Rifling twist in a pistol barrel

[Bert]

I have some odds and ends rifle barrels and would like to cut them down for pistol barrels. I have heard that the twist for a pistol shooting a round ball needs to be fairly fast. Is this true? Or would it matter? Does anyone out there have any ideas. Thanks

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

I see you are fairly new here. WELCOME to the FORUM! It's good to have you here. I hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us do... it's a great place!

About your question. Some manufacturers do just cut down shorter lengths of their stock rifle barrels to use for making pistols. That doesn't mean that a 1:66 twist in a 36 inch .50cal rifle barrel is going to work the best in a 9 inch pistol barrel.

Smart manufacturers realize this, and rifle their pistol barrels with a much faster twist--as the velocities are so much lower than in a longer length slow twist rifle barrel. It has to do with Revolutions Per Minute - RPM - rather than what projectile you use in a pistol and only how much velocity is involved..

Still I have seen some pistols with 1:48 twist (same as the companion rifle) that could stand excessively heavy powder charges as the patched round ball wouldn't slip on the rifling and get all wonky on accuracy. Those are exceptions and not typical (at least what I've seen). A reasonably good shooting .45cal or.50cal target pistol might have a 1:18 twist or up to 1:30 twist. While the same caliber rifles might have a 1:48 twist to 1:66 twist. Doesn't matter sometimes at all...

So, YES it "can" make a difference... BUT NO, don't let that stop you from continuing your work. You can always get a faster twist barrel later if you aren't satisfied with the shortened section of rifle barrel.

If you have any extra odds and ends, PM me about them. I might know someone interested in getting a few bits from you.

Shoot Safely!
WV_Hillbilly

 

[unspellable]

I have a related problem. I bought a miniature cannon thinking it would have a smooth bore. Once in hand, I found the barrel had been turned from 45 caliber rifle stock and had slow twist rifling. I suppose if it is too slow for the rather short barrel and light loads I plan to use, it won't be any worse for accuracy than a smooth bore. But harder to load.

 

[gordy]

Great reply,have to agree 100%.Maj.George Nonte has the directions to build a single shot pistol from cut down rifle[url] bbls.in[/url] His Black Powder Manual.

 

[Bert]

Thanks for getting back to me and the welcome. This is a great forum with lots of good info. One of the barrels in question is a .36 cal Numrich barrel that I got hold of about 20yr ago. It is 42 inch (not sure about the twist but will check tonight) and I thought about taking 8 or 10 in. off and making the pistol barrel. The rifle barrel will go onto my old Hopkins and Allen underhammer. My wife makes a mean squirrel pie and the time is now to go get em. I think that at first I will play around with the barrel as 42 in. on the underhammer and see how it looks. I have always wanted a pistol and rifle setup that takes the same ball. By the way...at this time my favorite patch lube is 1 part beeswax and 4 parts olive oil. I put the patches in the hot oil mix, pull out and cool. It is easy to get 12 good shoots from my .50 cal flinter rifle,.490 ball, without cleaning. I will try a .495 ball next.

 

[Deadeye]

I know of 2 shooters who have target pistols made by a
smith who makes all his target pistols with slow twist barrels. They do well ,in matches, shooting them. Some yrs. back I made a .54 pistol using a piece of slow twist barrel.
Won a few matches with it but have since sold it. While the faster twist should be more accurate the slow twist will probably be accurate enough. I'd say go for it.