Author Topic: GM Drop-in Barrel for TC (Read 8998 times)

Eric Krewson · « **on:** December 23, 2020, 07:51:10 am »

I wanted a GM drop-in barrel in .54 for my .50 TC Hawken, GM quit making these a while back so they are very scarce. I found a place that still had them in stock and bought one. The .54 in a 15/16 barrel is nice and light by comparison to a .50 in the same barrel. The barrel was a good find, pricy but when you want something it is a done deal. The Gun Works Emporium had them but after I let the cat out of the bag on several sites there may have been a run on them, Track is sold out of them.

My findings on the drop-ins, this one needed a little adjustment like my last one; fits the stock nicely but the underlug is a little too large and the wedge pin wouldn't go in the fore end slot, a little opening up the lug with a file corrected this. The underlug is a little deep and partially blocked the ramrod channel, the ramrod wouldn't make it past the lug, again some filing was in order. I took some metal off the bottom of the lug and rounded the corners of the lug and the ramrod jag so they could slide past each other and not catch on any square edges, problem solved.

The ramrod it typical of mass produced stuff, lots of runout and unpinned jags, it was also too big in diameter to go through the pipes easily. I chucked the ramrod up in my drill and sanded it down to a good fit for the pipes. I pinned both jags on the ends just to be on the safe side. I stained the ramrod with leather dye to match my TC stock and put the first coat of truoil on it this evening.

It is going to rain today, I finished up at dark yesterday evening so it may be Thursday before I try er out. I have had great luck with GM barrel in the past and expect the same from this barrel.

Hawkdancer · « **Reply #1 on:** December 23, 2020, 11:33:05 am »

Nice fitting! I was looking for a .40 cal GM drop-in for my .50 cal TC Hawken, but never found one, and the guys I know that have one aren't letting them go! I did score a drop-in Sharps 20 gauge barrel from a friend. Still have to pattern it, though.
Hawkdancer

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #2 on:** December 23, 2020, 12:22:57 pm »

The Gun Works has an Oregon barrel line of drop-ins, custom made to be any length and caliber you want. They cost as much as your compete TC Hawken is worth but if you want one........

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #3 on:** December 28, 2020, 07:43:36 am »

I shot the rifle yesterday with the new barrel, all I had were .535 balls which were a tight fit even with a .012 patch. I tried some .010 patches first but they blew to pieces, the .012 were cut but intact.

I suspect the patches were getting cut by the lands on loading so I loaded a ball with a large patch and pulled patch and ball back out of the barrel with a pair of pliers, sure enough the patch was cut at each land.

I shot a bit more, I was using a .535 ball, 80gr of 2F and a .012 patch. My groups weren't great, about 3" at 50 yards. I can't see sights very well with my 73 year old eyes but I am sure I can do better than this when I figure out the right load.

I like a thicker patch so I ordered a .530 mold to give more me options when I start working up a load. For some reason there has been a run on Lee molds, even Lee is sold out of them as are all the M/L suppliers. I found one guy selling them on eBay for about $10 more than they normally sell for but I needed one so it is on the way

When I cleaned the barrel I used the thumb and 220 grit sand paper routine to smooth out the lands and crown so they won't cut patches any more.

Hawkdancer · « **Reply #4 on:** December 28, 2020, 11:31:00 am »

Smoothing the lands might help tighten up the groups, too.
Hawkdancer

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #5 on:** December 29, 2020, 07:12:10 am »

I did, with a piece of worn out gray scotch bright pad on a smaller jag and oil after I saw that first blown patch.

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #6 on:** January 05, 2021, 03:48:31 pm »

I got a .530 mold in yesterday and ran abut 50 balls today to continue the load test for my new barrel.

jeffhalfrack · « **Reply #7 on:** January 06, 2021, 10:46:57 pm »

I had none of those problems,,,I shoot t/c Minnie 325 gr I think ?? box not in front of me ,,it shoots 240 gr cheap shot sabot great ,,,in fact I sold my first in line felt dirty hunting with the in line side lock for me ,,,sorry you are having problems ,,,if anybody can figure it out its you! Keep us in the loop thanks JeffW ,,, I have the g/m long range hunter

Digital Caveman · « **Reply #8 on:** January 07, 2021, 07:56:12 am »

Quote

in fact I sold my first in line felt dirty hunting with the in line side lock for me ,,,sorry you are having problems ,,,if anybody can figure it out its you! Keep us in the loop thanks JeffW ,,,

I'm having a hard time following you.

