Original Makers and long barrels

[Eric Smith]

Having only studied this obsession for a short time, I pose a question for those of you who have. Who among the original makers favored the longer barrel?

[rich pierce]

Makers of fowling pieces.   

[Dphariss]

Having only studied this obsession for a short time, I pose a question for those of you who have. Who among the original makers favored the longer barrel?

Define "longer".
The "four foot" barrel was pretty common on rifles by the 1750s.
But barrels longer than this become increasingly difficult to load.
Dan

[Eric Smith]

The most commonly offered barrels I see are 38", 42", and 44".  Anything longer than that is considered custom made, I believe. I was wondering if their was an original maker who typically used barrels longer than what is readily available today.

[dannybb55]

The Piedmont North Carolina builders built long.

[Dphariss]

The most commonly offered barrels I see are 38", 42", and 44".  Anything longer than that is considered custom made, I believe. I was wondering if their was an original maker who typically used barrels longer than what is readily available today.

What is common today is what is common today. Its what people buy. What was common back in the day may be different. Todays swamps, for example, are more pronounced than many original barrels were.
Look through RCA 1 & 2 most barrel lengths are listed as they are in Kindig's book.
Use a notebook and write down every barrel length by maker and you will have your answer at least for rifles that are in the books.

Dan

[Acer Saccharum]

One must also take into consideration that many barrels have been shortened at the muzzle or the breech, and sometimes converted to percussion and even shorter for a halfstock.

And now it's the fashion to change perc guns back to flint, and stretch the barrels 'back to original length'.

What you see in RCA may be a good indicator of bbl lengths, but modified by the above.

[Ed Wenger]

E,

Slightly off topic, but Rice makes a 46" rifle barrel...


          Ed

[Daryl]

I noted that many of the orders "from the West" for rifles to be sent from the Eastern makers, were changing from 4 feet to 3feet 6 inches by the 1820's. This, according to original records re-printed in "Firearms of the American West", 1805 - 1865.

[bgf]

Don't take this too seriously, but 46" seems to have been a favorite length for Virginia rifles.  So much that in a description of one (if I am recalling it correctly), Shumway says something to the effect of "The barrel length is 46", which is appropriate for a Virginia rifle".  For at least one of the rifles that you are building, don't forget practical matters like "will it fit in the car I have" or "can I see to load it without tripping other people with the buttstock", etc.  I think 42" standard is a little on short side for most originals through ~1830's or so, but not outrageously so.