Barrel Rebore

[John Shaw]

I have a 45 cal. flintlock 1"x38" that must have gained some weight since I built it in 1980. It's getting hard to hold and shoot comfortably. I was thinking about ordering a smooth rifle kit from Kiblers to have something better balanced to shoot. At the shoot this past Saturday the idea came up to have my 45 rebored to 54 cal. smooth and ordering a rifle kit instead of the smooth bore. Does this make any sense and who could do the rebore?

JS

[msellers]

Bobby Hoyt is your guy. There are several places discussing this on here, couldn't lay my hand on one quick.
Mike

[scottmc]

Bingo!!  Sellers just gave u the answer.  I and some of my friends have had Bobby rebore to a larger caliber and has worked great.  Point of impact stays the same, too.  All for the low cost $125.  You'll be amazed at how light that rifle becomes.

[Top Jaw]

If it’s an original barrel of the desirable type from that era (Large, Douglas xx, H & H, etc.) and still had has good rifling, you may want to consider selling it (or even the whole gun) and replacing it with another caliber of the same diameter.  If it’s one of the sought after variety, you Could probably sell it for close to what a new straight barrel cost. 

[John Shaw]

Thanks for the feedback. How do I find Bobby Hoyt? The barrel is a Douglas. I don't want to change it out since it has my name  stamped on the top flat plus I don't want to deal with fitting the barrel lugs and breech plug to a new barrel. I wouldn't even consider selling it. I spent too much time stocking it and making most of the furniture. The sentimental value outweighs the monetary value by a lot.

JS 

[msellers]

Found this doing a search online. Is about a year old from another forum. Hopefully someone can correct the information if not right.

This is Bobby Hoyt's current address as far as I know.

Freischutz Gun Shop
2379 Mt Hope Rd
Fairfield, Pennsylvania 17320
(717) 642-6696

[longcruise]

Yeah, that's correct.  He just did three for me and while I have yet to shoot them, they look very good.

[Notchy Bob]

The old Douglas barrels are certainly desirable, but I don't think they are necessarily all that scarce.  John Shaw (the OP) listed several reasons he didn't want to separate the barrel from the rifle.  I think if having the barrel rebored to a .54 smoothbore would afford greater pleasure in shooting, it would be the right thing for him to do.  If it were me, I would probably have it bored to .55 caliber, as this would be a true 28 gauge.  Shotgun wads and cleaning implements (jags, brushes, etc.) and load data for 28 gauge are readily available.  For ball size, .535 ought to work, and both balls and moulds for this diameter are out there.

My dad taught vocational agriculture, which got him out into the countryside visiting farms.  Dad also had an interest in old guns.  Some time in the 1950's, he was on a field visit and met an elderly gentleman in Baker county, Florida.  This man had an "old rifle" and he told dad he wanted to have it reamed out to a 20 gauge smoothbore, as this would be more useful to him.  It turned out to be an original Lancaster rifle by Christopher Gumpf.  It had been converted to percussion, and somebody had screwed down the patchbox lid, but it was otherwise pretty much intact.  I think dad traded him a breechloading shotgun for it and they both walked away happy.  We still have that rifle in the family.

Ned Roberts told the tale of an old hunter of his acquaintance, named William Story, who had a Lancaster piece, originally flint, that had been converted to percussion.  It was unclear if the gun was originally a rifle, or if it had been purpose-built as a smooth bore, but Story described it as "...a 'smooth-bore rifle,' 36 to the pound," and it "...shoots good with a round ball and greased patch, or with buck shot or small shot."  A round lead ball of 36 to the pound would measure 0.506".  Allowing for some windage, the gun was probably about 52 caliber.

So, there is historic precedent for making a rifle into a smoothbore as the owner gets a little older.  Maybe John Shaw will have Mr. Hoyt ream his barrel smooth, and then let us know how she shoots!

Notchy Bob

[T*O*F]

Don't assume you can just have it bored and reinstall it.  Depends on the breech plug size.  If a new one is required there are things to consider.  How will the new threads affect your touch hole location after the plug is clocked to it's new location.  Then you will have to inlet the new tang and dress it down to fit.  Might have to refinish part of the stock.  Just a couple of things to consider.

[Daryl]

Should have at least a 5/8 plug, but maybe not. With a 5/8" plug, .54 or even .60 would be possible.

[John Shaw]

One of the few things I like about modern technology is a forum like this one with so much knowledge available. Well, I have to like modern medicine which has helped keep me here to make use of all that knowledge. At any rate, thanks to all of you for the posts. You've raised some interesting points. I'll get on the phone soon  and contact Mr. Hoyt. I can't remember if the Douglas barrel came threaded for a breach plug or if I had the local gunsmith do it. I should remember, it's only been 40 years. I do remember welding up the breach plug using a bolt and some flat iron. If the breach plug I have isn't large enough for a 54 I'll have the barrel reamed to a 50. I've killed a pile of ptarmigan and grouse with a .410 so a 50 should work even better even though it won't lighten things up as much.

By the way, I "talked" via email with Katherine of Kiblers and she said they had a 54 caliber smooth bore in stock which doesn't happen too often if anyone is interested.

JS