I'm (attempting) to build a .450-400 double rifle and need a pair of barrels to shoot the .410 diameter 400 grain bullets.

Can anyone recommend a twist rate?....and who should I get such a barrel from?.....

So far I'm not having a lot of success finding a barrel maker.....

The barrels will be the same as used on a Bolt rifle as they will be set into a monoblock.

Pac-Nor shows a .410" groove, 16 twist. They can probably do a different twist if you like but a 16 should be fine for a 400 grain slug.

Perhaps from Peter Hambrusch of Austria. He makes lovely choppa Lump barrels

The barrels for my Simson Suhl .405 double rifle



were made by McGowen - https://mcgowenbarrel.com/ and are very accurate with 300 and 400 grain bullets..

I use only Douglas, .410s for the 450-400; one in 16 twist. If you want the old .405 standard of .412 (which I do not recommend), they make those too.
This is a stocked item; They are easy to get and Taylor at Douglas is a nice guy and will do any contour you want. CNC lathe you know.

I only use and highly recommend the people at Pac-Nor. It helps they will turn a custom contour for me and not argue the unsafe merits of turning a barrel down to .100" wall thickness at the muzzle.

Anyone who would argue about .1 muzzle wall knows nothing about rifle barrels. I say.

Aaron is building my 450-400 BPE on a McCririck peninsular hammer 16 bore. He purchased the Pac-Nor 16 twist barrels but I will use a 300 grain projectile as it is a BPE. Looking forward to the results.

I have used the 335 grain .40 caliber Hoch bullet in one of my Ballard Schuetzen rifles that had a Van Horn barrel with a 14 inch twist. They stabilized perfectly.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Anyone who would argue about .1 muzzle wall knows nothing about rifle barrels. I say.

So what's the indisputable magic number, .105", .995" ...??

There is no magic number; it all depends on balance. For example, my 450 NE is .080 but has big breeches, balanced between the hands like British double. And my Krieghoff has .132 muzzles and is more barrel heavy; they have very thin breeches and are muzzle heavy in 450-400. So, it depends. With modern steels, it isn't the thickness that matters as much as balance. My .500 NE has .090 muzzle walls; you get the picture.
For the OP's rifle, a BPE, with virtually no pressure at the muzzle, they could be quite thin, but that would make for a very whippy muzzle.

Vapo, What kind of shotgun action are you using? Where did you get the ribs, or are you re-using? Very cool. I hope to do the same type of project in the future.

I'd second Douglas. Always happy with their barrels.

Very nice. May I ask who did the stock work?

quote:

Originally posted by crshelton:
The barrels for my Simson Suhl .405 double rifle



were made by McGowen - https://mcgowenbarrel.com/ and are very accurate with 300 and 400 grain bullets..

Looks to me like the stock work of Bob the stocker in Southern Iowa.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I use only Douglas, .410s for the 450-400; one in 16 twist. If you want the old .405 standard of .412 (which I do not recommend), they make those too.
This is a stocked item; They are easy to get and Taylor at Douglas is a nice guy and will do any contour you want. CNC lathe you know.

quote:

Originally posted by Aaron Little:
I only use and highly recommend the people at Pac-Nor. It helps they will turn a custom contour for me and not argue the unsafe merits of turning a barrel down to .100" wall thickness at the muzzle.

Both barrels are fine for double rifles and the muzzle wall thickness being .100” is fine and the proper contour is necessary to balance the rifle properly and cut over all weight for the chambering of the rifle you are building.

I have had two double rifles mono-blocked on a Browning 20 ga doubles one a 30-30 and the other .41 Rem mag both were using Douglas barrels with no problem, and Butch uses Pac-Nor barrels for all his rifles and I see nothing wrong with either as long as they are turned and fitted properly.
.................................................................

2barrels,
The stock work was done by Brian Dudley, known mostly for his work with Parker shotguns.
http://bmdgunstocks.com/portfolio/stock-making/

PS this stock is featured in his Portfolio section; it is the most recent entry, which means it is the last one of many nice stock jobs.

I have a set of 450/400 barrels on a Valmet 412 action. The barrels started out as full-diameter Douglas .410 savage blanks. The gun with 26" barrels weighs 9 pounds, perfect in my opinion for this caliber. That means that a lot of metal was taken off the blanks. The rifle has user-regulatable barrels but they are right on with my 400 grain handlosds.

quote:

crshelton: The stock work was done by Brian Dudley, known mostly for his work with Parker shotguns.

Excellent choice.