Who do you think has the best barrels

[catkiller45]

I am considering having my Browning traditional rifle rebarreled to a heaver barrel..Cal. 45-120.....Which barrel would you all choose if you were having it done....I was thinking of the Green Mountain barrel..It will have to be threaded of course and the front dove tail cut...And in 1 in 18 twist....Not sure what length I would get though....Any ideas on this as well....What about round or octagon ....John

[August]

I don't have enough experience with different brands to say which is best. I can say, however, that the Badger barrels on my hi-walls leave nothing to desire.

[McLintock]

Both the Green Mountain and the Badger's are excellent barrels. Another barrel used a lot by Silhouette shooters is the Pac-Nor. You can put Pac-Nor barrels in the search engine of your browser and it'll bring up their web site. That Traditional Hunter buttstock with a 45-120 will be a killer recoil wise, might want to consider putting a better stock on it also.
McLintock

[montana_charlie]

I am considering having my Browning traditional rifle rebarreled to a heaver barrel..Cal. 45-120.....
Did you know (or does it matter to you) that the original Winchesters chambered for that cartridge were set up to use a lightweight bullet, and often had a slow twist rifling?

Did you know (or does it matter to you) that you can get 120 grains of BP in a 2 7/8ths case?

CM

[catkiller45]

montana_charlie,,,,

So what weight bullet and twist rate are you saying I should be using? And where did you get this information from? I never heard of this before now. Thanks for any more info. you may have to offer.....John

[SharpsShooter]

Badger Barrels.......hands down the best.

SS

[Don McDowell]

I've used both Green Mtn, and Badger. Badger barrels are by far the better of the two.
Douglas barrels are pretty good also.

[montana_charlie]

montana_charlie,,,,

So what weight bullet and twist rate are you saying I should be using? And where did you get this information from? I never heard of this before now. Thanks for any more info. you may have to offer.....John
I have no advice to provide. It's just that when Winchester decided to put a cartridge that long into a rifle that light...they felt a light bullet was the ticket.

This thread started as a discussion about paper patching, but drifted into a well-rehearsed donneybrook over the history of the 45/120.
http://shilohrifle.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12559
I had been reading along, and the information was fresh in my mind when I saw your thread.

I thought I would (sorta) 'try it out' on a Winchester shooter...after hearing everything to be heard from Sharps shooters.
CM

[longhorn]

I don't own a long .45, but have been sorely tempted. Extensive reading on the Shiloh forum seems to indicate that most end up at around 96 to 98 grains of 1 Fg, maybe some higher, in the so-called .45-110. There are some folks on that site that use the cartridge and can offer good advice; most all of 'em consider the .45x3.25" just too much and very persnickety to load. IIRC, the .450 BP Express (very close to the same thing) used lighter bullets and slower twist--"Express" loadings in it's original form. I passed on a Ruger #1 .45-70 rechambered to .450BPE once because I figured the twist was wrong and I didn't really need a hard-kicking black powder magnum.

[catkiller45]

montana_charlie====I read the post on the other site...Lots of interesting reading there.

Thanks for sharing it with me.....Lots of talk going on now days about the bigger cartridges...I have 2 45-70's and just wanted a bigger boomer....But I would like to have a heaver barrel on it to make load testing a little more enjoyable.....And the crescent butt is a pain in the shoulder if it isn't placed just right as well...Needs a pad of some type for it...Thanks again Charlie---------John

[montana_charlie]

I have 2 45-70's and just wanted a bigger boomer....
Well, the 45/110 is a 'big' one, and there is a lot more data available on getting it to shoot.
It might also be considered a more 'efficient' cartridge because it doesn't get as far into that 'law of diminishing return' thing.
CM

[NickSS]

I have owned and shot a Browning high wall in 45-120 (3 1/4 inch case) and it is a reall thumper. It was accurate too. However, after slinging lead through various 45 caliber rifles over the years I would rank them for reall utility as 45-70, 45-90 (2.4 inch case), 45-100 (2.6 inch case), 45-110 (2 7/8 case) and last the 45-120 (3 1/4 inch case) The first three are all you will ever need to shoot 1000 yards and kill anything in north america. Sharps came out with the 2 7/8 case to give buffalo hunters slightly flatter trajectory for shooting from a stand. By the way that round was loaded with everything from about 90 to 120 gr of powder depending upon the bullet and whether it was paper patched or not. The 45-120 was made by winchester and a few rifles were chambered in it. Probably there are more modern rifles and ammunition around today than ever were in the 1880s.

[catkiller45]

i APPRECIATE ALL THE INFORMATION...Thanks for sharing it with me...Can't wait for some warmer weather so I can get to the range and do some load testing...Have a good new year you guys...John