Crackerjack Barrels

[su_heading size=”30″]Flintlock Construction Inc. offers quality muzzleloading barrels in a variety of calibers, lengths, twists and tapers.[/su_heading]

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT

[su_dropcap style=”light” size=”5″]I [/su_dropcap]recently purchased a .52-caliber barrel from Charles Burton of Flintlock Construction Inc. (FCI) in northeast Kentucky, and I’m happy to report that it now has a new rifle wrapped around it and is performing very well.

My shooting was done using a .512-inch-diameter round ball wrapped in a .015-inch patch. The bore is tapered – just a mere .003 inch within the 35-inch length – but it is easily felt both when loading a patched round ball and when cleaning the gun. That ball-and-patch combination is relatively easy to start at the muzzle, and ramming the patched ball down to rest on the powder actually gets easier as the ball is pushed further down the
bore. At least part of the reason for that is because the tapered bores have their tightest diameters at their muzzles.

These barrels can be straight octagon up to 1 3/8 inches in width for any length out to 48 inches. FCI also offers straight tapered barrels to those same dimensions. Swamped, octagon and round barrels are also available out to 48 inches as well. Smoothbore barrels are made out to 48 inches. Burton also makes a 1 1/8-inch light bench barrel with a false muzzle, and pistol barrels too.

This Leman-styled rifle was built using the new .52-caliber Burton barrel from FCI.
This Leman-styled rifle was built using the new .52-caliber Burton barrel from FCI.

Burton’s barrels are made from 12L14 steel, and several calibers are standard. These include bore sizes of .30, .32, .36, .38, .40, .44, .45, .47, .48, .50, .52, .54, .58, .60 and .62 calibers. What drew my attention to his barrels is his offering of the .52 caliber, and that is what I ordered: a 35-inch barrel that is 1 inch wide with a twist rate of one turn in 66 inches, and having flat bottom grooves. All barrels come with a straight or tapered tang breech plugs and the rifling is cut with seven grooves. Twist rates can be from one turn in 21 inches to straight rifled, so the buyer has the choice of just about any rate of twist desired.

SQUARE-BOTTOM RIFLING GROOVES are cut to a depth of .010 to .012 inch, while round bottom grooves are cut to .015 to .016 inch. All rifled barrels have seven grooves, and typical twists are 1 in 48, 1 in 57, 1 in 66, and 1 in 72 inches. But by using a sine bar rifling machine, Burton can cut twists from straight to as fast as one turn in 21 inches.

In addition, he hand laps and shoots all custom barrels before shipping them. My .52-caliber barrel came with a test target that was fired from sandbags at 30 yards with 70 grains of FFFg under a patched .512-inch round ball. In order to shoot the new barrels, Burton temporarily breeches them to an in-line “action” and glues sights to the barrel. All evidence of the sights and the breeching are removed before the barrel receives the breech plug the customer has requested.

When it was time to sight-in my new rifle the day was wet and rainy, but I just wore my hat with the “Montana peak” and went shooting. For the initial shots, I posted a target at 25 yards and filed down the front sight to raise the point of impact on the target. The load used for these close-range tests was 50 grains of GOEX FFFg under the .512inch cast ball wrapped in a Bridgers Best .015-inch lubricated patch.

All five shots cut the X on this second target.
All five shots cut the X on this second target.

With the sight filed so the rifle was hitting center, I posted a pistol target for a five-shot group, and this turned out very well indeed. Those five shots, by the way, were fired using the Pushing Daisies patches from October Country, cut from .015-inch ticking and lubed with Bumblin’ Bear Grease. Both are very good patches, especially for hunting. In case you are wondering, I consider both Bridgers Best and October Country patches to be equally good.

All things considered, the Burton barrel with the tapered bore loads easily and shoots very well. The small amount of shooting I’ve done with this rifle probably hasn’t done the barrel any real harm, but more shooting will certainly be done – and sooner than later.

Prices for Burton Barrels vary, but all are very reasonable, starting at $185 for a breeched straight rifle barrel, such as mine. Prices do not include shipping, and Burton asks for 50 percent of the barrel’s cost when an order is placed, with the remainder due when the barrel is received. Delivery is generally made in three to six months, as no barrels are kept in stock. All barrels are for black powder only.

To learn more about Burton gun barrels, or to place an order, visit fcibarrels.com, or call (606) 780-7709. ASJ

The author sights in his new .52-caliber FCI barrel from the bench.
The author sights in his new .52-caliber FCI barrel from the bench.

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