Bob Hoyt rebore twist rate info

[T-Bird]

I'm about to send Mr Hoyt a 36x1 in 54 cal barrel to be rebored to 58 cal. My main purpose for this gun is just shooting targets 50-75 yds out with PRB. I will, however hunt deer with it some too. I was able to get him to the phone yesterday to ask about shipping, payment etc, hung up before I could discuss twist rate. I was planning to just tell him the purpose of the rifle and let him decide, he knows much more about it than I do. For those of you that have worked with him in the past, is that specific enough for him? I will only shoot PRB, but I don't want a twist that I have to load 120gr powder to get it to be accurate. I was thinking, if I need to be specific, I'll ask for 1:60. Do I have to specify radiused bottom rifling, or is that what he always does. Based on my reading, it sounds like that rate might suit my needs. What say y'all? I would ask him, but I hate to try to get him on the phone again

[Graysmoke]

When you ship the barrel to him just put in a note as to what you need. He does put in radius rifling, what was his price and shipping this year? He did a 54 for me 3 years ago and it shoots good you can’t go wrong with his work!!
Graysmoke

[LAGS]

I feel the 1:60 or 1:66 would be your best choice
But ship your barrel with a note as for what your intents are for what you want to shoot.
All the barrels Hoyt has done for me are perfect shooters.
I have two more .50 Renegades I am sending him to be bored to .54 with slow twists for round ball shooting .
His deeper rifling works excellent.

[HWooldridge]

I would vote for 1:66, with 1:72 as possibly the best for a .58. I once had a .54 with a 1:66 twist and it loved a PRB - excellent accuracy with a variety of loads, from 50 to 110 grs. of FFg (90 was about optimal for my shooting habits). It just doesn't take much twist to spin a round projectile.

[T-Bird]

Fee was 125$, I will enclose 20$more on the MO for return shipping (he said that was adequate). I will place a note with the barrel. Do I need to specify radius rifling?

[LAGS]

When I have a barrel refurbished or modified,
When I get it back. I stamp the information as to what year it was done, who did the work plus the caliber and twist rate . I stamp it on the bottom of the barrel so the information is not visible when the barrel is in the stock.
But On the visible part of the barrel , I stamp in the caliber so you know what to shoot out of that barrel .
I rarely see factory barrels that have both the caliber and twist rate stamped on the barrel.
Just the caliber.

[lead chucker]

I just got my renegade barrel back from him yesterday have not tried it out yet it was a 50 now its a 58 with 1-60 twist for round balls and mini balls. He said it would shoot both. His turn around from when i mailed it to yesterday was less than three weeks. He has done a couple other barrels for me and they shoot better than i can. I also told him i wanted to shoot around 70 to 90 gr 2f with good accuracy so i think that he took that into account also. Cant wait to take it out and get a couple hundred shots through it. One barrel i sent him shot good but after a couple hundred shots accuracy started to improve and now it really shoots nice.

[lead chucker]

If i remember right when i talked to him he mentioned the length of the renegade barrel being shorter and it might do better with a little faster twist so he settled on the 1-60.

[T-Bird]

That's what I'll do lead chucker, I'll tell him how much powder I want to use and let him decide. Mine being 36 in. may make a difference. Thank's for all the input guys! It's interesting that your recent turnaround was 3 weeks when I talked to him Monday, he said he was really backed up and might not get to mine 'till this fall. I asked him if I should wait 'till Sept to send it, he said "nah, just send it now, I'll get to it when I do".:smile: Still, nobody has told me whether I have to specify if I want radius rifling.

[fordwannabe]

I have been to Bobs many times and he does have a boatload of barrels to do, however he is no slacker. He is out in the min shop about 5 am Monday thru sat. He has done a few complete barrels for me, rebored some and relined others. I would tell him what I wanted to shoot as far as bullet and powder charge.... then stand back and let the master loose on my barrel. He has been doing this more than 50 years and the man KNOWS HIS STUFF! I feel very fortunate to have found him and know him.

