Wolf Asked about 2 Grooves

[Daryl]

"one thing if you only have 2 grooves there will be no fouling in grooves to worry about,,,,,,,,,,,,, "


With only 2 grooves as-done for the cloth patched belted ball (yes- 2 grooves), it would work(& did).  I'm thinking with a non-mechanically fitted
ball, the combination would have to be very snug, due to the likely narrow grooves and wide lands. The wider the land, the more area of
the "tighter" dimension in the bore to cover with fouling. That is why narrow lands and wide grooves shoots 'cleaner' - as long as the patch
actually goes to the bottom of the grooves with 'some' compression. The wider the lands, the more lead has to be moved, to get a tight fit
thus harder loading.  Thus, perhaps the question is, would 2 narrow lands and 2 extra wide grooves work?  Likely quite well, as long as the twist
was slow and a VERY tight combination. However, it might load quite easily, just the same.
The actual "design" means a great deal here.

[wolf]

i would think it could work. wish somebody would give it a try,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Tim Ault]

 so long as the patch was thick enough to completely fill the grooves it and tough enough not to tear should work fine  if the patch fails though it could be thrown off center . Although I'd much prefer 3 or 5  narrow lands and wide grooves , I believe there would be superior alignment to the center of the bore . Either way I'll take narrow lands and wide grooves anyday over a 50/50 style rifling but I assume  it's easier to cut the narrow grooves so that's what we see most

[Daryl]

[quote Wolf]one thing if you only have 2 grooves there will be no fouling in grooves to worry about,,,,,,,,,,,,, [/quote]

Approximately 56% of a black powder charge results in solid waste. Some of this is deposited in the bore after the ball leaves & is the fouling.
Thus, it matters not whether the "bore" consists of groove or lands, the fouling is deposited, likely fairly evenly around the insides of the bore.
Now, would fouling on the lands, where the ball and patch fit is tightest when loading, make for easier loading than having more grooves or
larger grooves where the fit is easiest? I would think the smallest area of lands, would result in easier loading, which seems to be the case in
the barrels currently made. The Goodoien "match" barrels that track sold, had the widest grooves I have seen, and indeed, it was easy loading
balls that were .002" larger than the bore along with a .0235" mattress ticking patch.

[smylee grouch]

I have never made a barrel but think that if a guy was going to make a two groove barrel with the wide grooves for round ball shooting, the cutter would be under a lot of stress trying to remove that much in one cut. Maybe some of our custom barrel makers will weigh in on the topic.

[Daryl]

Smylee Grouch - there would most certainly be a LOT of drag/friction on a cutter & a scraping-type cutter would likely work best.
That is a lot of metal to remove, regardless of the width of the groove, even if only double normal width.  However, a 4 groove, 4 land
bore with very narrow lands & slow would cut the amount of metal per pass and make for easier cutting. It might also load easier for
those who find tight combinations difficult.