GR Douglas Barrel

[wapiti22]

I have a GR Douglas barrel, 50cal, 1:66 twist. All of this info is stamped on the barrel. There is also a “B” stamped on the barrel. What does the "B" stand for?

[smylee grouch]

? Would that mean BUTTON RIFFLING?

[Daryl]

I've not seen the "B" on a Douglas Barrel - only an XX for one the hole ran true when the bored the octagonal blank.
Perhaps the "B" means not perfect? Seems to me, their barrels were cut rifled. I supposed it could have been "buttoned".

[Stoner creek]

BOTTOM
Those barrels were known for runout. It was stamped so the runout was up and down.

[heinz]

I never saw a Douglas barrel stamped with a B   The Douglas name was placed on the flat with the most runout.  That was usually put on the bottom.  You could also put the name on the top but it made getting the front sight height correct more difficult. 

[Stoner creek]

I never saw a Douglas barrel stamped with a B   The Douglas name was placed on the flat with the most runout.  That was usually put on the bottom.  You could also put the name on the top but it made getting the front sight height correct more difficult.

I’ve bought more than a couple stamped in that manner

[wapiti22]

Thanks for all the replies.  Looks like I guessed right as I indexed the breech plug so the markings are on the bottom.

[JCKelly]

GR Douglas stopped promoting & I believe making barrels about 1985. Might have something to do with a (formrer) plumber with two fingers remaining on his hand. Barrel was free-machining resulfurized leaded, phosphorus added, grade 12L14. This alloy tends to crack when drawn to its final round in the mill. Douglas barrels of the time, I believe were cold drawn to octagon shape.
I and an Illinois professor were the expert witnesses for the plaintiff.
Shook hands, sort of with the plaintiff.
I ceased using these barrels.

[Stoner creek]

Here we go again with the 12L14 jabberwocky. Give it a rest......

[hortonstn]

All I know is I shoot benchrest with a group of guys 20-30 on occasion 60 yards open sights
Most are 1-1/2 in diameter all are 1-66 twist these guys shoot extremely well you cannot give them another brand barrel I try to beat them with a rice Flintlock now that's a job

[wapiti22]

JCKELLY are you saying the barrel is bad??

[Old Ford2]

I will gladly take those bad Douglas barrels off you hands. I might even take them for free.

[flehto]

MY first LR which I built in 1974 has a 42"  X 7/8" .45 Douglas bbl and has head hit  100s of squirrels, some at fairly long range  and I was often  amazed at  how a RB out of this bbl could consistently hit such  small targets.

My bbl doesn't have a "B" stamped on it and as was said, the stamped flat goes on the bottom when inletting.   

The groove depth is approx. .006  deep which is evidence that the .016 found on many premium bbls today is excessive and is difficult to seal the grooves and  requires thick, hard loading patches.  . Why the .016? I don't have the slightest.

The Douglas bbls were button rifled and have extremely smooth bores and the drawn octagon on my bbl hasn't warped or changed since the LR was built....never readjusted the sights since the beginning. .....Fred

[retired fella]

I have owned 3 douglas barrels since i started shooting in the 70's.  No complaints.

[Bob Roller]

 I prefer barrels made from better materials like Jim McLemore uses or the
 barrels of Ed Rayl.Jim uses the same material 50 BMG machine gun barrels
are made from.Ed Rayl told me he uses 8620 which is more than adequate
for black powder pressures.I used 12L14 for screws and that IS the intended
purpose for it being sold.I once cut a long barrel off that was made from 12L14
and that saw went thru it very fast.It was made into pistol barrels as I recall.
It was a 7/8"40 caliber.In years long ago there was a general and wrong consensus
that black powder could not blow up a gun barrel no matter how much was loaded
into the barrel.There are people on this forum that can easily prove that to be a
fallacy from hard experience.
Bob Roller

[JTR]

JCKELLY are you saying the barrel is bad??

JCKelly testified in court that 12L14 barrels are not safe.
If he ever says otherwise, he can be sued for giving false testimony in that court case.

[Dennis Glazener]

Lets don't go further with this thread. This subject has been debated over and over and its still not solved for either side. If you want to continue this, please do a search for old topics and discuss it all you want via PM's or emails.
This topic is locked.
Dennis