Brass for barrell?

[Goose]

    Hi all, I'm looking for some input on using brass stock for pistol barrels. I have a piece of bar stock that I would like to make into pistol barrels. I know bronze was used, but I don't know about brass. I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

[Bob Roller]

    Hi all, I'm looking for some input on using brass stock for pistol barrels. I have a piece of bar stock that I would like to make into pistol barrels. I know bronze was used, but I don't know about brass. I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

Bill Large made a few brass rifle barrels and I can see no reason not
to make a pistol barrel of it unless you want to try to duplicate the
performance of a .500 S&W.

Bob Roller

[Goose]

        Nothing that crazy, just 12" O/R cannon profile, 45 or 50 cal smooth bores.

[Marcruger]

12" DIAMETER?   ;-)  That should hold the pressure of a .50 cal.  Heh, heh.  Best wishes,   Marc

[Pukka Bundook]

Knowing nothing about it, (amongst other things!)  All I can say is it may depend on the brass. Some is very brittle and some isn't.  Depends how and of what it is composed.

[Elnathan]

I've never tried making a barrel from it, from my experiences beating on brass with a hammer the malleability of brass does vary quite a bit from alloy to alloy. 260, aka "cartridge brass" is the most ductile and least likely to crack under the hammer, I think. Other alloys may have lead in them for machinability. When I was trying to swage buttplates I cracked a couple of mystery brass sheets and only succeeded when I bought some 260.

What alloy would resist shock impact (like, foe example, a charge of gunpowder going off) the best I can't say.

[davec2]

Ed Rayl has made a few brass blunderbuss barrels and a pair of pistol barrels for me.  I never did ask him what alloy they were made out of but it might be worth a call to ask him.

[Rolf]

Most brass barrels are not really brass. Whats used is naval brass = naval bronse = gun metal. Regular brass is to brittel.

Wikipedia
Gunmetal, also known as red brass in the United States, is a type of bronze – an alloy of copper, tin, and zinc. Proportions vary by source,[1][2] but 88% copper, 8–10% tin, and 2–4% zinc is an approximation. Originally used chiefly for making guns, it was eventually superseded in this department by steel. Gunmetal, which casts and machines well and is resistant to corrosion from steam and salt water,[3] is used to make steam and hydraulic castings, valves, gears, statues, and various small objects, such as buttons. It has a tensile strength of 221 to 310 MPa, a specific gravity of 8.7, a Brinell hardness of 65 to 74, and a melting point of around 1,000 degrees Celsius.

Best regards
Rolf

[Clark Badgett]

Rolf nailed it. My 1848 Mechanics handbook lists Naval Bronze as 90/10 (Cu/Sn).

[45-110]

if possible, you might try visiting a boat yard that does repairs and has some old hulks laying around.
i salvaged 2 naval bronze propeller shafts from rotting sail boats when i lived near the great lakes. mine are 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 diameter where 3 feet plus long. when i was scrounging around back then there where plenty of damaged ones around.
best
kw

[Goose]

     Thanks for the replies gentleman. Not knowing the origin of the bar stock, I think it best I put the project on the shelf for now. Thanks again.

[mark brier]

Naval brass is what I used when I poured some brass pistol barrels
Mark Brier

[Daryl]

I would be very concerned over work hardening, such as experienced with ctg. brass.