Mowrey 45 cal. question

[timetohunt]

Hi all I am a newbie to this forum and I am hoping someone can give me some
help with a Mowrey 45 cal. rifle I just purchased. I believe it is one of the "Ethan Allen" style rifles made by Mowrey or Deer Creek. The main question I have is,
what is the twist on the barrel? I will probably shoot patched balls but would like to know if I can also shoot conical bullets too.

[Boz330]

Timetohunt,
Accordng to my catalog it should be a 1-66. I have one of the Hopkins and Allen under hammer rifles in .50 and it is a tack driver. The kits are built completely on site and the quality is first rate. I have been eyeballing one of the Mowery kits but my cup runneth over with projects, and unfortunately making a living gets in the way as well.

Bob

[timetohunt]

Bob,
Thanks for the info. I am looking forward to shooting it this weekend. I will be using Hornay .440 round balls with .010 TC prelubed patches and 70 grains of Pyrodex to start.
I had been eyeing it for a while myself and decided to go ahead and give myself a Xmas present.

[Boz330]

This may not apply to your gun, since mine is a 50. I use BP and I didn't get good groups till I had it stoked pretty good. For my 50 I use 100gr of 3F and a really tight patch .020 w .490 RB. I started with 60 gr and it didn't group worth a darn, as I went up the groups got better and better.

Bob

[timetohunt]

So you think I should use BP and a loarge ball/patch combo?

[timetohunt]

Sorry misspell "larger ball/patch combo'

[KCSO]

This is just my take on the Mowrey so don't take offence, but If it shoots you will be lucky and if it doesn't good luck. Mowrey went through at least three owners and none of them stood behind the other guys products. I have 2 of these that I got for my kids and both had to be rebarreled. One had such a rough bore it was tearing patches and wouldn't lap out. the other had the foreend pin drilled through the barrel and it went into the bore. The factory stood behind neither of these guns claiming that the other guy made them. I had a similar problem with the Mowrey shotgun where the pin bulged the inside of the barrel. I have worked on 9 of these guns so far and none have met my minimum expectations for a quality gun. None have grouped well without work except ONE. The 36 I got for my daughter shot into 1" at 50 yards from the box and was a darn nice gun, this was a very early issue from the first Mowrey company in Texas??? I think. All of the Mowrey I have seen have had slow (1-56 to 1-66 twist)

[Boz330]

I don't have a Mowery but the same guy who made my Hopkins and Allen underhammer was making them up in IN. The barrels are made on the same equipment. Now how long they have been made there I don't know. From what I know there used to be quite a few people working there but they downsized several years ago. The way I understood it there were maybe 2 or 3 guys working there now. In fact their 2006 catalog didn't have either rifle listed.
I have been very happy with the Hopkins and Allen that I have which I use mostly for hunting.

Timetohunt, I never had much luck with Pyrodex and it's not hard to get BP around here so that is all that I shoot. Mostly I shoot BPCR and of course the ML deer seasons. I didn't have much luck with the thinner patches but that was also before I started adding more powder so I never changed back to see if the thin ones would work. Use what you have and if that doesn't work try something different, thats half the fun anyway. Hopefully you won't have any of the problems KCSO described. Let us know how it works out.

Bob

[KCSO]

If I remember right they use to be out of Olney? Texas. The MOwery name was sold back and forth and I haven't gotten anything from them in the last few years.

[timetohunt]

Thanks for all the info and advice. I will know by the end of the day how this rifle shoots. Hopefully I got a "good" one. I was given the number to the company and I will call them on Tuesday with the serial number to find out if it is an early or late model and where it was manufactured. I don't mind tinkering with it to fine tune it .
Wish me luck.

[srm970]

i have a mowrey 45.. and have been trying to find more info on this rifle.. its shoots great. one of my wifes favorite rifles. right behind her senica 36. does yours look anything like this one.. hope the pics come through.

shawn

[northmn]

I have heard mixed reports on the Mowreys. They were patched round ball rifles. I knew one very good shot that had a Mowrey "Hawken" and shot very well with it. He went to a more authentic Hawken build but did not shoot any better. Most patched round ball will shoot amazing well in some pretty bad barrels if care is taken. I have seen some pitted originals shoot very well after a fouling shot or two. You will be able to tell when you load the thing, whether its bore is rough. Swabing with steel wool can sometimes help smooth things out if rough. As a starter with 440 ball I would suggest a 015 patch and either a good liquid commercial lube like Hoppes #9 or even Crisco. Some like Crisco and olive oil. For all I know Olive oil would work by itself if you were shooting right away. All kinds of concoctions for lube out there. Takes a bit to find the combo. I used to like between 45-70 grains of 3f in my 45's.

Nortnmn

[rdarger]

I have had a "Mowrey 45 cal. rifle" for more than 30 years and have shoot more than 500 rounds through it without fail. Extremely accurate for firing balls. It probably has the clearest sight picture I have ever seen. Probably my most favorite gun to shoot outside of my M1 Carbine.

rd

[Maven]

timetohunt, I have a .50cal. (.495" RB, 1:66 twist) Ethan Allan rifle (Deer Creek) and have to partially agree with KCSO about the workmanship. The barrel, however, is outstanding, capable of putting 5 shots touching @ 50 yds. from a rest. With your .45cal., you'll first need to determine whether it is designed to use .440" RB's or .445" RB's. Perhaps a call to the factory will be more expedient? Once you settle that, you can try a variety of patch thicknesses, but I suspect your rifle will like 0.020". As for powder, I get excellent results with either Pyro. P, Pyro RS and black powder (FFFg), sometimes as little as 30grs. (by volume). Lastly, [Deer Creek] Mowrey rifles suggest using no more than 90grs. FFg or Pyro. RS in their .50cal. rifle, so maybe you'll need to use a bit less in the .45cal.

[Boz330]

timetohunt, I have a .50cal. (.495" RB, 1:66 twist) Ethan Allan rifle (Deer Creek) and have to partially agree with KCSO about the workmanship. The barrel, however, is outstanding, capable of putting 5 shots touching @ 50 yds. from a rest. With your .45cal., you'll first need to determine whether it is designed to use .440" RB's or .445" RB's. Perhaps a call to the factory will be more expedient? Once you settle that, you can try a variety of patch thicknesses, but I suspect your rifle will like 0.020". As for powder, I get excellent results with either Pyro. P, Pyro RS and black powder (FFFg), sometimes as little as 30grs. (by volume). Lastly, [Deer Creek] Mowrey rifles suggest using no more than 90grs. FFg or Pyro. RS in their .50cal. rifle, so maybe you'll need to use a bit less in the .45cal.

The 90gr charge is the lawyers talking more than reality. My underhammer didn't really shine till I got to 100gr of 3F. I mentioned this to the guy at Deer Creek and he said it would take that with no problems. When I was ordering the rifle his wife was giving me 60gr as a charge. I bought it mainly to hunt with so I sure wanted more than 60gr behind a RB. That and it didn't really shoot very well with a light load. I'd still like to get one of the Mowery Rifles if they ever get back into production.

Bob

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