what barrel to buy

[hitandmissengine]

Trying to decide what barrel for tenn. classic build. It will be a 13/16 by 42 inch straight octogon. I see that TOW has the colerain and green mountain available. Colerain seems to have a good reputation. Not much more expensive than green mountain. I have not found a rice barrel in .45 by 42. Any inputs on way to go. I searched this site for a previous quest on the subject, but did not find anything. Hope I have not double taped the subject.
Thanks.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Trying to decide what barrel for tenn. classic build. It will be a 13/16 by 42 inch straight octogon. I see that TOW has the colerain and green mountain available. Colerain seems to have a good reputation. Not much more expensive than green mountain. I have not found a rice barrel in .45 by 42. Any inputs on way to go. I searched this site for a previous quest on the subject, but did not find anything. Hope I have not double taped the subject.
Thanks.

I have guns built with Colerain and with Green Mountain and find them both to be of good value and comparable quality. Good luck.

 

[ZUG]

+1 on the two and also all the rest of the barrel makers. On all the barrel makers out there today I've not see a bad barrel yet -- back in the 60's - yes .

 

[EC121]

No point in stressing over it. Buy the cheapest. All the barrels on the market today are more accurate than most people can hold offhand. Every barrel has an accurate load. Just have to find it. I've seen many matches won by Orion and Montana barrels. Even TCs would occasionally win in the right hands. I saw a guy at a turkey shoot in Ga. hit everything he shot at with a stock
TC. Ball split, feather cut, string cut, etc.

 

[gunmaker43]

Rice lists a 13/16" straight bbl. 200 bucks plus, depending on plug fitted, round btm grooves etc. And any of 'em will do trick in spades...Get a good English type lock....Tom

 

[galamb]

You can reduce it to a few simple differences, because all of them will likely out shoot you and 99.5% of anyone that might ever shoot them.

Green Mountain barrels are made out of 1137 steel (this might be important to you - if you don't know what I'm talking about then it absolutely isn't important).

Green Mountain barrels DO NOT come with a breech plug installed - so order and pay for install by the vendor or buy the plug and time it in yourself.

Secondly, they have "square rifling". The arguments go on as whether square is more accurate but round is easier to clean etc etc.

Colerain barrels are made out of 12L14 steel (as note above) and they have "round bottomed" rifling (same argument).

Colerain barrels DO INCLUDE a breech plug BUT there has been enough instances where the plug was not properly timed that I would, at minimum, check or have it checked to ensure there is no gap between the plug face and the bottom of the barrel tap.

Rice barrels are made with 12L14 steel. They are available in either square (builders) or round bottomed rifling.

They are the best "finished" of the three brands (least amount of file/sanding work required - may or may not be important) - this is part of why they go at a slight price premium.

They DO INCLUDE a breech plug which I have never heard has been anything but "perfectly timed".

IF (IF) at some later date you decide to sell the rifle and IF it has a Rice barrel it will command a premium over the exact same rifle with either a Colerain or Green Mountain barrel.

Rice is probably seen as the "top shelf" barrel from any of the (mass) barrel producers currently on the market (barrels that are "in stock" at various suppliers).

(I do not include Rayle or Getz et al in that list since they produce very few barrels with sometimes multi-year wait times)

I currently shoot, in my personal rifles, Rice, Oregon, FCI, Green Mountain and Colerain barrels. From a functional, accuracy, ease of cleaning and any other number of variables I "personally" can't see a single difference between one and the other.

For me it always comes down to "who has what I want (caliber and profile), when I want it 1) is stock or 2) available in the shortest amount of time if I order.

When I wanted a tapered 38 caliber barrel, Charlie Burton/FCI barrels was the "only one" that could provide it to me in less than 2 years (took 14 months), so he got the job.

**If you are looking for a Rice barrel, call Rice. Jason carries some stock - he will ship direct to you (hey, he has shipped direct to me in Canada no problem at all on more than one occasion)

 

[fleener]

Buy the green mountain. Better quality steel for gun barrels

Fleener

 

[Dane]

There's just not a better production barrel than Rice. The smoothest finish inside and out!

 

[Micah Clark]

I am new to this, doing my first build . . .bought a Rice via a TVM kit . . . I think Rice was my only option in .32, but I could choose square or round bottom rifling for 20 or $25 difference.

Have heard that all the barrels are virtually the same between GM, Colerain and Rice.

