.32 cal barrel

[snuffy]

Good morning all!
I am having trouble finding RESONABLY priced .32 cal barrels. I should have bought one from numrich last month. I went back yesterday and the site no longer shows .32 barrels! When did .50 and .54 become the only barrels being stocked? GM used to make a .32 drop in for TC but noew offer nothing below .40 cal! If I could get a used .32 for under 100.00 (is that possible) I'd be half way to a pot of brunswick stew!!! Any leads appreciated
Thanks All

[BruceB]

Try Troy at Stonewall Creek Outfitters. Usually has Ed Rayle barrels in stock for a fair price. Excellent barrel! I used one on this rifle,



It makes a slim rifle with the 3/4" barrel. Points nicely tho! If you use this barrel make certain you use a smaller lock as even a medium size lock can be a bit overwhelming. Let us see you progress once you get the barrel!

[crazell]

Nice looking flintlock Bruce B. Love the color of it!!

[snuffy]

Thanks Crazell,
I'll post pics but not anytime soon!!!! That's a beautiful rifle but I'd never be able to afford that kind of wood. I just want a "pretty little shooter"

[BruceB]

Snuffy that piece of wood cost me about $30  It had a feew worm holes in it and no one wanted it (except me ) Just shop around and don't be too picky except for grain flow through the wrist.

Thanks Crazell, it's stained with "salad dressing". Vinegar and iron.

[crazell]

Snuffy that piece of wood cost me about $30  It had a feew worm holes in it and no one wanted it (except me ) Just shop around and don't be too picky except for grain flow through the wrist.

Thanks Crazell, it's stained with "salad dressing". Vinegar and iron.

What type of dressing? Like a red-wine vinegarret, or italian??

[BruceB]

  Crazell   

[Dogshirt]

Vinegar and iron.

[snuffy]

I'm sorry BruceB I thought Crazell posted that pic! You did a remarkable job on that rife! Kudos! you must love shooting her! If I had a piece like that I'd be in the woods more than I'd be at work!
(not that I'd mind that but the boss would be ticked!)

[BruceB]

Snuffy the 32 caliber 3/4" Ed Rayl barrel listed for $140 is as good a buy as you'll get! It's a great barrel. I know it's a bit more than you want to spend but worth every dime! You might request on the board if anyone has a decent stock blank, I have run across some really good wood by just keeping an eye peeled. Mongrel had some blanks for sale a while back for excellent prices. I bought one and was VERY happy with it (should have bought at least one more ). Make certain you buy a quality lock, and that should be your only other major cash outlay. Buttplate, triggergaurds can be had cheaply. Trigger, nose cap, ramrod pipes and sideplate can be made by you. Go for it! If I can do it anyone can!!!!!

[snuffy]

Thanks BruceB, I'll give it some thought. I realize what it should cost to build a nice rifle, I just can't swing it right now. I need to be less obsessive and hang till I find good deals. I miss a .32 on numrich for 114.00. I'll hang and see what happens. Also I'd need an inletted stock as I haven't done a complete blank yet! I appreciate your input and it's value.
Be well

[mongrel]

Finding smallbore barrels at pretty much any price is a hit-and-miss deal right now. Has been for some time. There certainly seems to be a demand for them, but the supply isn't keeping up.

Green Mountain for at least a couple of years was focused on modern barrels, letting the muzzleloading field go pretty much untended. This isn't my imagination, this is the story I got from everyone I dealt with or talked to about the problem -- Track Of The Wolf, Dixie Gun Works, Muzzleloader Builder's Supply, Troy and Shannon Roop of Stonewall Creek Outfitters, Jack Garner, and on and on.... Most of these people I deal with face-to-face at the Friendship Shoots, so I wasn't just getting some BS spun my way by a rep on the phone. These are all dealers who wanted barrels, had customers with money in hand demanding barrels, and they couldn't get them. The situation seems to be improving but you are still going to see a lot of "Out Of Stock" notices where Green Mountain items are concerned.

There are a number of other makers of muzzleloading barrels, such as Ed Rayl, Colerain (who have been making straight-walled barrels for some time now), Long & Hammock, Rice, and others, but none of them are up for meeting the demand created by Green Mountain's neglect of its original customer base, and several of them are pricier by a dollar or several dollars than GM. Finding anything of small bore for under $135-$140, minimum, that's available at the time you actually want to buy it, can be incredibly difficult.

I have no choice but to buy the brand of barrel a customer specifies, assuming it's available, but paying out of my own pocket I won't buy another Green Mountain product. Their reputation and profits over the years were based mainly on black powder barrels, and they did everything short of discontinue those products in favor of barrels for modern guns, for like I say at least a couple of years. So far as I'm concerned they can pound sand and their modern-barrel profits both at the same time.

[BruceB]

Mike what is the name of the guy set up across from the Blacksmith shop at Friendship? It slips my mind right now. He can make what you want at a reasonable price if he's not picking that banjo

[mongrel]

That would be Howard Kelly (or Kelley) of Webertown Rifle Works. First-rate barrels. Unfortunately I don't have contact info for Howard right now -- get in touch with the NMLRA business office at Friendship, IN and they can provide his phone number. I'm going to need to do that, myself, as soon as I work up the nerve to commit to the cost of purchasing ten or a dozen 28" barrels. Got the work lined up to cover the cost, and then some, but thinking of the total price makes my wallet whimper.

Howard's prices are about on a par with Green Mountain's, and you'll probably have to place an order and wait, but he's a true craftsman, a good guy, and one heck of a banjo plunker and fiddle player. Those of us who are regulars at Friendship, either as vendors or customers, know we're "home" when we smell the wood smoke from the Primitive area and hear the SNAP and BOOM of muzzleloaders firing, the ring of hammers on anvils, and the notes of Howard's banjo, over on Commercial Row and the firing line in front of it.

[Mortblanc]

Mike what is the name of the guy set up across from the Blacksmith shop at Friendship? It slips my mind right now. He can make what you want at a reasonable price if he's not picking that banjo

I think you are talking about Tip Curtis.  He works out of Cross Plains, TN.  His place is called the Frontier Shop.  He has the shed and big truck right across the creek from the BS shop.  I bought a GM .32 barrel from him two years ago.  His prices run about average for the industry.

http://www.nmlra.org/classifieds.asp?ID=13