Fowler barrel

[Old Ford2]

Where can I get a good fowler barrel and about what price would I expect to pay?
Thank you in advance for your advice.

[bob in the woods]

Kind of like asking how much does a truck cost       Fowler barrel ?      What gauge ?   Barrel length ?  Profile  ?      I have seen smoothbore barrels run anywhere from around  $200 to $400
20 bore oct to round barrels in 42 in length appear to be the most available option .  What style of fowler do you want to build ?

[rich pierce]

Track of the wolf has some in stock. https://www.trackofthewolf.com/list/Item.aspx/655/1

The Colerain barrels are good and authentic in styling. Their own which are cheaper have a straight octagon section then a straight round section, I think. Should shoot fine but look different.
Muzzleloader Building Supply has some. https://www.muzzleloaderbuilderssupply.com/mbs3cart/agora.cgi?cart_id=4185694.19388&next=25&product=Barrels&user4=Colerain
I’ve got one or two 20 gauge octagon to round barrels I could part with. Send me a PM if interested.

[smart dog]

Hi Old Ford,
I will make 2 recommendations for specific styles of fowlers.  For an 18th century English fowler, Colerain's 42" Griffen profile in "D" weight is very good.  The 20 gauge is great for patched round ball but I think the 16 gauge would be ideal for bird shot and has the lighter and lively feel of the originals.  They cost $225.  For a French trade gun or New England fowler, nothing can beat the 48" 20 gauge barrel sold by Davis for their French trade gun kit.  The barrel is very big in the breech but tapers quickly and is thin walled out to the muzzle.  It balances very well.  I think it was $175 from Davis but I am not sure.

dave

[stuart cee dub]

A second on Smart Dogs comments . The 16 gauge barrel will make a great shot fowler and will make a lively field gun .Mike Brooks built one for me using a 16 ga stocked in the English style using an early Ketland lock.
While it will shoot ball it’s really so much better as a true fowler . If you want to shoot both go to a 20 ga ,if ball go to 28 ga (.54-.55 ).

[MikeW]

Rich- PM sent

[kudu]

Im Hesitate to post this Butt.

I just finished a Fowler and have had lots of trouble with It.
The gun shoots real good groups at 25 yards. one hole no lie!!

But at 50 its just terrible I mean Off A BENCH you Can't shoot 16inch groups.
it dose matter how you load it with what powder , Bare ball with 100gr of 2f , patched Balls , different size balls, different patches Powders etc, etc, etc.

So a friend at the range that's a good builder and shooter "Jack" watched me shoot and spotted a few rounds said send the barrel back.

Well I really really wanted to BUTT-  I made a Breech Plug, cut 2 lugs, put in a white lighten Flash hole, cut a groove and Solder a  front sight,  and also cut 3 inches from the front of the muzzle.  I Figured there's no way Track is going to take this back.

Well I'm a Machinist I should be able to figure this out! so I started really checking the Bore I mounted the barrel in my lathe and run a long nose indicator down the Muzzle end -  well its not round .0025 total indicator reading. not good .
so I checked the breech worse .004 TIR.  so I get out some Telescoping Gauges and confirm same thing and NOT UNIFORM size on Muzzle kinda egg shaped  to about 3.5" deep (that's as far as I could measure). It looks real nice with a light though??

So I got a Piece of scotch bright and run thru the bore.
That told the story right away "IT'S A RIFLE REJECT" I could see the spiral of a once
rifled bore.

So yesterday I Brazed a reamer to a long piece of bar stock at told myself I dont think you can hurt it. I started the process at about 11:am and finnished about 4pm.

Long story I put it back together and shot it just before dark. 7 shots Offhand real quick at 43 yards (i just threw up the target and guessed the distance measured afterward.) 6.8 inch group Offhand - the one shot opened it from 4.2"

I ordered a 24ga Track (NOT COLERAIN) oct to round barrel it was .579 bore (Kinda.)
when I "finished the bore", I ended at .586
I haven't shot it off a bench at a true 50yd but I think I might have fixed it, considering the offhand race at dusk.

Just tellin my story.