]

Thanks for the report.
I enjoyed the pic's and info.


.690RB

 

[roundball]

Looks like its working good for you...my Rice .58cal round bottom is the same way...next step is getting that deer in the sights!
:hatsoff:

 

[dbutch]

Roundball- after reading all the glowing reports of the Rice round radius barrels I had to try one...Next thing you know I'll be calling TVM and ordering up a Early Virgina in 62 cal.with steel trim.. swamped. and I would have you to blame!

Thank God I'm waiting for Dunlap's Robins 10 ga. Fowler kit to Hit the street other wise I would..

Rice makes a great barrel!

 

[lonehunter]

:hatsoff: :v

 

[ian45662]

15-27 degree temps?!? I am starting to feel bad I shouldn't let the cold keep me from shooting

 

[rabjr]

Very nice, I wouldn't have expected any less. I have a shortened to 34" and recrowned and coned .58 Rice that shoots better than I ever could hope to shoot it. One ragged hole at 50 yards, all day long. :thumbsup:

 

[dbutch]

Swampy... The Thing that impressed me most was the ease of loading and the fact of no swabbing between shots plus getting great groups..the finish of the bore is more than slick!.. the round radius rifling in 1-66 twist works!
My goal someday is to shoot as good as this barrel can.

Did you have a swamped barrel? Did you shorten it for weight balance? Just curious...a 58 Rice barrel sounds really good to me.

 

[dbutch]

Ian..I work outside 5 days a week all year long..After this many years you learn how to layer.. cold temps are not bad..I'd take 20 degrees over 35 and rain..it's the wind that really stings..I shot with a very light pair of stretch cotton gloves on today.
Did I mention there is 10 inches on snow on the ground?
Bundle up and go make some smoke..You'll be glad you did....Dan

 

[redwing]

I have a 44" Rice .54 swamped SMR. The Rice radius cut will shoot all day without wiping and keep'em on target. They shoot clean and load easy. The round bottom rifle barrel is almost as old as flintlocks, they knew what worked back in the day. Have you tried the Teflon patch it works great with 100 plus loads for 200 yd. gongs.

 

[rabjr]

Swampy... The Thing that impressed me most was the ease of loading and the fact of no swabbing between shots plus getting great groups..the finish of the bore is more than slick!.. the round radius rifling in 1-66 twist works!
My goal someday is to shoot as good as this barrel can.

Did you have a swamped barrel? Did you shorten it for weight balance? Just curious...a 58 Rice barrel sounds really good to me.

Because I hunt from a wheelchair and have to do this sitting down, when it came time to have a custom gun built, I took careful measurements and determined the idea length for me was a gun with a 32" barrel. I had a fowler built with a 32" .12ga barrel.

When it came time for a rifle, I thought long and hard but decided to add two inches. So instead of waiting for a custom "Tapered" barrel to be built, I just bought I believe it was a 42" Swamped .58 cal. New England Style guns had tapered barrels, so I guess you can call this a poor mans tapered barrel. :haha: Anyways the spirit is there and Roy did a wonderful job with it. It lives on the gun in my Signature pic.

 

[dbutch]

I have a 44" Rice .54 swamped SMR. The Rice radius cut will shoot all day without wiping and keep'em on target. They shoot clean and load easy. The round bottom rifle barrel is almost as old as flintlocks, they knew what worked back in the day. Have you tried the Teflon patch it works great with 100 plus loads for 200 yd. gongs.

Redwing No I have not..this was the first range session with this barrel....Do you just wrap Teflon tape around the ball? do you get any Teflon residue left behind? when shooting my smooth bores using plastic wads I'll get a fine spider web-stringy deposit depending on the wad column. With the deeper rifling on the Rice barrel I'm thinking the Teflon would need to be thick to seal. Do you have any pictures of a pre wrapped round ball? Wow gongs at 200 yards..to be honest the one picture I put on my post with the 5 Shoo-N-see targets at 100 yards .the black targets are 5 in dia. with my eyes and the size of the front sight on that rifle cover up more than the black targets at 100 yards. How big are the gongs at 200? With the target at 200 yards I think I would have to shoot my first shot go down range pick my round ball up and shoot it again to hit the gong..I just weighed a hand full of my home cast .610 using a 35 year old Lyman scale they weigh in at 330 gr. I'll do some home work and try to find a chart on how much of a rainbow those round balls produce at the distance.
Working up loads is something I enjoy weather smooth bore or rifle it's just Fun!
The range I am a member at the dues are 5 bucks a year-they have covered benches at 25 50 100 yards. This time of the year only the long range coyote hunters are out there tweaking their hand loads.Pretty much have the range to my self and the drive is just long enough to warm up the truck...Life is good. Thanks for the loading ideas......Dan

 

[roundball]

A winter-time cold weather suggestion...got this at Home Depot years ago...it's made to just quickly clamp on top of a propane tank.

