Barrels?

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dickaye
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Barrels?

Post by dickaye »

Why octagon barrels? Why round barrels? Why half octagon half round? Were there manufacturing limitations that made one easier than another to produce? Were there ballistic differences between the two? Or was it just a personal preference thing? Often, buyers had a choice between the two; So why did they care? Octagons are usually found on the old guns, but occasionally you see them today. Why?
Regnier (gunrunner)
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Re: Barrels?

Post by Regnier (gunrunner) »

Richard;

Been thinking about this question for a while, and decided it must be "tradition". The old muzzle loading muskets were not much more than a pipe with a breech plug, but when the gunsmiths of Pennsylvania starting making their rifles, it would have been easier for them to hammer out an octagon shaped barrel out of the forge than to try and make a round barrel. We do see some half-octagon barreled Pennslvania style rifles from time to time, and most likely, that gunsmith had a lathe to set up to turn the front portion of the barrel on. I am sure that later on, octagon barrel blanks were sold to individual gunsmiths from jobbers. But again, it was probably easier to hammer out the octagon shape, and because of "tradition", the gunsmiths may have wanted octagon barrels.
My best guess, maybe someone else will have a different idea.
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dodgedh2
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Re: Barrels?

Post by dodgedh2 »

It's true that octoganal barrels were easier for early gunsmiths to make. Remember, early gunsmiths had to forge their barrels (including a rough bore) during the forging operation, as they often did not have the gun drilling equipment to first establish a rough bore through the barrel length. Also, the finishing operations (draw filing, polishing, etc) were all much easier on an octoganal barrel as they were all hand operations.
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Bear 45/70
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Re: Barrels?

Post by Bear 45/70 »

An octagon barrel resists flexing better than a round barrel making them stiffer, hence more accurate. Anyway that was the theory back in the day.
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marlinman93
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Re: Barrels?

Post by marlinman93 »

dodgedh2 wrote:It's true that octoganal barrels were easier for early gunsmiths to make. Remember, early gunsmiths had to forge their barrels (including a rough bore) during the forging operation, as they often did not have the gun drilling equipment to first establish a rough bore through the barrel length. Also, the finishing operations (draw filing, polishing, etc) were all much easier on an octoganal barrel as they were all hand operations.
I think this explanation makes a lot of sense. I don't think it was very easy for an oldtime gunsmith with no power tools to finish a barrel round. Working with an octagon barrel clamped in a wooden vise was easier, and draw filing flats was also much easier.
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