Stainless steel barrels on a BPCR style rifle

[guninhand]

Wondering if there are many/any traditional black powder cartridge rifles out there that have replacement barrels in stainless steel? What about SS barrels that have been surface finished to appear to more traditional?

[uscra112]

Well, the Ruger Old Army came in stainless, and no, mine is not for sale. But if I were into BPCR I'd like a stainless barrel a lot, and tradition can go hang. Cleaning up BP residue is not on my list of favorite things to do. Do I know of any that come from the factory like that? No, 'fraid not. I do have a couple of stainless barrels I've picked up over the years for my High Wall, but since I don't love the High Wall all that much they've never been installed.

[.22-10-45]

There was an article in the American Rifleman back in late 1970's..early 80's on stainless steel and black powder fouling. It stated the stainless barrels were more prone to pitting than regular chrome-moly.

[guninhand]

I'm not concerned so much about fouling. The bore is usually cleaned on the range anyway. I like to use a 50-50 mixture of hydrogen peroxide-vinegar to get out any leading. Also there are barrel makers who prefer to work with stainless.

[Don McDowell]

There are a few rifles around that have been rebarreled with stainless steel barrels, mostly Krieger's, that are shooting extremely well.

[bigted]

I don't see anything wrong with a stainless barrel. they are weather resistant a bit better then the carbon steel barrels that depend more on the finish that is installed on them. the blackpowder fouling ... I am betting ... will attack the stainless as fast as it attacks the carbon steel. the trick is to clean them quickly ...[ meaning within a day or so of shooting them]... to remove the rust attracting fouling ... from the steel. also the other trick is to have a smooth barrel to begin with so that the cleaning is easier to accomplish. the way ... with either carbon steel or stainless steel ... is to provide a smooth bore so that the fouling will have a hard time finding a purchase and gets swept away with ease when cleaning. the smooth is to be accomplished in a couple ways ... hand lapping the bore to relieve it of rough/tight spots ... OR ... shooting jacketed bullets enough to provide the smoothing effect with copious cleaning between shots ... OR ... running paper patch boolits thru to get a very nice polish on the inside of that barrel ... be they carbon OR stainless steel.

as for the weather resisting quality's of stainless ... it is a great idea on hunting rifles or rifles that will be exposed to rough weather conditions.


kinda get a kick outta some folks ... if it aint an original gun ... or ... a reproduction of an original gun ... AND/OR ... a single shot ... AND/OR ... American made ... there is little interest garnered from questions asked. lets see ...

BPCR = ;

B = Black
P = Powder
C = Cartridge
R = Rifle

does NOT mean TRADITIONAL or ORIGANAL or HISTORIC ... it merely means ... to install Black Powder in a Cartridge that is fired in a Rifle.

if a mention of something other then the original or traditional or historic is mentioned as a question ... there seems to be little interest or answers garnered. I myself posted a question on a ... lever gun of all things firing a revolver Cartridge ... and received little answers even tho there are many visitors to the post. I ... like YOU ... have ventured into a verboten area and as such will garner very little ... except from other venturous folks ... with quests involving the "other then" run of the mill same ol same ol.

good luck.

[johnson1942]

i have a stainless steel 45/70 barrel on my cpa stevens 44/ 1/2 and one of my custom muzzle loaders that shoots a cast bullet. both are easier to clean than reg. steel and are very accurate. if i could afford, it all my guns would have stainless steel barrels on them.

[MT Chambers]

The stainless certainly gives it that "old tyme" look.

[guninhand]

As far as I know the barrel can be coated with a durable flat black finish. I have a Robinson Armament M96 rifle that is all stainless and coated black, looks nice and holds up well. I guess the only drawback would be if other shooters on the line threw dirt clods at you while you tried to shoot;-).