Green Mountain Barrels

[idahoron]

I got it from the horses mouth. Green Mountain will never again make muzzleloader barrels. It wasn't even an option from how I took it. Oh well, I guess the 5 I have now will have to do me. Ron

[Texantothecore]

That would certainly be a shame. What are they planning to produce?

[greenmntranger]

From what Ive seen, they are focusing on modern center fire barrels.

So if this is the how it is, how much of a premium would a NOS .32 cal TC hawken barrel command?

[OverMax]

NOS .32 cal TC hawken barrel command No less than what you originally paid for it. I would say.

As far as G/M. Maybe some other barrel manufacture will take advantage of that unwanted piece of G/Ms business. Perhaps Bergara or Shilen. Whom ever it is. I'll support em by buying another rifle barrel for my Hawken. Maybe a 32 cal next time. (:

O/M

[rhbrink]

I sure hate to read that but i'm not surprised we are a very small group and getting smaller all the time. I have been told that Douglas will make a muzzleloading barrel on request. They use to make one of the best maybe they could be persuaded to return to the muzzleloading barrel making market? There is a guy in Kentucky that makes a resonably priced barrel he can be reached at http://fcibarrels.com. I have never seen one of his barrels but have had good reports on them. And there is also Oregon Barrels they can be reached at the Gun Works Muzzleloading Emporium. I don't know anything about them either other than have read good reports on them. Then there is the full custom guys but most of them are a year out.

Richard

[varsity07840]

I sure hate to read that but i'm not surprised we are a very small group and getting smaller all the time. I have been told that Douglas will make a muzzleloading barrel on request. They use to make one of the best maybe they could be persuaded to return to the muzzleloading barrel making market? There is a guy in Kentucky that makes a resonably priced barrel he can be reached at http://fcibarrels.com. I have never seen one of his barrels but have had good reports on them. And there is also Oregon Barrels they can be reached at the Gun Works Muzzleloading Emporium. I don't know anything about them either other than have read good reports on them. Then there is the full custom guys but most of them are a year out.

Richard

Rice
Long Hammock
Getz
Colerain
Rayl
Hoyt

Rayl and Hoyt are custom. Rice and Colerain usually have some in stock or their dealers do.

Duane

[C. Latch]

I hate to hear that, and am very glad I have the two I have.

It doesn't surprise me, though. Muzzleloading barrels has to be a tiny market.

[Dean D.]

Rice
Long Hammock
Getz
Colerain
Rayl
Hoyt

Rayl and Hoyt are custom. Rice and Colerain usually have some in stock or their dealers do.

Duane

Most of the kits sold by Track of the Wolf come with a choice of either a Rice or Colerain barrel. I've sure been happy with the Colerain barrel on the kit I built, it shoots way better than I can. I do have a Green Mt. barrel for a pistol I'm planning on building, glad I bought it earlier.

[John Taylor]

GM is making muzzle loading barrels but no longer will make a 32 caliber. They moved the ML barrel making equipment to another building and were down for a while. My new price sheet shows 14 different ML barrels so the selection is not as good as it once was. These are cut rifled made from 1137 steel. Range from 36 caliber to 58.

Add Jim Carpenter to the list of custom barrel makers, 208-245-3693. He bought out Orion several years back.

[Potsy]

It was my understanding from over on the ALR forum that they will continue to produce straight octagon barrels but will no longer produce those with a swamped profile. It has been a few weeks since I read that and the situation may have changed since.
When I first started dabbling with this stuff, Green Mountain was the cheapest out there, they went from there to the most expensive, so I don't doubt they lost what share they had of an already small market.
Pity. I never heard anybody say anything bad about a any Green Mountain barrel.

[newton]

The best thing they had going, and probably what made them so popular, was the fact that you could take a barrel and drop it into an existing stock. Not many other makers have that option without paying an arm and leg. GM came with EVERYTHING needed, even the stinking ram rod.

I am glad I found mine. I will treasure it, but the truth is that they simply make barrels. There is nothing magical about them I don't think, or at least cannot find. They just made it very simple for the average guy(me) to get a new caliber or twist rate and start shooting without a bunch of fuss on fitting a breech plug, underib, etc.

I have my eye on a .45 drop in. If I had the cash it would be at my door in an instant, but I'm flat broke. I hate when that happens.

[Fly]

That sucks.I have shot these things since the 1970.You could go in any store back then that sold guns & buy a
muzzle loader or a kit, CHEAP.I have nothing against the inline folks.This is the USA & to each there own.But
WE must do something to bring out this type of shooting back.

The young of today just never knew much of Davey Crocket or the rest that gave us yearning to get into to
this great hobby.

