square bore

[camerl2009]

http://oldguns.net/pix/18444.jpg when i first seen it i had to scratch my head a bit would this fire cube bullets or a bullet somwhat like the whitworth but square insted of hex

how hard would it be to replicate the square bore it would sure turn some heads shooting square bullets  it seems easy enough to do the cutter would be vary easy to make and to make the twist all that would be needed is a piece of square bar stock twisted to the right rate

[Flinter]

I wonder... would you use round or square patches?

[Chris Treichel]

http://www.wedmore.org.uk/puckle/James.htm Brought to mind the puckle gun... square bore for "shooting heathens." Got a big HUH??? out of me when I first saw the specs. 

[camerl2009]

http://www.wedmore.org.uk/puckle/James.htm Brought to mind the puckle gun... square bore for "shooting heathens." Got a big HUH??? out of me when I first saw the specs. 

no the square bore was for shooting muslim/turks enemys ans round bore for shooting christian enemys and the puckle gun had a hugh bore with the round bore it could be shot with a buckshot type cartridge

the idea was the square bullet hurt more and was punishment for not being christian 

[doug]

    As long as you had the patience, I suppose it would be no different that a conventional bore to cut.  I would think you would have to remove a lot more material and presumably have to make a series of cutters as the shape of the square became more complete.  I think the biggest criticism being that I would suspect that a cube would not be  overly accurate because of the corners creating all sorts of turbulence.  As a comparison with the difficulty of cutting other bores, I have an oval bore (cartridge gun) and a belted ball gun.  Both can be cut with single cutters and both I think involve removing quite a bit less metal.  The oval bore is roughly 12 guage and is .018" out of round.  I would have to measure the grooves for the belted ball but I think they are around .030" deep or a bit more.

cheers Doug

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

I guess that a square rifled bore is do-able (but why?).  I have rifled a "Whitworth" barrel - a 7 sided polygon rifled bore.  It was a lot more time consuming than the typical 7 round bottom grooves.  You have to remove a lot more metal!  It was fun and entertaining, but no advantage.  Oh, by the way, it was a pistol barrel.

Jim

[TMerkley]

Well,  you would definately be able to hear the bullet as it goes over your head,  kinda like a howitzer round that falls short.  Not fun, Glad I wasn't the platoon leader on that one!

[camerl2009]

to me suare seems to be easier then grooved grooved takes many  pas to cut a groove and you have to cut the next one

square you cloud cut all sides at once im guessing that a whitworth type bullet would work ok now real whitworth rifles only have a hex bore (six sides)

idk i found it neat its one of the odd balls i find every now and then thought it get a good chuckle over here  and who know what will happen down the road (the bullet would need to be swaged in a die for sure kind of hard to make a bullet mold that would cast square bullets)

[Acer Saccharum]

In the Steinschloss book, there are a couple of JAegers with odd bore shapes. One barrel has a square bore, and the other rifle has a heart shaped bore.

[Bill of the 45th]

Here's some more choices to drive the mould makers crazy.

Bill

[Dphariss]

Thank you! I have been looking for these.

I think some of these are "look what I can do" stuff. Though its possible a heart shaped bore could shoot well I suppose
Dan

[T*O*F]

I think some of these are "look what I can do" stuff.

If any of them were any good, we would be using them instead of round projectiles, Whitworth included.

I imagine they were cut with a series of tapered swages rather than a single point cutter.

[Chris Treichel]

at Bill of the 45... I think some of those muzzles in the picture might be muzzle art and not necessarily the rest of the bore. 

That heart shape is interesting... Happy Valentines Day to the recipient of the ball.

[eddillon]

   The heart shaped bores seem to have ramrod tips to match.  Methinks this means more than a muzzle treatment.  I once owned a "horse pistol" with a pentagonal bore.  Long before the internet!  Used to shoot lead balls that I had filed flats on.  Used home made black powder and match heads for caps.  Didn't know a source for those commodities in 1952