Rifling a smoothbore.

[ColonialRifleSmith]

I need some help here. I'm looking for someone who can rifle a wall gun barrel. The barrel is 54" long and has a 1" bore. A roundball twist is all I need.
Semper Fi.

 

[Mike in FL]

Is the barrel thick enough to have rifleing cut into it? I've heard of smoothing a rifle barrel, but not rifling into a barrel meant for shot.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Is the barrel thick enough to have rifleing cut into it? I've heard of smoothing a rifle barrel, but not rifling into a barrel meant for shot.

Yes it is.

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

I can't help you with your need, but I am oh so curious what you're up too with a behemoth like that.

 

[2 shots]

bobby hoyt is the man to call.

 

[IanH]

Well, since Bethlehem Steel is long gone, you're sorta short on options. How long is this thing?

 

[PathfinderNC]

Are you planning to shoot the moon?

 

[Hermit Tim]

Hoyt would be my only guess. Once you get that worked out you might want to find a good shoulder pad maker.

 

[Johnny Too-Tall]

I can't help you with your need, but I am oh so curious what you're up too with a behemoth like that.

I might be needing a 32 cal barrel punched out to 36 or 40 cal.

 

[tenngun]

What would the twist rate be for such a ball?
I’m thinking 1/120?
It would strip awful easy?
The comments about the shoulder pad does bring up the question about recoil. As that’s mostly absorbed by the wall yoke
Is there cannon competition you can enter with such a gun?
I’m m thinking rifled wall guns were known but I can’t place it right now
If you can get a good blind it will drop them naughas all day long at half a mile

 

[rich pierce]

The external diameter of the barrel could be an issue for some setups. A large bore needs many grooves. Perhaps as many as 16. This job is in a different league than a typical rifling job. Twist would need to be 1 in 120 or possibly more.

 

[Rifleman1776]

CRS, you have been around long enough to understand the risks with what you propose. If the barrel walls are not thick enough you will have a bomb using rifle loads with consequently higher pressures. There is a reason rifle barrels look like rifle barrels and smoothies have thin walls. Be careful what you wish for. BTW: guns last longer than we do. You may only load with moderate charges but down the line after you are pushing up daisy's someone else might want to try heavy loads with disastrous consequences. I respectfully recommend you give up this bad idea.

 

[rickystl]

If you insist on this project, Bobby Hoyt would likely be your only option. I seem to recall he said he can do rifled barrels up to 72". It might be a better idea to have a new rifled liner added to the existing barrel. Of course, this might reduce the caliber, but not much. In this case, it might be a good idea to send Bobby the barrel and have a phone discussion on the feasibility.

Rick

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Mr. Hoyt just rifled a smoothbore for me, after checking the integrity of the breech plug and barrel for straightness, and it was only $80 plus shipping.

 

[Johnny Too-Tall]

Does anyone have Mr. Hoyt's contact information. I need a few barrels rebored.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Does anyone have Mr. Hoyt's contact information. I need a few barrels rebored.

BEST to call him ... after 8am or so in the mornings ... don't leave a message ... once he starts working he doesn't pickup the phone. Note when he gets too backed up, he will hold off taking any new orders for a month or so. Once to talk to him, you send him in the barrels, he works to his schedule, then does the work and sends them back to you, and then you pay him to his included invoice.

Robert Hoyt
2379 Mount Hope Road
Fairfield, PA 17320

Seven1Seven-64Two-6SixNine6

 

[FlinterNick]

I need some help here. I'm looking for someone who can rifle a wall gun barrel. The barrel is 54" long and has a 1" bore. A roundball twist is all I need.
Semper Fi.

Yeap, Bobby Hoyt is just about your only option.

However, whether or not he will accept the work is another story, his lathe rifles up to .69 if I’m not certain, i recently had an 1816 barrel made by him, and he mentioned the highest he can rifle is up to .72 with three grooves.

Personally I would not rifle the wall gun for many reasons, which i won’t elaborate on because many have already.

Liability, if you’re in a reenactment group, anything over 1” you’ll have a difficult time insuring it for events, many wall guns owned group groups are less than 1” at the bore for this reason.

In practicality, i would also question the cost vs. value and purpose, to what good purpose is a rifled wall gun going to serve ?

Lastly, each state has specific ordinance vs. rifle laws you many want to look into before ATF pays you a visit.

 

[hanshi]

Bob Hoyt is my choice after the excellent job he did on my .40 rifle barrel.

 

[Rawhide67]

What happened to Ed Rayl? Is he no longer in the business?