JMOHOP Fly

[newton]

That sucks.I have shot these things since the 1970.You could go in any store back then that sold guns & buy a
muzzle loader or a kit, CHEAP.I have nothing against the inline folks.This is the USA & to each there own.But
WE must do something to bring out this type of shooting back.

The young of today just never knew much of Davey Crocket or the rest that gave us yearning to get into to
this great hobby.

JMOHOP Fly



You got a point. That's it, my boy is getting a ML kit for Christmas. He might not like it as much as a new game system or something, but when he gets older I bet he will.

[newton]

ouch...well, if I can find one reasonable. Some of those kits are more than I spend on all my kids combined for Christmas.

[newton]

I do have one gripe with them. That is their customer service. I called them this morning to get an idea of whether or not my loads are in the safe range for their barrels. The rep said that I should always start low and work my way up. Ok, sounds good, but how low and how high???

So he sends me some load information. One on the IBS barrels, one on knight projectile loads. The IBS only has data up to 450 grains, does that mean I cannot shoot 515 grain boolits??? The knight data has 530 grain data, but it also shows it for 150 grain loads! I know that I ain't going to shoot that in my gun!

So I email them back(first time was on the phone), I simply ask about my particular setup and if I am safe with where I am loading and what I should consider top end. They email back, same blank statement of starting low and working up. Huh??

I email back and they have yet to respond. Anyways, that's my gripe. Maybe this is why they are getting away from this segment of barrels? I don't guess I have ever seen where there are specifics for muzzle loader 'pressures'. With rifle barrels they can do testing for specific pressures, with ML barrels they would have to do different kind of testing for different loads?

[newton]

Update, Update

I got an email back. They actually gave me some advise and not a generic answer. So that puts them back up in my book. My gripe is done!

[John Allen]

I checked out the Rice Barrels at Dixons gun makers fair. They look like really nice barrels. Here is the link www.ricebarrels.com/

[gutthooked]

It doesnt surprise me, T/C quit making the hawken. I guess there just isn't the market for them anymore.

[idahoron]

I was told today that they would make barrel blanks but they would not be ready to install a breach plug until you take it to a gunsmith to have it threaded and the breach plug installed.

[John Taylor]

I was told today that they would make barrel blanks but they would not be ready to install a breach plug until you take it to a gunsmith to have it threaded and the breach plug installed.

That's what keeps gunsmith in business. Not all gunsmiths can fit a breach plug, some are parts changers

[rhbrink]

That's good news idahoron! At least you can get some barrels from Green Mountain, I wonder if they will make a wide variety or just the more popular barrels?

I'm also in complete agreement with John Taylor about not all gunsmiths can handle blackpowder work or cast boolit chambering for that matter. As luck will have it I have two withing easy driving distance that can do both and shoot both too!

RB

[newton]

I'd be curious to know something about having a barrel made. When on the phone with GM yesterday, he specifically said that ML barrels are made with soft steel. So I wonder if you had a barrel made, that you would then take and get a breech put on, if they would use a harder steel?

Not that you necessarily gain anything but pain from pushing a ML projectile harder, but it would be a nice comfort to know that the barrel could handle more. I wonder if they spec the barrel at a certain PSI or CUP?

[John Taylor]

I'd be curious to know something about having a barrel made. When on the phone with GM yesterday, he specifically said that ML barrels are made with soft steel. So I wonder if you had a barrel made, that you would then take and get a breech put on, if they would use a harder steel?

Not that you necessarily gain anything but pain from pushing a ML projectile harder, but it would be a nice comfort to know that the barrel could handle more. I wonder if they spec the barrel at a certain PSI or CUP?

The muzzle loading barrels from GM are made from 1137 steel which is plenty strong enough for black powder. A lot of companies that make BP barrels use 12L14 which is also strong enough and machine very well. We are talking about cut rifle barrels where machining is top priority. High power barrels are usually button rifled and use heat treated 4140. When button rifling a barrel there is a lot of stress added and the barrel must be stress relieved, taking it up to about 1100 degrees and letting it cool slow. This will draw the temper and leave the barrel with a hardness of about Rockwell 28C ( Douglas barrels are closer to 32C). Jerry Cunningham ( Orion rifle barrel company) did a lot of testing on 12L14 barrels. Some of the loads he used were very high and should not be used for anything other than testing in safe conditions. Some loads were five times or more the amount of powder and balls to see if the barrel would hold up. He published the results in a book about 20 years ago. I was amazed at how much pressure these barrels would take. Main thing is to make sure the ball is on the powder, air space seems to be the biggest problem. Must barrels that blow up are caused by the ball not being all the way down the barrel.