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #9 on:** January 07, 2021, 07:58:11 am »

I am not having problems, just in the testing phase.

I am a very experienced B/P shooter, it is rare to put one load in a gun and have it be the one you stick with, all I have only tried is one load of 80gr of 2F, a .012 patch and a .535 ball.. All barrels are different and you have to find what your barrel likes then you are good to go for life.

I didn't go further in testing the first time I shot because the barrel was cutting patches and I needed to smooth the crown and buff the lands a bit before I shoot any more.

My barrel has around ball twist (1 in 66) so a patched ball is it. I will very the powder load 5gr a whack first loading the new .530 balls and a .015 patch, I will start at 70gr and working up.

.54 round ball barrels with deep rifling like stout loads so I suspect something in the 85-90 gr powder load will be the ticket.

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #10 on:** January 07, 2021, 08:18:39 am »

As an example; I built a .54 Lancaster rifle, somewhere along the line I trusted Rem Oil to protect the bore after a meticulous cleaning. I checked the gun 6 months later and the inside of the barrel looked line a red potato farm, tons of rust.

Here is the gun, first build so it is a little sloppy;

I scrubbed and scrubbed and couldn't get the rust out so I got agressive, I loaded a scotch bright pad patch with soft scrub cleanser and went to work. OOPS, I could see metal come out of the bore with the patch. A checked with my bore scope showed I had rounded off the corners of the lands, the rust was gone and a little pitting remained. My starting out goal was to fix the barrel (Rice) or ruin it so I had to replace it.

Here is a bore scope picture after I finished with my aggressive scrub, you can see the pitting;

I shot every load I could think of (I thought) and the gun wouldn't group. One day at the range I miss-set my powder measure for what I thought was 90gr and shot a cloverleaf. I looked at my measure and it was really set on 80 gr, BINGO!

The only thing this gun will shoot accurately is 80gr of 2F, a .535 ball and a .015 ticking patch.

It does real well, the tight group is 3 shots at 50 yards, I pulled the one that hit to the left, the two to the right I held steady on.

Hawkdancer · « **Reply #11 on:** January 07, 2021, 01:48:20 pm »

Good luck with the work-up! Keep us posted. I shoot mostly a .50 cal T/C Hawken, and 3 .58 cal, my first Navy arms "Buffalo Hunter", a custom(?) long rifle with a Douglas barrel, (both shallow grooves) and a custom flintlock with a Bill Large barrel and a Hadaway lock. All of them are better shots that I am! But they will still stay in the black off the sandbags! Been shooting round balls mostly in all 4, but if you shoot, you clean!

Hawkdancer

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #12 on:** January 07, 2021, 05:37:37 pm »

"after a meticulous cleaning", been doing this BP thing for 50 years, never had any rust in my bores until the one mentioned above.

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #13 on:** March 13, 2021, 11:19:09 am »

Seeing as how I now had 2 new TC barrels and one stock I decided to locate another stock with all the hardware and make two rifles. A quick request on one of the M/L forum classified and one appeared. I bought it and tried to install my new drop-in barrel into the stock, it would go but was a very tight almost forced fit. I probably have a little more in the gun than it is worth but if you want one you want one.

I decided to relieve the barrel channel, I tried a scraper but it didn't do an even job so I used a finger nail emery board which worked well but clogged up too quickly. Next I used a popsicle stick with some 200 grit sandpaper which worked quickly and easily.

A little sanding, a tru-oil refinish and I was good to go with an easy drop in fit.

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #14 on:** March 19, 2021, 07:47:07 pm »

I made a variety of peeps for the new barreled gun, the factory rear sight is too far back for my peep to work like I had intended. I am gong to try to find a buckhorn that fits the TC sight holes, one that runs down the barrel a bit.

Primitive Archer