Colerain barrels

[ken]

I have experience using Getz, Rice and Green Mountain barrels, but not Colerain. What has been your experience using Colerain barrels? I am thinking of picking one up, but I have no idea about the accuracy, which is my main objective.

[bob in the woods]

Mine shoot as good or better than I can hold.  My .40 is a tack driver.  [ 42 in A profile swamped ]
So is my .54 C weight  42 in

[Rich]

I use and shoot Rice, Colerain and Green Mountain. Rice had a nicer external finish upon arrival. With the round bottom grooves, I didn't see a difference in performance between Rice and Colerain. The GM barrel is square bottom. They are all accurate. The GM is a little harder to clean than the round bottom grooved barrels. I recently bought a swamped GM barrel (.54). It looked like it had a little clatter (minor) in the grooves. I lapped it and it looks great now. Some folks say the round groove is not as accurate as the square bottom. I really can't say I notice a difference, but I do wonder about it. I believe you can get Rice and Colerain with square bottom grooves. I wouldn't hesitate to use any of them, round or square grooves.

[Dennis Glazener]

I really can't say I notice a difference, but I do wonder about it. I believe you can get Rice and Colerain with square bottom grooves. I wouldn't hesitate to use any of them, round or square grooves.

Sq bottom rifling in the Rice gunmaker line, shoot better and cheaper, excellent barrels, I prefer them to the round bottomed rifling.
Dennis

[moleeyes36]

Dennis,

I've heard before that square bottom rifling shoots better than round bottom rifling, but I have no experience with round bottom rifling.  I have a .54 round bottom barrel that I'm going to use in my "Trans Swamp Hog Homogenizer" for hunting hogs in the swamps here in Central Florida. 

Again having no personal experience with round bottom rifling, I can only say what I've heard, but I hear that round bottom rifling in the smaller calibers like .32 collects less fouling.  What are you thoughts there.  Thanks.

[smylee grouch]

I wonder if round bottom rifling collects less fouling  or if its just easyer to clean out.

[cunninmp]

So I have a Colerain Swamped in a .45 flinter. Has round bottom rifling. It's the most accurate in my arsenal. Use an .018 patch with Hoppe's #9 as a lube. At 50 yards you can cover the holes with a fifty cent piece if you can find one.
Oh, the Hoppe's #9 is their BP solvent. Using Goex 3f.
Also have a .50 flinter with a Green Mtn flat grooved barrel. Have tried lots of lubes and patches. Best is about
2" at 50 yards. Have tried Goex 2f and 3f. Likes the 2f better.
I also have a Rayl .45 13" in a pistol flinter from Chambers. Square rifling. Great out to 25 yards. Same patch as the Colerain.
A Lyman GPR in .54. Not quite as good as the Green Mtn but very close. Square rifling.
Also have a Getz .54 match barrel with a 1/48" twist. Square deep rifling. Almost as good as the Colerain.
All the above are PRB using a twill from Joanne Fabric that measures .018. Light Brown in color.
Bottom line is my Colerain is the best I have. Is it the round bottom rifling or does it make any difference? I wish I knew. My own thoughts are if you buy from a reputable barrel maker, you'll have good end results.
I'll go out on a limb and say round or flat it doesn't matter if you work up a load that your barrel shoots well. For my own sake, I'd get another round rifled barrel in a heartbeat.
Mike C.

 

[smylee grouch]

I have several rifles of both types of rifling, round and square and have shot alot of shots through both types. I wouldnt claim to be an expert but hanging  around the bench rest and slug gun bunch at 18 national championships I have never seen a slug gun or real bench rest gun with round bottom rifling. I have round bottom in my hunting  guns and love it but when I want to shoot the best groups that I am capable of , my money goes with square cut. I am sure there are many round bottom shooters who can out shoot me but the real dedicated match shooters in those types of matches will have square bottom. I would also bet that most chunk gun shooters use square cut.

[Dennis Glazener]

Again having no personal experience with round bottom rifling, I can only say what I've heard, but I hear that round bottom rifling in the smaller calibers like .32 collects less fouling.  What are you thoughts there.  Thanks.

