Where can I find a smooth bore barrel?

Gil Martin

I want a single barrel flintlock and have looked around for a smooth bore to fit on a T/C PA Hunter or Lyman Trade Rifle. Some years ago, T/C offered a 56 caliber smooth bore for their Renegade rifles. A gunsmith tells me he can bore out a .50 or .54 bore to a 28 or 20 gauge. Any thoughts? Thanks. All the best...
Gil

roundball

GilMartin wrote:

I want a single barrel flintlock and have looked around for a smooth bore to fit on a T/C PA Hunter or Lyman Trade Rifle. Some years ago, T/C offered a 56 caliber smooth bore for their Renegade rifles. A gunsmith tells me he can bore out a .50 or .54 bore to a 28 or 20 gauge. Any thoughts? Thanks. All the best...
Gil

My only comment would be to advise thoughtful caution about boring out a barrel that might be smaller diameter and less safe than it should be.
ie: consider that TC's .56cal/.28ga smoothbore is in a full 1" barrel...and GM's .62cal/.20ga is also in a full 1" barrel.

I think boring out a slimmer 15/16" barrel could be potentially dangerous...considering the amount of metal that's already removed to make the dovetails for the wedge pin tenon and front sight...and there's the screw holes drilled for the rear sight mounting.

While I'm sure a number of gunsmiths can do a variety of things, I personally lean towards the design constraints that the major manufacturers use for safety sake.

Just my thoughts

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

GilMartin wrote:

I want a single barrel flintlock and have looked around for a smooth bore to fit on a T/C PA Hunter or Lyman Trade Rifle. Some years ago, T/C offered a 56 caliber smooth bore for their Renegade rifles. A gunsmith tells me he can bore out a .50 or .54 bore to a 28 or 20 gauge. Any thoughts? Thanks. All the best...
Gil

Roundball has some good comments.

I've actually been planning to do this with a .50 cal hawkin barrel I have. Planned to just have the riflings bored out of it so it ends up being a .50cal smoothbore (+/- a couple thousandths) and use .50cal Sabots for wads. It wouldnt weaken the barrel much IMO.

What does your gunsmith want to bore out a barrel? I am very interested in this an all local machinests here want way too darn much for their work. Maybe your guy could cut a deal if he did mine and yours at the same time as he'd set everything up only once.

-DallanC

roundball

Wouldn't mind knowing that myself...I have a spare TC Hawken barrel that I've thought about having the rifling removed for that very same reason...if it could be done without removing the breech plug, it doesn't seem like it should be too expensive...

Gil Martin

Dallan and roundball,
My preference would be to locate a factory smoothbore barrel for the T/C or Lyman. I am a bit too conservative to have excessive amounts of metal removed from a rifled barrel. I was going to stop at .56 caliber which is about a 28 gauge so I could use 28 gauge wads.

My local gunsmith is swell fellow who does excellent work at very reasonable prices. Right now he has about 300 customer guns on hand. He does this full-time and I can get work done fairly quickly. I sit on the township Zoning Hearing Board and when my 'smith renews his FFL he needs to certify that he meets all zoning requirements. I write a letter to the BATFE on his behalf. I will ask him about costs for boring out a barrel. All the best...
Gil

roklok

I dont know how much you want to spend but you could build a 20 guage interchangeable barrel for a 1 inch TC with parts from track of the wolf.A barrel is 160 ( it always puzzled me why smoothbores cost more than rifled barrels) the breech plug is 26.50 part # plug TCF-16-3 I imagine until you added a underrib,wedge pin tenon and thimbles the total would approach$250. I recently made a 40 caliber flintlock barrel for my renegade this way.I thought green mountain made a flintlock 62 caliber barrel but am not sure,I cant make sense of their website.Fort chambers black powder gun shop in scotland PA always has a selection of used barrels in stock,I have seen a couple of smoothbore Renegade barrels there over the years ,the last one was $75. Im not sure if they have any now their number is 717-263-2223. Good Luck!!

Gil Martin

roklok,
Thanks for the information.I will give the folks at Fort Chambers a call. All the best...
Gil

roundball

I just received and sighted in a Green Mountain .54cal smoothbore Flint barrel...a drop in for a regular size TC Hawken stock.

15/16" x 33", the .54cal (.28ga) smoothbore is outstanding and will be deadly on small game...at 25yds, the following load gives a dense, even spread pattern on 18"x25" poster paper, and it puts 10-12 #6 pellets "through" a heavy 4" tuna can.

70grns Goex 3F
Two oxyoke wonderwads
1+1/8oz #6
Circle Fly over shot card

The squirrels are in serious trouble!
Very Happy

Gil Martin

roundball,
Sounds like you got a decent muzzleloading shotgun. I spoke to the folks at Fort Chambers and they can get a smoothbore barrel for a Lyman Trade Rifle. It is not a drop-in and the barrel channel of the stock would have to be opened up a bit. I prefer a single trigger for a shotgun and may go this route. I will keep at it. All the best...
Gil

Flint54

Green Mountain makes smooth bore barrels that drop in for TCs, With a little modification of the underrib I was able to put one on a Lyman Great Plains flintlock and a percussion. Below is a link for the 15/16s , they also have a 1" in .62/20ga flint & perc. Click on "Replacement Barrels" in the left column. Cool

www.gmriflebarrel.com/...bleBarrels