Colerain rifled fowler barrel oct to round

[bob hertrich]

I am going to build a version of RCA 52. It has a large barrel. I would like to use a oct to round "C" weight barrel in my version. Would the Colerain fowler barrel be OK used in that rifle.

[Elnathan]

Since no one else has answered...

The breech on the original barrel is 1 1/8", so you will may end up having to adjust some of the dimensions of the stock to retain the same proportions and look of the original. Breech width can have a subtle but profound influence on the look of a rifle, I've found, particularly if you are changing the draw length as well. That depends on the difference between the original and the copy, of course, as well as how closely you want to follow the lines of the original. 1/16" difference shouldn't be too hard to compensate for, I think.

That is the only potential objection I can think of. Otherwise, sounds fine to me.

[smart dog]

Hi,
I built a gun inspired by RCA 52.  It is a fine handling rifle.  The octagon to round barrel would likely make a good gun but it will look a bit different than RCA 52.  The rifle has a robust look but there is no excess wood. The sturdy look comes from the thick wrist and large barrel all the way to the muzzle.  My version has an older  "D" weight Getz 62 cal swamped barrel.  The architecture and hardware also have many nuances.  It is not easy to find the right hardware and what I did use required a lot of modifying. Regardless, it was a fun challenge and the gun handles really well.

dave
 

[bob hertrich]

Thanks for your inputs. I will try it with the oct to round. Smart dog, that is a real fine looking rifle.

[Kermit]

I've had two different rifles with rifled OTR barrels, one .54 x 42" and the other .50 x 46". They are nooticably lighter and faster handling than a swamped barrel of similar dimensions, IMO.

[rich pierce]

Take a look at RCA 19.  That's a great example of a rifle-built gun with an octagon to round barrel.  As you can see, the octagon to round barrel gives it a somewhat different look but quite nice.  Adapting that to RCA 52 should be fine.  Just think of it as another gun from that maker in the same time period.  My RCA 19 in .54 handles wonderfully and though I'm not a great shooter due to lack of consistent practice, the Getz rifled barrel shoots well as any other rifle I have.