Caliber choices when doing copies of originals

[Wmasswolf]

Question - when you are building a style of gun that was originally in an odd caliber (.38 and .48 are the two I keep finding) do you tend to size up/down in caliber or have the barrel custom drilled? Are there considerations other the the commercial availability of the barrel and proper fitting balls?   

[Hungry Horse]

In my experience many old guns are just enough over what we call a standard caliber that it likely that’s where the landed after freshening them out a time or two.

Hungry Horse

[rich pierce]

A lot of old rifles had funneled muzzles and that’s where they get measured. So 3” in they may be of smaller bore than at the muzzle.

The trend over the last 50 years is to build rifles that weigh 1-4 pounds less than the originals they are based on. Thinner barrels of larger caliber typically accomplish this. Shorter can accomplish the same.

[Daniel Coats]

I've owned the custom drilled guns and it does make you feel a little better but at some point you have to give up. You can only go so far in making it reasonably close to "bench copy" accurate. If you just gotta have one exact then buy the original.

[Stoner creek]

I find it better to copy of the outside of the barrel rather than the bore. For the gun to be enjoyable to use it needs to be comfortable to shoot. Stay with the outside dimensions and get the weight where you want it.

[Seth Isaacson]

It sure seems like most copies are a standard desirable caliber, and that makes the most sense to me unless you are trying to make the piece as purely a collectible copy of an original. We definitely see lots of .45s, .50s, and .54s on guns closely based on originals. Those were of course also fairly popular calibers to begin with.

[Daryl]

I have a very good "copy" "rendition" of a J.P. Beck rifle with .50 cal. Rice gun maker's barrel. I don't mind calling it a JP Beck. One of these days I gotta get O 2 it and finish up the lock.

[Justin Urbantas]

I had this issue when I decided to tackle Davy Crockett's Old Betsy. It was a .48 caliber.
I was torn between .45 and .50. I went with  45 because I already have all the stuff for it, and I enjoy shooting my other .45.

[Wmasswolf]

Im getting a copy of the crockett gun in knoxville tn. Its in .48 too. I went with a sputhern classic 46" a weight rice barrel in .50.  Who did you build the copy you have?

I had this issue when I decided to tackle Davy Crockett's Old Betsy. It was a .48 caliber.
I was torn between .45 and .50. I went with  45 because I already have all the stuff for it, and I enjoy shooting my other .45.

[Justin Urbantas]

I think I went with the same profile barrel in .45. I'm building it, but currently it's a pile of parts and a blank.

[WadePatton]

Question - when you are building a style of gun that was originally in an odd caliber (.38 and .48 are the two I keep finding)

Charlie Burton still offers 30, 38, 47, and 52 calibers maybe a few more. Why not build a 38 or 47? Custom moulds are no extra charge from Tanner and available from others for an upcharge. You don't have to 'compromise" but also know that there were no standard calibers before industrialization.

Here's his current listing for rifles: .29, .30, .32, .38, .40, .45, .47, .50, .52, .54, .58, .60, .62.  see FCI Barrels.

I would like a 38, but have a 30 and a 40 to finish first.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

There is an original rifle from North Carolina that is in a number of publications and each publication lists it as a different caliber.  I try to get it close and usually round it up.  I worry more about barrel length and other dimensions because that can impact the architecture if I am trying to make one inspired by an original. 

Cory Joe

[Martin S.]

I had this issue when I decided to tackle Davy Crockett's Old Betsy. It was a .48 caliber.
I was torn between .45 and .50. I went with  45 because I already have all the stuff for it, and I enjoy shooting my other .45.

Justin, can you post pictures of your rifle, or provide a link to them?

Mike Miller is working on one for me, from H. Harrison's drawings.  He got a couple of .48 barrels, with molds, from Rice, IIRC.

I prefer .54 for deer, but opted to go with the original size for this particular rifle.

[Dphariss]

Question - when you are building a style of gun that was originally in an odd caliber (.38 and .48 are the two I keep finding) do you tend to size up/down in caliber or have the barrel custom drilled? Are there considerations other the the commercial availability of the barrel and proper fitting balls?

If it was used for 50 or 100 years it not going to be the same caliber as when new. This would be the least of my worries. When freshed barrels were often fitted with a new breech plug and a the mould enlarged. A barrel that needs freshing will probably be enlarged by .010” at least. Thus it needs a new mould. I did a 54 a few years ago that someone let rust for about 12” down at the breech. It will still shoot with a .535 but needs a heavy linen canvas patch. So with .012” patching its would need a .540 or 545 ball. No I did not check  the bore size before and after since I did not want to buy several plug gauges to get the REAL size.