22" GM LRH .50 Caliber Carbine Barrel

[Good Cheer]

For many years I've tinkered with a Green Mountain fast twist fifty caliber barrel on a trimmed down TC Renegade.

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It's a fun gun but after developing hunting loads for it with a modified Lyman #445599 and with the Lee 440 grainer and then using the .54 GPR flinter instead... well, now I'm looking at figgering what to do with it. Have any you fellas used one of the GM carbine barrels? What did you end up using?

[johnson1942]

length of barrel is not a problem. with pure lead a paperpatched bullet will bump up in 11 inches from the breech. if it is hollow based it is instant. what twist is it?

[Good Cheer]

Oh, that one has a 28" twist.
These are a lot of fun to make up and shoot though light weight.
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Regular 450 grain and more fifty cal rifle molds cast soft and swaged to .499 work well too.
I think the little rascal needs a scope on it to take advantage of its potential.
But, though it's somewhat of an unusual barrel I'm sure that someone else out there has one so I thought I'd ask what they've used.

[Good Cheer]

And come to think of it I do have a clamp-on scope to fit a Renegade.
I should do that!

[johnson1942]

well you sure have it down and the right mold. i also prefer hollow bases. my hollow bases are fairly deep but have a good strong lip on them. i dont have to fuss as much with the hardness of the bullet as ive shot fairly hard and totally soft lead bullets with the same hollow base. they both preformed for me. the hollow base with a stiff wad behind it pushes on the base and the hollow base bumps up real easy. again, that sure is a well designed mold, hang on the that one.

[Saxtonyoung]

I have that same barrel on a Hawken stock with a 1" barrel channel. I bought mine used and it had no rear sight so I installed the TC quick release system and a scope. So far I have on only shot 50/40 MMP Sabots with a 225 grain LBT style lead bullet. I had this 40 caliber bullet mold made up specifically so I could use it in both 45 and 50 caliber muzzleloaders with a 1-28" twist and have had excellent success with it. Eventually I may shoot some paper patch bullets through it.

[54bore]

I just recently seen a .50 Cal GM LRH carbine barrel on a Renegade, that is the first one i had ever seen. I have never seen one on the Bidding sights Gunbroker, Ebay, etc.

It sure is a shame that Green Mountain won't build a barrel special order, I asked them specifically about the LRH barrels and unless you were buying a large quantity order of them, they won't do it. I Would love to have 2 of their Stainless barrels, a .45 and a .54

[Saxtonyoung]

A dozen or so years ago they were readily available. That's about the time I had bought the last 23 LRH stainless barrels in 50 cal 15/16" and 28" long that they put on clearance. It took me about about a year to sell them all on eBay. Then they sold all of there 45 LRH stainless barrels that were 15/16" and 28" long and I bought the last 13 they had and sold them as well. I also done some dealing with carbine barrels that were blued in both 15/16" and 1". I never had any 54 LRH barrels but remember green mountain having them. When I purchased the barrels I asked if the were being discontinued and was told no that they were just reducing inventory, well we all know how that turned out. All I have of the LRH barrels now are the carbine in 50 Caliber and a couple in 45 I picked up from Pecatonica the first of the year , 1 is blue the other was there last Stainless.

[54bore]

A dozen or so years ago they were readily available. That's about the time I had bought the last 23 LRH stainless barrels in 50 cal 15/16" and 28" long that they put on clearance. It took me about about a year to sell them all on eBay. Then they sold all of there 45 LRH stainless barrels that were 15/16" and 28" long and I bought the last 13 they had and sold them as well. I also done some dealing with carbine barrels that were blued in both 15/16" and 1". I never had any 54 LRH barrels but remember green mountain having them. When I purchased the barrels I asked if the were being discontinued and was told no that they were just reducing inventory, well we all know how that turned out. All I have of the LRH barrels now are the carbine in 50 Caliber and a couple in 45 I picked up from Pecatonica the first of the year , 1 is blue the other was there last Stainless.


Want to sell the Stainless one?

[Saxtonyoung]

Louis, I'm going to hang on to it and use in the muzzleloader league.

[54bore]

Louis, I'm going to hang on to it and use in the muzzleloader league.

Saxtonyoung, I would to if I were you. The Stainless GM LRH barrels were the real GEM, my blued 45 barrel is an absolute tack driver and i love to shoot it, but I despise cleaning it, i would rate it as the hardest barrel i own to clean. My Stainless .50 is by far and away the easiest barrel i own to clean. I am pulling cotton white patches from my Stainless .50 in a couple of minutes and they stay that way, my blued 45 is a Rust making machine, i get it to pulling white patches, pull it out of the bucket of water and dry it off good, run some dry patches through the barrel to dry the bore and i get Rusty colored patches??? I have polished the bore to a mirror, It has to be Flash rust? And it does it IMMEDIATELY after its clean, Stainless and Blued GM barrels were not created equal that's for sure!! I run oily patches thru and i can clear it back up, I quit worrying about it, there is absolutely nothing i can do to prevent it. My Stainless .50 NEVER EVER does that, I shoot paper patch bullets ONLY in all of my rifles, so it is definitely not a case of Built up Bore Butter, lube etc. None of my rifles have ever seen a lubed bullet, and likely never will

[Good Cheer]

Ever wonder if water chemistry is a big part of that flash rust thing?

[54bore]

Ever wonder if water chemistry is a big part of that flash rust thing?


Funny you mention this, i have wondered this exact thing? I own a house in town and am on city water, obviously treated chlorine water, and who knows what other chemicals they use in it?? We don't drink it, never have, never will. Just use it for shower, laundry. There is a natural spring close by that we get our drinking water from. Maybe i will get an extra bucket of the spring water, clean my barrel in it and see if i can tell any difference?

My thoughts are the Carbon content in the steel of the blued GM barrels, and nothing you can do about it? I can say with certainty that my blued .45 GM LRH Barrel is the worst barrel i own for this. I can get it squeeky clean fairly quick, pulling white patches in a bucket of clean water, but in the minute or 2 it takes me to dry the exterior of the barrel it flash rusts in the bore, when i run the new patches through to dry the bore they come out a rusty brown color, no matter what i do. I just go ahead and dry it out REALLY good, then shoot some good oil in the bore, wet a patch with oil and plunge it back n forth, i can do this a couple times with new oily patches and the rusty color will go away. I quit worrying about it, i have tried everything to beat it, Cant be done! If someone knows how, I'd LOVE to hear it?!