The way I shoot I doubt there is really much difference between flat bottomed and round but the flat just seems to shoot better for me. The problem is I have not had two barrels just alike other than the rifling. My 54 hunting rifle has round bottomed rifling, its a 38 inch barrel. I owned an earlier 54 with 42 inch barrel with flat bottomed rifling and it seemed to have shot much tighter groups, maybe it was more the sight radius than the type rifling.

I have a Rice 44 inch 32 caliber with round bottomed rifling and it shoots way better than I can hold but so did an earlier 32 with flat bottomed rifling.

I hear folks say the round bottomed rifling is easier to clean, I haven't seen much difference. I suspect its like many things whatever you had good experiences with ends up being your favorite, that applies to calibers, type rifling length of barrel etc.
Dennis

[LH]

Dennis is right on the money.  It seems like a lot of target shooters "think" square is better than round,  but I've never found anybody who has come up with definitive proof.  I bought a roundbottom barrel and it didn't satisfy me in the accuracy department so I replaced it with square.  But I've done the same thing with square groove barrels too,  so my results are significant but meaningless.   

[oldarcher]

Colerain makes an excellent barrel, but so does Rice, Getz, etc., etc. All shoot great.  Round grove-square grove...no shooting difference. Pick what you like from a quality maker and you can't go wrong. I just finished a Hawken with a round grove Colerain barrel, the only thought is that the exterior was not as finely finished as some other makers, but that just means a little more draw filing. The bore is bright and smooth, should be a great shooter.

[ken]

Is there a difference in the land and groove configuration in colerain compared to other barrel makers      ken

[oldarcher]

Colerain uses 6 land/groove rifling and the twist is dependent on bore diameter. The lands/grooves appear to be of equal size. The depth of the rifling is generally .016, but smaller calibers are 12-14 thousands deep.
I can tell you that Scott Keller is a stand up guy and will do his best to see you are satisfied with your purchase. The barrel that I just used was too long from distributor, I contacted Scott and he cut the barrel to desired length for the cost of shipping only.
I used an L & R patent breech plug and it took very little work to properly fit.
This is not meant to be a commercial, but when someone provides a quality product and treats me well, I am happy to recommend them.
Check their website: http://colerainbarrel.com/rifled_barrels.html

[Daryl]

My .32 does not collect fouling, yet it has wide lands and narrow grooves, the opposite of what it should be.  I still use combinations that more than go to the bottom of the grooves, hence it's 'clean' shooting.

If you always more than fill the grooves (compression in the bottom of the grooves) with ball and patch, the barrel will NEVER  - ie: cannot collect fouling - no matter the bore size, as long as the patch is wet with a water based lube - especially spit.

[Kermit]

I'm waiting for someone to synthesize and bottle spit. Some would probably buy it!

[LH]

Kermit,   if rancid deer pizz in a bottle will sell,  I'm sure slobber would too.   

[bgf]

I'm waiting for someone to synthesize and bottle spit. Some would probably buy it!

I am selling my "Award Winning Shooter's Lube" for $10/4 ounce spray bottle.  The award I won was for learning to tie my shoes in Kindergarten, but it is the lube I use when shooting -- plain water from whatever faucet is nearest at the time ! 

[ken]

Thanks for all the input. I guess I will have to give one of these barrels a try And hope the buyer is pleased. Maybe I,ll work up a load be for the guy gets it. thanks again    ken

[Darkhorse]

I ordered my .40 from LC Rice way back when he was still at Rice barrels. I don't remember the twist but listened to his recommendation. Round bottom rifling. At that time the premium, finished barrel was $260. if memory serves me.
I also have a .54 Colrain that took a lot more work to finish out. Barrel was around $110. when I bought it.
Funny thing, both barrels shoot way better than I can.
I would not hesitate about buying another Colrain.

[moleeyes36]

Kermit,   if rancid deer pizz in a bottle will sell,  I'm sure slobber would too.   

LH,

Well I can definitely say that I don't want to shoot a match if folks start using Tinks 69 for patch lube.  We'd have to change the rules to require eye, ear, and nose protection.   

Mole Eyes

[LH]

Moleeyes,  have you ever shot next to anyone using Ballistol?  That stuff smells like a trekkers' loin cloth that's been trekking in the everglades for two months!   

[Kermit]

What loin cloth experiences allow you to make that comparison? 

[LH]

Left dat'n wide open didn't I Kermit       Whut I meant to say is it smells like I would imagine...........