[T-Bird]

Yeah ford, what I was thinking as to his expertise. Guess I should ask too, does his 58 shoot .570 or .575 RB?

[T-Bird]

Off it went!
I told him what I was gonna do with the rifle and that I wanted accuracy in the 70-100gr FF area. I'll leave the rest to him. I asked for ball dia and patch thickness if he could give them to me. Now I wait. Thanks for all the help.

[Graysmoke]

T-Bird I never asked for radiused rifling, I think he does that on most guns unless requested otherwise on the patched ball shooters. I would be very surprised if you get anything different, and the 54 is not as fussy about patch and ball size or lube, at least mine isn’t not like my 50 cal is.
Graysmoke

[curdog007]

My first barrel from Bob was a shallow round bottom groove job - I've been sold on them ever since. Had Ed Rayl do a lot of them for me over the years.
The target shooters will argue all day long that square bottom is more accurate - it may well be. But I'm a hunter, and will give up an inch in group size for easy loading. Most of them have shot the charge I had in mind to use in the rifle - basically no load development. I use one cloth for patch - and all my rifles like it (they don't get a choice...) and I always go at least 10 thou under on ball size. Easy loading, and no cleaning between shots. A hunting rifle ain't much use if it won't do that.

[T-Bird]

yeah, this barrel came off a custom full stock Hawken that I had Jack Garner make for me back in 1991. I got a Ron Long lock, Davis triggers, really nice rifle. I was a lot younger then, and a 1x 36 in straight octagon barrel was heavy (it's much heavier now:grin:), but authentic! Anyway, I was never able to get that barrel to stop blowing patches and giving mediocre at best accuracy. I quit using it for years. I decided to rebore it a few weeks ago. Maybe the barrel will finally be as good as the rest of the gun!

[Graysmoke]

T-Bird; I did exactly what you did. I had a douglas 50 cal bbl that I could never hold patches and shot like crap. It was a 1x33” and I had it bored to 54 and 1:70 twist after I pulled it and replaced with a green mtn. So 40 yrs later it is a 54 and I carved out two walnut planks and made a new hawken style.
Graysmoke

[T-Bird]

I hope this turns out, this is a really nice rifle except for the barrel, which isn't Jack's fault.

[The Appalacian]

I have a 50 cal Knight KP1 break open ML that got the bore trashed on it. I would love to make a smooth bore Turkey Gun out of it instead of a tomato stake.

Wonder if Mr Hoyt would do that for me. 62 cal would probably be enough, and there's plenty of wall thickness in the barrel, and plenty of shoulder left at the breech plug seal.

On the other hand a scoped .58 roundball gun in that configuration would be a lot of fun too. Decisions Decisions.

Back in the day it was a real meat maker. Totally my fault for putting it up dirty having completely forgotten about it.

https://i.postimg.cc/Gm1ShzN8/184914-168748723269314-77945654-n.jpg

[Woodnbow]

I have a 50 cal Knight KP1 break open ML that got the bore trashed on it. I would love to make a smooth bore Turkey Gun out of it instead of a tomato stake.

Wonder if Mr Hoyt would do that for me. 62 cal would probably be enough, and there's plenty of wall thickness in the barrel, and plenty of shoulder left at the breech plug seal.

On the other hand a scoped .58 roundball gun in that configuration would be a lot of fun too. Decisions Decisions.

Back in the day it was a real meat maker. Totally my fault for putting it up dirty having completely forgotten about it.

https://i.postimg.cc/Gm1ShzN8/184914-168748723269314-77945654-n.jpg

That rifle setup for .58 round ball would be quite a nice shooter. And a heck of a conversation starter!

[The Appalacian]

That rifle setup for .58 round ball would be quite a nice shooter. And a heck of a conversation starter!

I think you might be right about that.

[725]

.58 roundballer would be wonderful. Mr Hoyt has done many of various barrels for me and his advice has always been right on. Sounds like fun.

