Barrel Balance

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Anyone in here use Colerain's Classic American Barrel?  I am wondering if .45 or .50 caliber are good calibers for balance when shooting off hand?

Coryjoe

[Birddog6]

It all depends on who is shooting it.  You take 40 guys & 39 of them are going to want it to balance differently.  Best to go Shoulder one yourself, then you will know if it balances to suite You.

Keith Lisle

[skillman]

I gotta agree with Kieth
"Balance" is a matter of personal taste. Kinda like women. No one can agree on what is perfect.
Steve

[California Kid]

You should consider a Rice barrel, similar profiles and balance but of much higher quality. As far as balance birdog has made a good suggestion

[Daryl]

A Rice in "B" weight (close to Gun builder's weight, I think) will give a light .50, a 'perfect' .40 for someone who likes a bit of muzzle weight for offhand shotoing. In .45 cal., it would still be too light for Taylor and I for offhand work, however better than the .50 but would still be a perfect hunting weight. In a .50, a "C" weight is perfect for us.
The "Leatherbelly's New Rifle" thread used the gun maker's barrel, which I think is close to a "B"? Going to a site that sells Rice barrels will give the dimensions for comparrison purposes.
What anyone prefers is simply a personal choice.  I prefer like over 10 pounds total with most of that in the barrel for offhand work. For me, swamped barrels are too muzzle-light to shoot well offhand.  Straight barrels give a better foreward weight.  Others like nothing heavier than 7 1/2 to 8 pounds and a "between-the-hands" feel with barely 'some' muzzle weight. For them, the "B" in a .50 might be perfect.

[Acer Saccharum]

Roger Fisher likes a 7/8" straight x 42".

I like a 32" x 15/16" straight for target shooting.

Thin swamped barrels heat up quickly and mirage a lot. Not my first choice for serious target work.

This is opinion.

Tom

[Don Getz]

Since you are talking about balance, keep  this in mind.    Lets use one of the standard 44" profiles of barrels, different
barrel makers have different names for them.   Any of the weights within that style of barrel, or calibre, will balance at the
same spot......they will vary in overall weight, but the balance spot will be the same.........Don

[oldiemkr]

Don,

Yuo may be one of a few that can answer the "point of balance" question.

Lets say you take a 44" straight barrel and find and mark the "balance point.
Now you take a 44" swamped barrel and find the balance point and mark it.

How much distance is between the two marks? Or how far back is the swamped barrel mark?

[keweenaw]

One needs to remember it isn't the barrel that balances, it's the rifle.  I find a 44" B weight  50 cal. barrel to give great balance for me in a York style rifle of the 1780 designs.  That same barrel would be terribly muzzle light in an earlier Dickert style rifle.  For the Dickert to balance correctly one needs a different barrel all together than the A-D series.  John Getz's "Hachen" barrel is what one wants to get to achieve appropriate balance with early Dickert architecture and hardware.   I have a Huntingdon Co. rifle in 38 cal. that has a straight 7/8 x 38" barrel.  That rifle with the extremely light Huntingdon Co. design and hardware is terribly muzzle heavy, especially when couple with a rifle design to be shot on the arm rather than the shoulder.

Tom

[oldiemkr]

Tom,

No doubt the rifle style and wood weight and a number of other factors come in to play.

A discussion from awhile back brought up the question of using swamped barrels for better balance. I asked if anyone had tried to measure this balance shift and got some good opinions but no clear measure of the difference.


Denny

[g.pennell]

Denny,

A straight barrel should balance in the center of the length.  So, a 44" straight barrel should balance at 22", +or- whatever material is bored out for the breachplug threading.  I have a 44" C-weight swamped .50 at home, I'll try to remember to find and measure the balance point of it this evening when I get in from "work"...never thought to measure this before.

Like you've already mentioned, the balance of the assembled rifle is going to depend largely on stock design.  As to what is "better"...well, one man's lemon is another's lemonade.

Greg

PS...this 44", C-swamp Green Mountain .50 caliber balances at 18.75" from the breech end of the barrel...no breech plug installed.  By my limited math skills, I'd say the balance point is shifted 3.25" to the rear of the barrel's center...FWIW

[oldiemkr]

Greg,

Thanks for the reply! A 3.25 "  difference is even more than I estimated.

This much shift is sure to make a difference in any style. Thanks for taking the time to measure and answer my question.

Denny

[Dphariss]

This rifle has B weight 44" 50 calibers shortened about 4" at the breech and 1" at the muzzle.
Note balance point.
It also has a dense stock with a large buttplate which helps bring the balance point back.. Total weight 11.03 pounds.

Dan

[oldiemkr]

Thanks for the pic Dan.

Sounds and looks like you had the balance in mind when you built that one.

11.03 pounds ought to keep you steady!! I'm thinking of something a bit lighter these days. Maybe an iron mount Isaac haines with a B .50. Could get my Grandsons going with that and I seem to need that lighter gun these days.

Denny

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

My .50 Berry with a 42" "B" wt barrel weighs in at under 7lbs........suweet!

[Dphariss]

Thanks for the pic Dan.

Sounds and looks like you had the balance in mind when you built that one.

11.03 pounds ought to keep you steady!! I'm thinking of something a bit lighter these days. Maybe an iron mount Isaac haines with a B .50. Could get my Grandsons going with that and I seem to need that lighter gun these days.

Denny

It does show how important 3-4" can be though.

Dan