Octagon vs round barrel on short single shot

[oldred]

I am down to selecting the barrel style for my scaled down Highwall replica and I am a bit undecided on this, I need opinions. I have a raw barrel blank that I can still make into any style I want but while I think octagon looks great for long barrels on any of the early rifle designs I am not so sure about a short carbine barrel. This rifle is to have a 20" mid-weight barrel and most people I have mentioned this to seem to think round would look better for a short fairly heavy style and up until now I have been in agreement, now that the time to cut it into shape is here I am not so sure anymore! A round barrel would be way easier to make, either straight or tapered, and this has some bearing on the decision but I won't let that stop me from going with the octagon if that's what is decided would look the best, how about some opinions on how a fairly heavy tapered octagon of only 20" would look on a scaled down highwall vs a round barrel?

[Boz330]

How about octagon to round. I have a small Martini action with an octagon to round barrel in 357 and I really like it. It is not a heavy barrel though actually pretty light. Very trim little rifle. If it wasn't so damned expensive to build it would make a nice truck gun.

Bob

[oldred]

I thought about going with the half round and could still consider it.



How the dickens do I edit the thread title? Don't know how I did it but I have "shot" in there twice. :killingpc If this is not user accessible I would appreciate it if maybe one of the mods would fix that for me, it looks kind of goofy!

[MtGun44]

I kinda thought that the half and half looks good.

Bill

[.45Cole]

I have a browning 1885 in .45colt with a half/half barrel and it's really nice. I think the octagon makes for a nice wood fit and then the round barrel isn't as heavy. Maybe you could get your hands on one (1885 low wall hunter)
my.45 cents

[Wayne Smith]

I'll make it unanimous so far. I've always liked the half round barrels, too.

[StrawHat]

I am down to selecting the barrel style for my scaled down Highwall replica ...

For a short barreled carbine, I like the round barrel. For a short barreled rifle, I prefer octagon. The oct/round is a classy looky barrel on the right firearm.

Where did you get a scaled down 1885?

[oldred]

For a short barreled carbine, I like the round barrel. For a short barreled rifle, I prefer octagon. The oct/round is a classy looky barrel on the right firearm.

I had not really given a half round barrel much more than a passing thought, that is until now, but that just might be the solution.


Where did you get a scaled down 1885?



I am building it, it's a scaled down version of this one that I finished a few months ago. These pics are before bluing and finial finishing but I have been shooting it for a while now. I have it disassembled at the moment fitting it with a tang sight and re-doing the blue with a slow rust blue since the hot blue took an odd redish color on the 4140 steel of the barrel and receiver. Both rifles are machined from 4140 HT, receivers, barrels and most of the internal parts, while the wood is from a locally cut walnut tree that was about to be cut up for firewood before I found it. Neither rifle is an exact replica since I made some mods both externally and internally to give it an adjustable trigger and eliminate the, to me anyway, unsightly screws and pin ends that appear on the sides of an original receiver but they closely follow the original 1885 design. The scaled down version I am selecting the barrel for will be a 22 magnum while the one in the pics is a 45/90.

[StrawHat]

oldred, I envy you. When I was on board ships I had access to milling machines and lathes. No that I am a shore bird, not so much. I like the idea of scaled down rifles as I think many of what is available is way to heavy for a hunting rifle. Target shooters need the extra weight to deal with repeated recoil. For a hunter, one or two shots is a lot so the weight is excessive.

[bigted]

im glad you specified the chamber as i assumed...[i know]...that you were making another 40 or 45 calibre rifle. i have seen a rolling block in 45-70 with a 20 inch full actagon with no taper and it looked rightious to say the least. but at 20" the recoil can be a factor in the straight wall bigger calibres. my little ruger is a testament to that.

for a .22 i would be in agreement with others here that a half n half barrel will look rite on.

