cut off barrels

[Ken G]

Just wondering about all the guns with chopped barrels.   

Do you think it is because the barrel was damaged or worn and it needed to be cut off in order to keep it in use ?
OR
Did someone decide they were tired of the 48" + barrels catching and hitting everything and wanted it shorter? Not to mention the new high tech shorter barreled guns that were being made.  I recon shorter barreled guns might have become the "in style" thing to have. 
OR
Combination of both.

[keweenaw]

Many of the barrels were cut at the back when the guns were converted from flint to perc.  The guns I have with cut barrels were reduced by about 3 inches which would just be enough to clean up the exterior rust and erosion, and any corrosion in the charge area at the back of the barrel before they were rebreeched.  Some barrels are also obviously cut at the muzzle but it's hard to guess whether this was done to simply shorten the barrel or to remove wear from the rod. 

Tom

[Acer Saccharum]

Sporterized. Did that concept apply back then? Broken forestocks cut down to half, muzzles cut back to bring the gun into a 'modern look', cheaper than buying a whole new gun.

[G-Man]

I think it depends on how much they were cut.  I have seen a number of Tennessee rifles that were severaly cut, i.e. 8-12 inches or even more, and in these cases I think they were done that way to make it easier to carry on horeseback - perhaps in a saddle scabbard - or crossways under a buggy or wagon seat.   

I've often wondered if some were done this way during the Civil War - lots of "mounted infantry" units were recruited in the mountain areas, and there were a lot of irregular troops or guerillas in these areas as well.  Or if some were carried west by displaced southeastern Indians and adapted to a different lifestyle after they had moved west.

Guy

[Bill of the 45th]

Cheap fiberglass ramrods they used back then, that messed up the crown Hey, if they had them they woulda!!!

Bill

[JTR]

Ken,
I’m guessing it was a combination of all.

I have one rifle that clearly shows that the barrel was cut back one inch from the rear while it still had a full length forearm, because all the barrel underlugs were repositioned one inch forward.
Then at a later date, the barrel was chopped off six inches from the muzzle and the forearm cut back to a half stock configuration. I’d guess at this time the flint lock was also percussionized.

One can only guess why the one inch was cut off the rear of the barrel early on. Of the totally original flint guns I’ve seen, the wood and metal in the lock area seems to fair much better condition wise than the percussion guns do. If the touch hole was simply burned out, it would have been easier to re-bush the hole than re-breech the barrel, but something must have gone haywire back there.

The second whacking taking 6 inches off the muzzle and trimming the forearm back I see as sporterizing, to shorten and lighten the gun up a bit. And also to modernize it with a percussion ignition. This particular Lancaster rifle also had a buckhorn rear sight put on the barrel and a tang sight gizmo installed, so it might have gone out west at some point.

All this whacking and chopping on Kentucky’s seems to have been fairly common. In fact, I’d say original full length barrels today might well be more of a minority than a majority on well used guns.

John       

[B.Barker]

I've always heard the old percussion caps were very corrosive. So if the rifle was shot a lot it would have been cut at the breech to get rid of the bad iron and rebreeched. If it were cut from the front it seems that the owner wanted it shortened or maybe damaged muzzle.

[wvmtnman]

I am sure that wear and tear had a lot to do with it.  Muzzle wear from the ram rod and crosion at the breech.  Those barrels were made of a softer steel and would wear a lot quicker.  Than again, maybe they decided to cut a little extra off as they got older and wanted to cut down on the weight of the rifle??? I have often wondered this too. 
                                                                                     Brian

[T.C.Albert]

Chopping the front of a barrel an inch or two was supposed to be the quick cure for diminished accuracy...next step was a freshing...then a rebore I suppose....chopping the back end to replace a corroded out drum or breech etc seemed to be common too...I think odd thimble and nose guard spacing are often the tell tale sign of a shortening....it does seem that quite a few of the long "long rifles" might be shorter than they once were...?
TCA

[Dave B]

This is an example of why many were cut down. This one should have been cut down but wasnt and we can see how far some let things go. It is kind of scarry. In the right light I swear I can see the start of threads showing in one spot.

[Pvt. Lon Grifle]

Now I have long thought of a "wagon" rifle made of salvaged/converted parts from earlier times, for I have hunted up  the hollow where the only access was still the  small wagon,  and even further on, the horse track.  Mention of such a rifle keeps the spark alive. Lon