Rice Forsyth Rifled Barrels

[billd]

Has anyone built a gun with one of Rice's Forsyth rifled barrels?   How do they shoot?  Maybe this should be in the shooting forum.

Thanks,  Bill

[Hungry Horse]

Have never shot one by Rice, but have shot one by W.M. Large. The owner had one rifle he bought used ( with the Large barrel) and had another built new with a very nice Les Bauska barrel on it. These guns were the same caliber, and same weight. The Large barrel had the wide groove, narrow land, configuration you mentioned. Bob Roller identified it as one of Bill's Forsyth profile barrels. This gun shot as good as any muzzleloader I've ever seen, and always outshot the custom built gun, with the standard configuration barrel. Much to the owner distress.

                             Hungry Horse

[longcruise]

What are the ratios of land to groove on the Rice barrels?

[axelp]

I think I might possibly have the first one they made... ok maybe not to the exact specs they are NOW using but...

I have an Isaac Haines style Chambers kit that has a  38" long swamped barrel made for me by Rice on it. It has a 1:80" rate of twist and .008" shallow rifling. It seems to like more powder--- about a 95 grain FF charge with a .495 lead ball. I use .015-.018" cloth patching, spit patched for target, bear grease/beeswax for hunting. I have shot a 30+ round woodswalk with it and not had to wipe the bore. And it shoots better than I can hold it.

I use a short starter with this load but it is not terrible hard to load.

K

[leatherman]

Jason ran a run of .62 caliber barrels last Spring with the forsyth rifling with a 1 in 95" twist. These were his first run of Forsyth rifled barrels as he had to make the tooling to do so. He has had more requests for larger caliber a but I don't know if he has tooled up for them yet. Most of the interest has come from African builders or those thinking of taking them to Africa. I have one of the .62 barrels I am collecting parts to build a Germanic jaeger based on an original I own. Then it's going to Africa to take some critters. Hope to have mine built this summer and then I will post a report on the rifling. I will check to see if any African builders have finished their rifles yet.

[gumboman]

I have a Rice Forsyth rifled barrel mounted to a Allen box lock action that I have in my safe for a future stocking project. Have not shot it yet. It is a .62 caliber with a 1-95 twist. Lands are .040 wide (but look wider), grooves are.200 wide and .005 to .006 deep. The workmanship looks great. Rifling is clean and smooth. A perfect crown. Barrel flats seem to be of a finish level that can be browned without draw filing.

For anyone wanting a big bore Forsythe rifled barrel, you cannot go wrong with a Rice.

[billd]

Mr. Gumbo,   You have the same barrel I have.  Seems like quite a few people bought them but no one has gotten one into a finished rifle yet.

Thanks,
BIll

[bigsmoke]

Sorry, I do not have any info or experience with the Rice barrels.
For all the Forsythe barrels we used, I got the 20 bore through 12 bore from Bill Moody.  The outsides were a little rough, but the rifling was great.  As Forsythe stated in his book, he liked either 1:104 or 1:144 twist.  The 12-20 bore barrels had eight lands and grooves with a 3:1 ratio on width, the grooves being the wider.  They were .006 deep, again as per Forsythe's specs.  I am sorry to say, I had heard that Moody has stopped making barrels.
For our big bore guns, we use Oregon Rifle Barrel Co./The Gun Works barrels.  The 8 and 4 bore guns were all rifled at 1:144, .009 deep, everything else the same.
One of the 12 bore guns we built I kept for my own.  It was almost uncanny how well it shot.  And the power - oh my goodness.  It was incredible how hard a hitting gun that was.  Of course, like an idiot, I sold that.
John

[gumboman]

I just finished a 62 caliber with Forsyth rifling. The gun is an underhammer action, 30 inch barrel, .040 wide lands, .200 wide groves, with a 1-90 twist. This is not a Rice barrel. I am having great difficulty making it shoot satisfactorily. I have read tons of material on Forsyth rifling and particularly how the slow twist is accurate in large bores. My experience has been different. At this time I don't know if the problem is the barrel construction or the twist rate. I continue to work on loads when I have time but I am skeptical at the moment that the slow twist will give the level of accuracy I am accustomed to with faster twists. My loads have been up to 200 grains Goex with a wide ranging combination of patches and balls. If I did not have so much time and money invested in this project I would replace the barrel with a 1-72 twist. Also if I had it to do over again, I would try to build a load with the barrel before doing any finish work or stocking. Just bought some Swiss powder to try and see if I get different results.

[Hungry Horse]

 It appears that most of the barrels mentioned are long range affairs with very slow twists. The Bill Large barrel I had experience with, was a .54 cal. 1-66 twist. Although we didn't test it at extended ranges ( beyond say 300yards), it did shoot better than most of the custom barrels in our club. This included some of Bill Large's own barrels in a more traditional rifling profile. I would not hesitate to buy a Forsyth type rifled barrel from a reputable company, because I feel there are definite advantages to this style of rifling.

                               Hungry Horse

[axelp]

My barrel was a modified forsyth barrel and I got it as a compromise for shooting harder than lead (non-lead) roundballs. I live in CA where 1/5 of the States hunting land has a lead projectile ban for big game. I have found that it likes a little more powder for best accuracy. Its a .50 cal and I use 95 gr of FF or FFF---I could probably go hotter if I had a stronger/tighter patch-- and benefit for the doing of it. I have not experimented enough yet.

With  lead roundball it likes a bigger ball and thinner strong patch, But with harder than lead (non-lead) roundballs, I tend toward a smaller ball and a thicker patch (more to "protect the bore" than for increased accuracy. That non-lead stuff is pretty hard--- and I fear it will hurt my bore with prolonged use... I might be paranoid and the makers say my concern is not warranted but never the less...

I like the barrel, but I am not sure it is any more or less accurate than a standard barrel--it just requires a different feeding regimen.

[Hungry Horse]

Ken;

  If you are casting your own balls, check the diameter of the lead balls, and the alloy ones, from the same mold. Alloy bullets tend to not shrink back as much as lead. Linen patching is a lot stronger than cotton, so take the wife to Ruth's Chris, and steal the napkins. Only kidding.

                   Hungry Horse

[axelp]

The harder than lead roundballs I am using are totally lead-free. As such, they are not "home-grown", but are purchased because I don't even want to know whats really in them...

Brand: ITX non-toxic roundballs.

Maker: www.tomboboutdoors.com

I DO like your idea of how to get some decent linen for patching, as well as get a great steak.