My builder advisor had only used Green Mountain, and liked them, but he was impressed with the Rice and particularly the threading of the breech plug.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
If you want a really fine barrel for your gun, get Rice's 42" "Southern Classic" swamped barrel. It will handle much better than that straight barrel and you will have an easier time shaping the lock and wrist portion of your gun because the breech is thicker. Often, inexperienced builders buy those skinny barrels (usually to save money) and then have trouble shaping the lock area correctly because the skinny width forces them to create a cross section looking like a 2x4 on its side with the corners rounded off.

dave

 

[Loyalist Dave]

All the barrels on the market today are more accurate than most people can hold offhand

Yes, I don't think it's an issue unless you're going to compete. I have an amazing barrel from Colerain on my .54 deer rifle, and an amazing barrel on my .40 from Green Mountain. Amazing what they will do from a sandbagged position from a bench...

Now in the woods, they both take game without fault, and I know if I miss it's my mistake not a barrel problem...but I'm not getting the same accuracy as I get from the bench...

Probably better to worry about getting a good lock. I'd probably go with Chambers, but I know one of their lock makers so I am a bit biased. I just bought a Tryon lock from Davis for a trade gun, and I'm happy with that too.

LD

 

[Vaino]

Good advice from Dave Person.....use the Rice Southern Classic for the reasons he stated and use a Chambers' Late Ketland flintlock.
Both will contribute to an authentic looking replica of a Tenn. LR.....Fred

 

[moleeyes36]

I agree with Fred completely on his recommendation of barrel and lock.

 

[CrackStock]

Either barrel will work well. Flip a coin and be happy because you cannot make a mistake in this choice.

Just a comment - You are mentioning a kit which offers specific lock and barrel options and people are suggesting components outside of those compatible possibilities. Be careful to sift through the advice - partly for mistakes, but also partly because there is something to what they say.

While likely not part of your chosen package, their advice has some merit. Most of the Tenn classics use a Siler lock which is not truly correct for the style and a swamped barrel has great advantages in use. Consider other possibilities. Look into similar, but more correct kits.

Jerry Noble has a series of books on Southern guns which is helpful to learn what is most correct. The common kit is not all that correct.

Just be informed of the factors and enjoy your rifle.

I love my Tennessee Classic .40 cal caplock and have hunted and competed with it quite successfully.

CS

 

[hitandmissengine]

Thanks for all of the great advice. I am leaning to a cole or rice depending on price and availability. Swamped is a great sugestion, but I already have a pre-carved stock for straight octigon.
Thanks again

 

[F.G. Ford]

Hi,
You might as well shoot a smooth bore, with a rusty barrel if you cant see didley squat through your sights.
Some people can shoot the eyes out of a mosquito at a 100 yards with a scratch on the tang, and a shot gun bead for a front sight. Others can't!
I have had Numrich barrels out of the 70's that were way off center, and many a shooter has had his but kicked with a Numrich underhammer rifle, and barrel. I've had Douglas barrels that beat the very best.
Some people walk about hanging on their fire stick bragging about their over priced barrels only to be trounced by a lowly CVA gun.
A good lock helps a lot
Dutch Shoultz and good sights will get you there.
Fred

 

[Zonie]

I'm not sure what that has to do with helping hitandmissengine figure out which barrel he should buy but, okay, I guess. :hmm:

My answer to his question is, if doing some extra filing to clean up the machine marks on the outside of the barrel isn't a big thing, buy the Green Mountain.

The Colerain barrels are usually finished on the outside a little better but they still require some filing to clean them up.

The outside of Rice barrels can be used as it comes from the factory.

As for accuracy, as others have said, they all will shoot better than the person pulling the trigger.

 

[CrackStock]

Agree on the Green Mountain barrels. Have 4 of them and they are all good barrels. I am particularly happy with the .40 cal straight barrel on my Tennessee classic caplock. It is a good off-hand shooter and has done well for 17 years.

CS

 

[Darkhorse]

As far as accuracy goes, I have a Colrane .54 in C profile. I also have a Rice .40 in B profile.
From a bench there is no difference in accuracy, both will shoot one hole groups.
I would buy either one again.

 

[Birddog6]

The Rice barrel is #1 in quality inside & out, & #1 choice for me. I have used Many of them. The breeching will be perfect & the quality will be unsurpassed.

If you want bare essentials, lower price, & a quality shooter, the Green Mountain is the way to go. (Comes unbreeched) At one time Green Mountain held more match records at Friendship than all other brands. I don't know if this is still so.

If you want Round Bottom Rifling and lower price, get the Colerain. It will be breeched but you will most likely have to re-breech it, as 1/2 of them I've bought were poorly breeched. (They would have been better off Not breeching them) Also have had to return 5 Colerains for defective bores (loose spots in the bores) So if if you get a Colerain, unbreech it immediately & check for loose spots with a tight oiled patch on a jag. The ones I have kept & used were all very accurate.

ALL of the Above barrels will shoot more accurately than you can hold them. :idunno:

Keith Lisle