I sit in on the ground 10-15 feet behind me, and have shot a 50 shot range session in 19 degrees with a 15mph wind only wearing a sweatshirt, a flannel shirt, and a pair of those cheap brown cotton jersey gloves

 

[dbutch]

[/quote]

"""""Because I hunt from a wheelchair and have to do this sitting down, when it came time to have a custom gun built, I took careful measurements and determined the idea length for me was a gun with a 32" barrel. I had a fowler built with a 32" .12ga barrel.

When it came time for a rifle, I thought long and hard but decided to add two inches. So instead of waiting for a custom "Tapered" barrel to be built, I just bought I believe it was a 42" Swamped .58 cal. New England Style guns had tapered barrels, so I guess you can call this a poor mans tapered barrel. :haha: Anyways the spirit is there and Roy did a wonderful job with it. It lives on the gun in my Signature pic.""""""[/quote]

Swampy Roy's work sure looks nice, do you shoot roundballs out of your 12 smooth bore? if so ,how much powder can you load until the recoil becomes an issue? On a previous post about ordering this barrel -another member suggest trying Swiss powder and mentioned loads over 125 gr.of powder..I'm not sure I would enjoy a load that hot. I was having issues keeping the patches intact at the 125 gr level..The barrel is new and I didn't try 2 ff power. There is plenty of time before next November to tweak this barrel.
Thanks for sharing....Dan

 

[dbutch]

Rounball- That heater has got to take the edge off. I have a spare 20 pounder and the wife and kids need gift ideas...Thanks...Dan .

 

[roundball]

"...That heater has got to take the edge off..."

They're outstanding...push-button ignition...variable control for the amount of heat, etc.

Its designed to throw/radiate the heat a long way...experimenting with a couple different distances I found turning mine on high and sitting it 10-15 feet behind me lets it spread wide enough to cover the whole width of the area at the shooting bench including both sides of where I'm standing / working.

Usually can't even wear a hat because I'll get overheated...and nothing beats it for turning around occasionally to warm the hands in front of it...suggest you get at least the 45,000 BTU size.

 

[steve nagy]

Excellent! I just ordered a iron mounted rifle in .58 with a swamped Rice barrel. My decision had been between .58 and .62, and the .58 won out by a nose. The maker mentioned that the company started out making match barrels and your results reinforce that!

 

[dbutch]

The finish in the bore is the nicest I've seen I'm new to flintlocks and shot cap locks in the past-this is my first custom barrel.I did not know the difference till now--when you guys talk about going to custom and not going back I'm starting to see the light! I have a T/C 58 barrel due here in the next couple of weeks-(T/C is in their 2 week break at this moment) If it shoots good I'll keep it if it shoots ok then I will make the move to a Rice. I'm thinking a 58 would be a better long range barrel.Hunting out west etc. And get a little more velocity out of the 58 round ball with some degree of less recoil.
Have fun with your new rifle..looking forward to your range reports...from my limited experience the Rice barrel will make you happy.

 

[paulvallandigham]

He is talking about Teflon Patching, NOT TEFLON TAPE. Teflon patching is available from suppliers. They are cotton patches in various thicknesses, with Teflon coating on one side.

There is a woman in Texas who sells the stuff. Ad in the back of Muzzle Blasts. Some of the Texas members can chime in here and give you more details. If they don't respond here, send me a PT and will look through my MBs and find the ad for you. :thumbsup:

 

[redwing]

As Paul stated the "Texas Patch" is teflon coated on one side heavy sail cloth. These are shot without lube in moist climates. In very dry conditions they are wet on the inside, ball side. Some times only a small amount of water is rubbed into the patch. I use Hoppe's BP+. These are good for hunting used dry. I shoot a .027 in my .54 Rice. :thumbsup: