Rice Drop-in Barrel Specs & Prices

[Matthew323]

It's 9:25AM on June 17, 2021, and I just got off the phone talking with Jason at Rice Muzzleloading Barrel Company.

Drop-in barrels for Thompson/Center rifles with 15/16" octagon & 1" octagon barrel channels are as follows......

Fast Twist.....
15/16"--.45 caliber, 1:20" twist
1"--.45 caliber, 1:20" twist & .50 caliber, 1:24" twist

Round Ball Twist.....
15/16" & 1"---.32 caliber, .36 caliber, .40 caliber--1:48" twist

Rates of twist can be changed upon request, most likely for the fast twist barrels. The round ball calibers are OK at a 1:48" twist.

There are NO calibers larger than .40 in round ball twist. Due to the depth of the screw holes used to anchor the underrib & underlug to the barrel. Jason got short tempered with me when I questioned him on why no .50, .54, or .58 calibers in the round ball twist in the 1" barrel.

Rice is currently using the flint breech plugs, such as Track of the Wolf sells for breeching a barrel to fit a Thompson/Center tang if someone wants a flint barrel, instead of a percussion one.

Plans for an in house, CNC machined, flint breech plug are in the works, but no idea how long before it will be available.

Because of the recent upswing in steel prices, the cost of the drop-in barrels has gone up.

Fast Twist = $475.00
Round Ball Twist= $395.00

Sorry about the incorrect info on prices that I posted recently, but I was unaware of the price increases.

Edit: I was really disappointed at the lack of the larger calibers in the round ball twist barrels, which was my reason for the phone call this morning. I was hoping against hope for a Rice 1" octagon, .58 caliber barrel with a 1:48' twist. Not to be. Then, accidentally, the flint breech plugs got introduced into the conversation, and I was REALLY disappointed. Then, Jason mentioned that they were going to be CNC machining their own flint breech plugs eventually, and I was REALLY, REALLY disappointed.

Edit 2: I forgot that the depth of the rifling for the Round Ball Twist barrels is 0.010"-0.012"
For the Fast Twist barrels it is 0.004" deep.

 

[Magnum]

Any talk of Stainless Steel?

 

[Matthew323]

Any talk of Stainless Steel?

I didn't ask, but I don't believe so. Call Jason at Rice to be sure.

I can't imagine how much stainless steel would cost in a Fast Twist barrel, with a CNC machined percussion snail drum breech plug, and all stainless steel parts.

You have to remember that both Colerain & Rice, whom we tend to think of as large barrel companies, are really only 3-5 man operations. In the scheme of things, in the firearms industry, they are both very small potatoes.

Only a small step above 1-man operations like Ed Rayle, Bobby Hoyt, Charles Burton, etc.

Their purchasing power isn't great enough to buy steel in great enough quantities to allow them to price truly competitively with the centerfire barrel manufacturers.

 

[Bad Karma]

Thanks for doing the legwork!

 

[Hudgic]

I don’t understand the reasoning for no RB twist larger than 40cal that a bad business move if that correct

 

[Matthew323]

I don’t understand the reasoning for no RB twist larger than 40cal that a bad business move if that correct

Yeah, I agree. After a couple of follow up questions, Jason got a little snippy with me, because I was trying to wrap my head around why they were drilling the holes so much deeper than T/C had been in order to attach the underlug & underrrb to the barrel. It made no sense to me, from a economic point of view, nor a design point of view.

He finally just said that those were the three calibers available, and that's it.

 

[Hudgic]

Good thing I got my fast twist 45 from him a month ago

 

[Leadhoarder]

Yeah I would be interested in a .58 for a renegade and maybe a .54. Anything smaller than .54 does not interest me with 1" flats.

 

[Matthew323]

Yeah I would be interested in a .58 for a renegade and maybe a .54. Anything smaller than .54 does not interest me with 1" flats.

While Idaholewis's post on these drop-in barrels is a couple of years old, I was hoping when I called Jason last week that I could sweet talk him into a .58, or possibly a .62 caliber T/C drop-in barrel in 1" percussion. That's because he originally told Lewis that they were going to make the 1" barrels up to .54 caliber. When he told me with finality in his voice the first time on the phone that .40 caliber was the largest they were making in either barrel size, I was gobsmacked. I think I stopped talking for several seconds, I was so taken aback. I tried dodging around the issue, but when I approached it obliquely for the third, or fourth time, he had finally had enough of me wasting his time and made it clear that the issue was closed.

 

[45-70]

I like this , how telling the man how to do Barrels, I have never heard about nothing more than .40 cal. either

 

[exarcher]

It's 9:25AM on June 17, 2021, and I just got off the phone talking with Jason at Rice Muzzleloading Barrel Company.

Drop-in barrels for Thompson/Center rifles with 15/16" octagon & 1" octagon barrel channels are as follows......

Fast Twist.....
15/16"--.45 caliber, 1:20" twist
1"--.45 caliber, 1:20" twist & .50 caliber, 1:24" twist

Round Ball Twist.....
15/16" & 1"---.32 caliber, .36 caliber, .40 caliber--1:48" twist

Rates of twist can be changed upon request, most likely for the fast twist barrels. The round ball calibers are OK at a 1:48" twist.

There are NO calibers larger than .40 in round ball twist. Due to the depth of the screw holes used to anchor the underrib & underlug to the barrel. Jason got short tempered with me when I questioned him on why no .50, .54, or .58 calibers in the round ball twist in the 1" barrel.

Rice is currently using the flint breech plugs, such as Track of the Wolf sells for breeching a barrel to fit a Thompson/Center tang if someone wants a flint barrel, instead of a percussion one.

Plans for an in house, CNC machined, flint breech plug are in the works, but no idea how long before it will be available.

Because of the recent upswing in steel prices, the cost of the drop-in barrels has gone up.

Fast Twist = $475.00
Round Ball Twist= $395.00

Sorry about the incorrect info on prices that I posted recently, but I was unaware of the price increases.

Edit: I was really disappointed at the lack of the larger calibers in the round ball twist barrels, which was my reason for the phone call this morning. I was hoping against hope for a Rice 1" octagon, .58 caliber barrel with a 1:48' twist. Not to be. Then, accidentally, the flint breech plugs got introduced into the conversation, and I was REALLY disappointed. Then, Jason mentioned that they were going to be CNC machining their own flint breech plugs eventually, and I was REALLY, REALLY disappointed.

Edit 2: I forgot that the depth of the rifling for the Round Ball Twist barrels is 0.010"-0.012"
For the Fast Twist barrels it is 0.004" deep.

So are 54 cal fast twist available??? or are the larger bore drop ins not available at all? Thanks!!

 

[Matthew323]

Nothing above .50 caliber in fast twist in 4140CM steel. No large bore drop-in barrels at all for Thompson/Center rifles. Can't quite figure it out.

Perhaps if enough people call Rice requesting the larger bore drop-in barrels, then Jason will start offering them as an option.

Right now, I believe the Thompson/Center drop-in barrels are probably near the bottom of the list as far as the most requested barrels at Rice. With the round ball twist, .50 caliber and larger bores, even less requested.

You have got to remember, that every time Jason offers another profile, or caliber choice to the buying public, he has got to sit at the computer and program the CNC lathes and mills to allow him to create that new barrel offering. It's got to be worthwhile to him in terms of profit received to spend that much time, when he could be running machines making barrels to sell, or fill orders instead.