Test Firing Barrels

[blackdave]

Back about thirty years ago, I was deep into building my first trade gun, from a bunch of surplus parts old Turner Kirkland picked up while dragging a magnet through Europe, and maybe India. In the back of the Dixie Gun works catalog was a picture of somebody proof firing  a barrel by sticking it in an old tire, and tying the muzzle down. That looked good to me, so thats what I did. The round barrel was a .20 ga. and 30" long. I decided it needed proofing because it was obviously an unfinished shotgun barrel originally designed to be part of a double gun. Also I had draw filed it OTR and wasn't sure how deep I had gone on the wedding rings. The text, with the picture, said to double charge it, and double ball it, so thats what I did. One hundred and twenty grains of 2F, and two patched balls. Now I'm here to tell y'all that if you don't use a steel belted radial tire, you're gonna have to do some hunting' to find that barrel. Luckily I didn't stand behind the tire, and didn't point it toward the house. The barrel when about 25 yards out through the orchard, but it stayed together, and the gun got built.

I had a similar experience about the same time period with a Dixie Gun Works surplus barrel.  I was building a Barnett trade gun and needed to proof the barrel.  Double load and double ball, but I thought I would go one better than a tire and tie it muzzle down to one of my large cottonwood trees (about 4 feet in diameter).  I lit the fuse and stepped to the other side of the tree and plugged my ears.  After what seemed like an eternity, there was a big boom and I stepped around the tree to see how the barrel fared.  To my surprise, there was nothing there!  I stood dumbfounded, trying to figure out what happened, when I heard a metallic sound over my head.  It was my barrel returning to Earth! It stuck muzzle down in the dirt about 10 feet from the tree.  I estimate the barrel was airborne about 20-30 seconds, probably reaching an altitude of a couple of hundred feet.  I called the gun "Eagle" in honor of the barrel's flight.  I test barrels differently now....Like my Grandma always used to say  "God watches out for drunks and fools".  I wasn't drinking, but I think I own the "fool" moniker.  I remain your humble servant,

Just Dave

[gumboman]

You can buy cannon fuse here. No hazmat fee.
http://www.cannonfuse.com/http://

[Gun_Nut_73]

How much time does 12" of cannon fuse give you?
[/quote]

Age and exposure will affect burn rate.  The only way to get a reasonable estimate of burn rate for a given fuse is to time it.  Cut off 12" of fuse, light the freshly cut end, and time how long it takes to burn.

This does 2 things:  It gives you the current burn rate, and provides you with two freshly cut ends for easier lighting and ignition.

[inlikeflint]

What I have been doing is to do it electrically with  a 100ft  extension cord.  Take a lamp cord and twist a few strands of fine steel wool between the bare ends where the lamp  would normally go.  Tape this close to the touch hole on the barrel.  Take  and  cover the touch hole with 4f.  Using a 100ft  cord I plug this into a outside electrical outlet and it goes bang right now each and every time.  did a 2 shot proof on a 26"  flint shot gun barrel a few months ago this way,   first with shot then with a double ball.  John

[WadePatton]

What I have been doing is to do it electrically with  a 100ft  extension cord.  Take a lamp cord and twist a few strands of fine steel wool between the bare ends where the lamp  would normally go.  Tape this close to the touch hole on the barrel.  Take  and  cover the touch hole with 4f.  Using a 100ft  cord I plug this into a outside electrical outlet and it goes bang right now each and every time.  did a 2 shot proof on a 26"  flint shot gun barrel a few months ago this way,   first with shot then with a double ball.  John

12VDC would probably light one that way too, in case any range doesn't have AC power.  Also you might install a switch in the circuit, use a red-covered one for dramatic effects.   

[badwolf]

What would be a proper proof load for a 54 cal rifle barrel?

[ddoyle]

I personally don't think a Rice, Colerain, or Green Mountain barrels need to be "Tested". Same goes for a Rayl, Long Hammock, or any other modern made barrel, JMO.

Funny that the best barrel makers in the world have been proofing barrels so long then. What do the companies in that list know that the rest of the world does not?  Not saying their barrels are not usually great but proofing has been accepted as part of a barrels evolution from a billet or bar to a firearm for centuries.

food for thought:

With many materials including but not limited to bronze, iron, early steels 'proofing'  serves not just to 'test' it for safety. Firing a heavy proof load actually serves to strengthen/improve resistance to future bursting.

Was a time when (and likely still) the best barrels were bored, loads heavy enough to enlarge the bore and OD were fired, even to the point of individual bulges and then the barrel would be bored to desired size, rifled, turned to a uniform profile.

proofing/firing with heavy loads has been recognized as a MAJOR contributor to creating safe barrels (as opposed to testing for a safe barrel) since the krauts started applying a bit of science and measuring to gun building in the mid 19th century.

I have no idea how any modern/ ( say post 1900) barrel material reacts to proofing, be nice if some barrel makers did though? We might end up with lighter barrels as one benefit. Those admirably thin light fowler walls and thin waist-ed rifles of old have a genesis in careful science.

[KLMoors]

When I test a barrel, I use a set up similar to Dan's.  I use the maroon/red cannon fuse to set it off. 

On the land where I hunt, there is a big oak tree that has a perfect pocket where the roots go into the ground.  I drove 4 stakes into the ground near the pocket.  I attach the breech area of my jig to two of the stakes, and the muzzle end to the other two. The breech end of the jig is held tightly against the tree. The barrel is clamped to the jig as Dan shows.

I use only about 8 inches of fuse. I light it and just step around the the back side of the tree and put my fingers in my ears.