NEW RIFLE BARREL PROFILES

[thimble rig]

Has anyone seen the new rifle barrel profiles Rice came out with.He has them up on his sight.I getting the john shuler one .

[Boompa]

  Nice to have such a varied selection of barrel profiles.  Some are not all that "swamped".

[Osprey]

I just happened to check the Rice site and see all that the other day.  Some neat stuff, although I'd like to see weights listed for the newer profiles.  If I didn't already have a 48", .36 Rayl sitting in the closet for one of the next builds I'd be looking hard at those new 48" barrels!

[Stophel]

Oooh!  Finally!!!  A rifle barrel with a real full size breech!  And what looks to be a good amount of flare!  I'll have to look further into the "Early Dutch Lancaster" barrel.  The "Golden Age Swamp 48" barrel appears to have more flare at the breech than the standard 42" barrel too.   Excellent!

[Lucky R A]

     I hope that he cleans up the machining of the flare at the front.  I picked up a John Shuler profile barrel at Lewisburg, and did not unpack it until yesterday.  6in. back from the muzzle there are significant mill marks on the flats the whole way around the barrel.  It is nothing I can't draw file out, but at the price I should not have to spend the time cleaning up the barrel.   I then checked a 40 cal. that a client dropped off for his build and found similar marks, but to a much lesser extent.  I am surprised that the John Shuler profile barrel got past quality control.   I am not trashing the barrels, they are great shooters.  but the profile process needs some refinement. 

[bkb]

Hello everyone, I have been reading this site for quite awhile and enjoy it a lot. All I want to say is Charles Burton is making me a 32 cal. barrel 44" long that is .875 breech, .625 mid., .687 muzzle. He told me that this is his lightest  "A" weight barrel.  Can't wait to get it to see how it works out on a Lehigh Barn Gun.

[Acer Saccharum]

He also had a big Dutch rifle barrel....huge breech, huge bore. vanderblaster.

[M. E. Pering]

Lucky R A, I got a 44" Golden age made by Rice about a month ago, and had mill marks exactly as you describe all the way around at 7" back from the muzzle.  They are very shallow, but still noticeable.  I imagine that the line grinding wheel is getting worn or out of adjustment.

Rice barrels are still a great product, and I am excited to hear about this new barrel... Will have to check it out!

Matt

[Ed Wenger]

The big Dutch barrel is the "Early Dutch Lancaster" that Stophel mentioned.  I couldn't resist the temptation and bought the one Jason had at Lewisburg.  Beautiful barrel with a hefty .66 bore, nicely milled, and surprisingly light in weight.  Allen Martin had two early rifles made around these barrels at the show.  I'm looking forward to doing a early Piedmont VA rifle with the one I got!

    
       Ed

[Dennis Glazener]

Hello everyone, I have been reading this site for quite awhile and enjoy it a lot. All I want to say is Charles Burton is making me a 32 cal. barrel 44" long that is .875 breech, .625 mid., .687 muzzle. He told me that this is his lightest  "A" weight barrel.  Can't wait to get it to see how it works out on a Lehigh Barn Gun.

I don't know if others know this but Charles Burton and Ed Rayl makes barrels to your spec's, as long as they are safe and fall into the cal/length's they are set up to do.
Dennis

[Daryl]

The big Dutch barrel is the "Early Dutch Lancaster" that Stophel mentioned.  I couldn't resist the temptation and bought the one Jason had at Lewisburg.  Beautiful barrel with a hefty .66 bore, nicely milled, and surprisingly light in weight.  Allen Martin had two early rifles made around these barrels at the show.  I'm looking forward to doing a early Piedmont VA rifle with the one I got!
   Ed

Large game hunting rifles start at 16 bore.

[rich pierce]

Sadly, Daryl, no large game in these parts!

[tim crowe]

He also had a big Dutch rifle barrel....huge breech, huge bore. vanderblaster.

I recently got a order for a handforged wrought iron barrel for a fat breech germanic gal  , I think your alter-ego ordered it. 

[Acer Saccharum]

Tim, are you making this for me? is that what you're saying? Thank you in advance! 

[JasonS]

Lucky R A, 

I just saw this post and thought i would take a min to explain.  The " mill marks" are where the flat is transitioning from one taper to another or a straight section to a taper.  The reason this area did not clean up during the polishing operation is because while the sanding belt is followling the barrel flat at the transition the leading edge of the belt is forced up thus skipping over a very small area of the transition. Barrel profiles with a lot of taper and flair leave more of an area than barrels with less taper and flair.  The John Shuler has a very fast or steep taper at the muzzle.  However there are several profiles that clean up all the way in the polishing operation.  With all this said i realize there is room for improvement.  And i'm doing just that.  I've made changes in the program that is milling the outside flat.  It has helped quite a bit and the polishing looks better on the profiles that have been made recently. 

There was also a question about the weigh of the Early Dutch profile in a 66 cal.  The Dutch gal comes in at 4 1/2 lbs.

[Jim S]

I wonder how the old timers made those swamped barrels. Today the milling of the tapered flats can be programed into a hi-tech machine, but that would seem to be a difficult operation to do without that. Even on a 1960's milling machine it would be a tricky deal.

[Mike Brooks]

I wonder how the old timers made those swamped barrels. Today the milling of the tapered flats can be programed into a hi-tech machine, but that would seem to be a difficult operation to do without that. Even on a 1960's milling machine it would be a tricky deal.

Done with a hammer, anvil and forge. It was a natural part of the process.... more or less.

[Lucky R A]

Thanks Jason,   
      I am glad that you are addressing that situation.   It was the first time I have encountered that type of mill marks on any  barrel.   Not being a machinist, it just appeared to be a slight defect--- Keep up the good work, and thanks for the many new profiles.

Ron