In April of last year I bought a 45 caliber 38 inch long muzzle loader barrel. It has a patent breech and is 1 1/2 across the flats. It also came with a false muzzle and bullet starter. It had the name "Russ Hooks" who is a very prominent Schuetzen person in the San Diego area written in magic marker on one barrel flat. I looked EVERYWHERE including at the breech plug seating face, inside the bullet starter and elsewhere but no info on the maker, caliber or twist. I got out my special marked cleaning rod that I use the get twist rate and the initial measurement looked very weird so I measured at the breech before putting in the plug and it was 1 in 20 inches and then measured at the muzzle and it is 1 in 15!!!!! Wow a gain twist barrel so I called Russ and he thought the barrel was made about 18 years ago but he wasn't sure. I told him the rifling looks exactly like Pope rifling as does the bullet starter but the barrel is not old enough to be a Pope. So far the rifle shoots 1 inch groups at 200 yards with no real load development or such. I called every possible barrel maker I could think of but none remembered making it. Here are some pictures of the starter, ETC. If I had posted this before I apologize as I looked but did not see a post by me so if any one has ideas who might make a barrel like this you can PM me or email me. If this is a dupe the admin can delete it. Thanks, John