Can anyone tell me where I can find a 31 caliber barrel with 15/16 flats...30 inches to 36 inches long. I do not want a 32 cal. at all.
want a barrel with .300 bore and add a .10 patch to make the .31 for small game.

Your best bet may be to check with Robert Hoyt, Pennsylvania barrelmaker,(google him), and have him either make a custom barrel for you or perhaps reline a 13/16.

A .32 won't do it , huh?

N.S.Sherlock....
Several years ago, I got a barrel from Dixie Gun Works. I was a .31 cal, 15/16, 40" long and I used #1 buckshot with a .010 patch and it came to a true .31 caliber. It was the best small game ML I ever had, with 15 grains of FFF or P pyrodex, it was just like a 30 carbine and was great and accurate to 100 yards.
Well I listened to a bunch of guys that I used to hunt with, and cut it back to 28". the barrel was ruined. It has no accuracy at all and will not show any kind of gouping at all, so I am trying to find another barrel with .300 bore and .310 groves and a minimum of 38" long.
Any help I can get would be appreciated.

Thanks/jebb45

N.S. Sherlock
I tried to google Robert Hoyt, and came up with a zero. Do you have his address or phone #or some way I can get intouch with him ??

Thanks

N.S.Sherlock.....
Just so you know, couldn't find anything on .31 caliber barrels anywhere. Finally found a .32 caliber barrel (15/16 on the flats and 36" long.)
It will or should make a swell small game rifle for my TC Hawkin. It will be heavy, but I will lay it up next to a tree and it should work fine. Thanks for your help......

jebb45

Sorry for the lateness. I usually search several pages to find him myself. It is easier for me to find him at the N-SSA national skirmishes twice a year.Got one of his new musket barrels waiting for wood right now.

BTW I shoot a 39" 32 Douglas premium in a custom caplock. It uses "0" buckskot and 15 or 30 grains fffg are the standard and magnum loads. Uses .005 patches as it is tight. Use a long "short starter" too. Many squirrels are in trouble at 60 yards, especially the ones that show more than wn eyeball above the branch.

Good shooting.

N.S.Sherlock...........
Could you tell me if anyone makes a maxie style bullet for the .32 caliber ?? I am looking for something like the TC .50 caliber design. I am probably dreaming, but it would be one hellava (KITTY SPLITTER)!!!!! Just kiddin", I want a bullet instead of a round ball, for large wild dogs (coyotes, moon puppies,cactus jumpers) or jack rabbits. If you have any ideas, let em fly my way. Thanks

jebb45

EXPERIENCE !! I have shot patched (005 linen) lead SWCs from a Lee mould for the .32 series of pistol cartridges, and the Hornady bulk swaged wadcutters in 32. I have paper patched both and shot them too. But the precut .005s work as well and are less work. Same as RB charges , same very good accuracy out to 50 yards. I rarely shot beyond that at squirrels so found field accuracy acceptable.

Yes , you can kill a deer with a .32 RB with a heart shot, headshot, or neck shot. You cannot use a drum & nipple gun with a heavy slug and a large charge without unwanted pressures. The RB goes 1350 with 15 grains fffg and the 30 grain charge goes 1650. That's with a 60? grain RB. That's 32-20 power, ferals don't have a chance, or 40 pound beavers either. N.S.

N.S.Sherlock........
Can you tell me what the bullet number is for the slugs you use in your .32 cal rifle ??
How do you get you bullets to the .320 dia to get a good seal in the rifling ? Did you beagle your molds ? Everything I have found so far is only .314 dia.. I have the Lyman 311252
mold in DC but it won't cast large enough to make the .320 dia. HELP ??

jebb45

Get to work Jebb45. The 314 Lee soft SWC bullet(wadcutter with a truncated cone on top) used with an .005 patch is somewhat less than .320 diameter after short started and seated to the breech but tight all the way down, and very manageable to load out of your pouch. Likewise the Hornady bulk wadcutter slug. Check the Midway web site for pictures of the mould and the bullets. I'm too old to look up numbers for you. Double wrapped .0015 paper + a .314 comes out a hair less than .320 after the patch dries so it loads easily, but still snug. Both bullets weigh in the 100 grain range. Soft lead slugs up when the red light from the cap lights the charge, especially when it starts out very snug atop the powder column. No minie's here. Even RB slugs up. If .005 is not enough for your gun/ball combination, scrounge some well worn, high thread count, cotton sheet that is probably .008 . Its a patch gun, right? Forget maxiballs and minie's. They do better with shallow rifling anyhow. After playing with the slugs in my gun I went back to RB as I could see no advantage to the slugs in any of my hunting. The RB wil completely penetrate a deer's chest, heart, rib on both sides and stick under the off side skin, and that's with 15 grains. Who needs a slug. If you adjust the sights you can hunt squirrels out to 30 yards with a 22 LR case full of 4f and a RB too. N.S.