[T-Bird]

My feeling after talking to him, is that he'll do anything you want. I think the 58 cal RB twist might be the best bet, best I understand, the the 62 smooth bore would be like a 20ga no choke- not my ideal turkey gun (JMHO)! On the other hand, he can put a faster twist on it so you could shoot conicals (albeit larger)

[Fitz]

does anyone have his current contact info? He sounds like a guy I need to talk with. Thanks

[LAGS]

Bobby Hoyt
717-642-6696

[Fitz]

Bobby Hoyt
717-642-6696

Thanks LAGS

[Gtek]

With the understanding of being a busy guy and busy guys all around me, is there a known better/best time to contact him?

[T-Bird]

I was told by "the net" that the best time was early in the morning before the machines started and he couldn't hear the phone. I called once at 7:30 (cst) and got an obvious answering machine message that said he was busy till fall, don't send him anything. I decided to try once more, a bit later, (like 11/2wks ago) about mid morning (10:30ish cst) and he answered and we had the conversation that I alluded to at the beginning of this thread. Best time? when he can answer the phone, and he will if he can. That's my brief experience

[lead chucker]

If he answered the phone when ever it rang im sure he would never get any thing done. Its a crap shoot when ever you call. I got lucky and his turn around with my barrel was fast. He must have got flooded with barrels right after i sent mine. Timing is every thing.

[LAGS]

I just always leave him a message. Then he does return my call when he has time.
But I am retired. So I usually am available to take his calls whenever he has time to call me back .

[Gtek]

Thanks for the info! I will leave a message and hopefully see a Pennsylvania on inbound. The rash of telemarketers and "Potential Spam" in red letters lately has me ignoring it some. It is time I did something with the looks almost new outside, sewer pipe inside Renegade barrel I picked up a while back. Torn between the biggest RB I can get in there or a twist to squirt something big and patched.

[lead chucker]

Im going to try to get out to the range after work Monday and shoot my renegade barrel he did for me in 58 with a 1/60 twist. I.ve got a bunch of .562 balls i cast up and some different sized patches to try. I cant wait to shoot this barrel. I will give a range report when i get back. Im sure it will take a couple hundred shots to get the barrel broke in but thats ok. I had to shoot a couple hundred shots through my Hawkin 54 he made for me to settle it down and get more accurate and also became easier to load from shot to shot. I have been very happy with his work and he is really reasonable on his prices. Really a nice guy to talk to on the phone.

[triggerhappy243]

i have been to bobs many times and he does have a boatload of barrels to do, however he is no slacker. He is out in the min shop about 5 am monday thru sat. He has done a few complete barrels for me, rebored some and relined others. I would tell him what i wanted to shoot as far as bullet and powder charge.... Then stand back and let the master loose on my barrel. He has been doing this more than 50 years and the man knows his stuff! I feel very fortunate to have found him and know him.

i want to send a renegade barrel for him to bore and reline back to 54 cal. So i will have a true round ball barrel. What do you suggest i do for the twist?

[lead chucker]

at least a 1/60 to 1/66 i figure. He told me a 1/60 for the 58 with the short barrel and be able to shoot mini balls and patched balls accurately with good accuracy with moderate to heavy loads. I would call him and tell him what you will use the gun for and listen to what he says. Not his first rodeo thats for sure. He will know that to do and in the end you will be happy.

[LAGS]

I had him reline a .54 Renegade barrel for me with a 1-66 twist.
It shoots very well with RB’s , but I have not tried any slugs yet.
But I did shoot it with 230 gr .45acp lead boolits in a sabot.
So far they were very accurate at 25 yards.
But I haven’t tried them at a farther distance yet.

[fordwannabe]

Yes you gotta shoot his barrels in. I have several hundred rounds down the last barrel he made for me. Yesterday I was doing ladder test with 270 grain SAA bullets with HS-6 and the largest group at 50yards was an even inch for 8 shots. Thats with a 12.5 inch barrel. Tell him what you want to do and he will know what to do with it.

[Good Cheer]

My favored means are:
If I need information, to write him a letter with succinct questions and include a self addressed stamped envelope.
If I need something done to include a detailed description with the piece.