7/8ths .54 barrels

[thecapgunkid]

What is the which and why of not being able to find a barrel with this combination?

Is it really stability or just the potential liability factor in their production?

[Old Ford2]

Hi,
A .54 bore with an overall width of 7/8" ( 0.875 )
That will leave a wall thickness of 0.1675"  not even 3/16"
You would not have enough material for a touch hole liner or a drum ( percussion )
A typical liner of 28 threads per inch would barely have three threads contact.
If your barrel were titanium you would get by, but not with mild steel.
Fred

[Bob Roller]

What breech plug thread would work with this combination?The whole thing
goes to the absurd and could define the shoulder fired pipe bomb.

Bob Roller

[Wayne B]

     Years ago I had a Armsport longrifle that had a 13/16s  50cal barrel. That amounts to .156 wall thickness. I shot 70 gr of 2f behind a round ball. Can't tell you how many rounds went through it, but it was a bunch. Never had a problem with it. It has since found a home hanging on the wall above the fireplace.
       I've seen a few videos of folks intentionally trying to blow up a black powder barrel, it's amazing how much it takes to actually rupture these barrels. One barrel on an old CVA actually needed  a double load of H296 before it let go. I'm not advocating the use of unsafe practices of any kind,  but I wouldn't hesitate to shoot that old Armsport again.

[bob in the woods]

I'm almost certain that some time ago, Getz was producing 13/16th's .50 cal barrels on a limited basis for someone. " Dillon " comes to mind ?     However, what would be the point of pushing the envelope , when a nice swamped barrel gives you the safety of a larger breach, along with balance and lighter weight you're probably looking for .

[okieboy]

 Yes, and as for a breech plug, just order one of those 13/16-24 UNS plugs and go to town.

[ddoyle]

4.2 mm of wall (.1675) is more then sufficient (according to the experts) for a 375 FI.Mag.N.E or a 3" 500N.E.  or a 600 Nitro express. IF you use barrel steel.  You could even launch a 8x 56,57,60 or 64 smokeless round with a tube measuring 4.2mm at the breech wall. IF the barrel is made from barrel steel. How thick the barrel is far less important then the material and the fittings.

How much of that wall you can use for breech thread depth probabley depends on how long a plug you can use and still make a rifle or on how fiddly a fit you can bear.

[little joe]

I'm almost certain that some time ago, Getz was producing 13/16th's .50 cal barrels on a limited basis for someone. " Dillon " comes to mind ?     However, what would be the point of pushing the envelope , when a nice swamped barrel gives you the safety of a larger breach, along with balance and lighter weight you're probably looking for .

Several years ago I talked to Don Getz and he said he had did a lot of expearmenting on thin bbls. such as above and ha never could not to get a failure unless you did some really stupid. Plugged muzzle, short started ball 3 charges powder ect.

[Bob Roller]

This is NOT intended to stir up the 12L14 argument again but this last week I made
an 8x32 cross screw to go with a 4 screw Henry lock from a section of 3/8" 12L14 and
hit a hard spot that actually pushed the compound back and stalled the little Atlas 618
that I have made over as a screw machine.I have owned this lathe from new in 1964
and NEVER had this happen.
I wonder what would have happened with a 7/8" 54 caliber?

Bob Roller

[ddoyle]

probabley would not be so straight anymore?

[hanshi]

A .50 7/8" barrel is okay, I had one and it was excellent.  .54 X 7/8"; not on your life.

[Tim Crosby]

 I have Two flint rifles built around 7/8 X 42" .54 GM barrels that have been in service for at least 15 years and I have never had a problem with either.

  Tim C.

[Dennis Glazener]

I have Two flint rifles built around 7/8 X 42" .54 GM barrels that have been in service for at least 15 years and I have never had a problem with either.

  Tim C.

I am pretty sure that Green Mountain was using 4140 steel or similiar during this time frame.
Dennis

[Sharpsman]

And at the other end of the spectrum.....I want a .58 full-stocked Hawken with a 42" barrel and 1-72" ROT!! Really don't give a hoot if it weighed 14#!!

[Osprey]

I had a Getz 7/8 .54, 42" a few years ago which I used to build a flint Bedford for a buddy.  I think I got it on here from someone in the for sale section, can't remember for sure.  No problems with it, other than the combo of barrel and profile kicked a goodly bit as it was very light and had a lot of drop.  He lives in Bedford Co and if it ever gets used would be for deer and maybe elk, but I think it mainly hangs on the wall as he tends to like Weatherbys for hunting...

[L. Akers]

I made a rifle for a customer in England back in the 80's.  He wanted two barrels--a .36 rifled and a .54 smooth (28 gauge) for using shot.  I could not find anyone willing to make the .54 because of liability reasons.  I made the smooth barrel a .50 and shipped him the rifle.  He had a smith in England back-bore the barrel to .54 and it proudly wears London proof marks.  I would not make a rifled .54 in that size barrel--there's just not enough meat left in the walls for me.

[AMartin]

Last fall I started a rifle build for my kids and whoever wants to borrow the rifle for a day of flinter hunting ..
It has a straight 13/16" , 50 caliber  , 38" Getz barrel that I bought from Fred Miller ..
Should make a sweet little deer basher ..

I sweated the underlugs in place and for the touch hole , I'll drill and use one of Tom Snyder's internal cone jobs ..

Guess I need to finish it before this upcoming hunting season ...

Al

[Leatherbark]

Believe it or not but the Cabelas Blue Ridge/Pedersoli Frontier flintilock rifle in .54 caliber has a 7/8ths inch barrel with a 1:65 inch twist.  It is supposed to be a high strength steel but that is just what I read somewhere.  My beef with the one I had for a short time was that it needed a .526 ball. A .530 was a bear to load with a regular patch at least on the one I had. Plus when I filed the front sight down to sight it in the mirage was terrible after just a few shots.  Other than that it probably would have made a fine hunting rifle but no a competition gun.  I traded it off.  A 7/8th inch .54 barrel in percussion definitely needs a chambered breech for sure.

Bob

[Hungry Horse]

Maybe some of you never make mistakes, but I sure do, and there is no room for mistakes with a barrel with wall thicknesses in that category.
 Years ago I was at an even where teams of three shooters competed in an event call” The Stand”, which involved rapid firing at steel targets, from cover, for a limited time. One shooter was shooting a longrifle with a 7/8thX.50 cal. Barrel on it. After six quick shots that gun was so hot he couldn’t touch the barrel, and you could smell linseed oil from the finish on the forearm cooking. There were a bunch of accident possibilities looming on the horizon, but someone had the good sense to stop the event.
 It’s hard to know what a barrel will do in a situation like this. And, the thinner the barrel the more sensitive it will be.

  Hungry Horse