Unique barrel found

[redriverclerk]

Our club got the following note through our website. Can anyone help with this?

"I am the owner of a very unique muzzle loader. The barrel only was recovered near Marthasville, Mo., about one mile from the former Daniel Boone Farm half covered with dirt in an open field. It is hexagonal on the outside and the inside of the barrel is also hexagonal. I had it restocked by an amateur gunsmith. The barrel is 39" long. I have been unable to find any markings on the barrel which would show any information as to the maker. I contacted the Smithsonian Meuseum and they only knew of a round barrel with the hexagonal inside. Do you perhaps know of any information as to the history of this barrel or if not perhaps refer me to some other source. Thanks for any help you can give. Bob Yount, 4320 Palama, Kalaheo, Hi., 96741 Phone 808 332-0021"

The gentleman's e-mail is: [email protected]

I can't help him, but I was hoping someone on the forum might get him in the right direction.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I'd try the NRA Museum. They may be able to point Bob in the right direction...they may even want to spend money on the project in order to get a rather iteresting article out of it...just my 2 cents worth $ Good Luck, Dave

 

[W T]

Might that be a Whitworth? Only rifle I've ever heard of (though there may be others) with a hexagonal bore.

 

[faw3]

The only one Ive seen was a Witworth that was round but made Hex after the war for a hunting rifle, again I belive the NRA might help with the story on that one. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[ResearchPress]

Polygonal rifling was not unique to Whitworth.

It would be interesting to know the bore size. Is the barrel hexagonal in shape - I thought octagonal was most common?

David

 

[Zonie]

Most non-round barrels are octagonal, but not all.

If you bought a little brass barreled pistol kit like this one it has a hex barrel.

Then again, I think the barrel is a hexagon only because the company could buy hex stock to keep the price cheap. :rotf:
zonie

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Hexagonal barrel? More likely a confusion of terms don't ya think? Every barrel that I have heard called "hex" shaped or "hexagonal" was 8-sided not 6. For some reason people tend to call an 8-sided object, like ML barrels and stop signs hex shaped instead of octagonal. The round bore is likely worn at the muzzle and looks "hex-shaped" while a check down inside would show it is actually round. His note to "the Smithsonian Meuseum" probably was verbal and not illustrated with photographs so the person answering the question may have taken him at his word or may have asked some questions that he did not tell about. Sorry to be sceptical, it just doesn't sound like anything out of the ordinary to me, only someone that has his terminology confused. In other words, it's a neat thing to have found but it is nothing to write home (or to the Smithsonian) about.

 

[Tumblernotch]

Either that or they're too cheap to invest big bucks in a four jaw chuck so they can bore a piece of octagonal stock in a lathe. :hmm:

I've got enough of that hex brass stock to make me a few pistol barrels and I can't afford a four jaw chuck so you can guess what one of my future projects is a gonna be!

 

[Todd Rickard]

I'm guessing its an octagonal barrel with octagonal 'rifling'. I have seen a ML cape gun that had that type of rifling.