[oldred]

That 45/90 is definitely too heavy for a normal hunting rifle at 14 1/2 lbs but it does a good job of taming the recoil of the 500 grain Lee rn slugs I shoot in it, still I wish it was a bit lighter. The scaled down version will have a much lighter receiver and the barrel will be a foot shorter and have a slimmer profile so it will be a lot easier to pack around and I think it will make a decent squirrel rifle. After doing some re-figuring I now see where it would be very much possible to build a 38-55 to this scale and maybe I should have gone with that but at this point I'm commited to the 22 magnum with hopefully a 17 HMR switch barrel. This should be possible because instead of screwing the barrel into the receiver I used a wedge design similar to a 10/22 Ruger so switching barrels should be as simple as removing the forearm and two screws holding the locking wedge.

[bigted]

in that case why not build both the half n half barrel and a heavy straight non tapered octagon for mounting something like a unertl or old lyman exteriour adjusting scope on. then a round for the 17HMR. that is a great idea to do the barrel in like fasion as the 10-22 system...great idea sir!

also i would certainly want to see the completed rifle...you do nice work...im envious.

[badgeredd]

I had not really given a half round barrel much more than a passing thought, that is until now, but that just might be the solution.





I am building it, it's a scaled down version of this one that I finished a few months ago. These pics are before bluing and finial finishing but I have been shooting it for a while now. I have it disassembled at the moment fitting it with a tang sight and re-doing the blue with a slow rust blue since the hot blue took an odd redish color on the 4140 steel of the barrel and receiver. Both rifles are machined from 4140 HT, receivers, barrels and most of the internal parts, while the wood is from a locally cut walnut tree that was about to be cut up for firewood before I found it. Neither rifle is an exact replica since I made some mods both externally and internally to give it an adjustable trigger and eliminate the, to me anyway, unsightly screws and pin ends that appear on the sides of an original receiver but they closely follow the original 1885 design. The scaled down version I am selecting the barrel for will be a 22 magnum while the one in the pics is a 45/90.

That is some nice work. How did you come by the dimensions and such? I have been looking over the Low Wall action quite a bit lately and was thinking about copying it. The only problem I am seeing is the action I have been looking at uses a leaf spring as the mainspring. I'd like to be able to get a good look at the coil spring action. Any suggestions?

Edd

[oldred]

Badger, I used photos, notes and measurements of critical dimensions taken from an original 1885 that was disassembled but I made some modifications, and due to working without exact plans, the internal action demensions and the specs on my main spring would be somewhat different. There are however complete drawings sets available on E-bay for about $30, a buddy of mine who is in the process of building one of these rifles bought this set and it is really complete and of excellent quality. There is also another seller who offers these plans for only about $20 or so and it too may be good but I have not seen them, I have looked over the other set while assisting in my friend's build (currently on long-term "hold") and I am certain that everything you would need can be found in these, although the basic plans set is for the flat main spring there is also a full page included on the coil spring giving the wire size, material and exact dimensions. This spring is not at all hard to do but does involve modifying the hammer, the flat spring lug should be cut off and two small holes would need to be drilled in the block.


http://www.midwayusa.com/product/474348/uberti-main-spring-1885-high-wall-low-wall

[badgeredd]

oldred,

Thank you for your reply. I had seen the plans previously, but since I had purchased some plan for another action. I was a bit sceptical as to their completeness and accuracy. That will help.

Edd

BTW here is a better picture of the half 'n' half barrel I contoured for my LowWall circa 1887.

[oldred]

I had seen the plans previously, but since I had purchased some plan for another action. I was a bit sceptical as to their completeness and accuracy.



I checked and the plans sets are still available for $20 from one seller or $29.95 from another, don't know what (if any) difference there may be having not seen the cheaper set but I can vouch for the $29.95 set. They are clear, large and very much complete covering every single part in detail including even simple screws with all dimensions, critical contours and angles, etc. I have no doubt a person could use these plans to build an exact replica or replacement parts for an original, these are said to be copies of the original Winchester drawings.

[pkie44]

My vote goes for the octogon, looks good an about anything