Ok. This has got to stop!

[Confederate rifleman]

My sidelock barrel collection has grown again.
Just scored a VERY nice Sharon barrel ( spade mark) barrel for my Renegade. Percussion, .54 caliber. Thank you Omega218r!
This joins the original M stamp, now a .54 rebore, and another M stamp .50 caliber. Both flintlock.
Folk will tell you that sidelocks are promiscuous, but fail to mention anything about barrels. Neck! I have 2 barrels for my Hawken! One an M stamp.
Sooo... I 've heard of Sharon barrels, but have never had one. Anyone out there have experience with them. I know their long out of business. How does their quality compare to say, a Douglas or Green Mountain? Mine is a .54 with a 1-48 twist. Haven't slugged her yet, but I'm guessing .005 -.007 deep rifling. This is an early barrel. Has a clean out screw and serial number 95xx.
While ball loads are always an option, in hoping this one will do well with conical and maybe even minies. I like minies!
So. My cabinet now holds 1 inline, my Firehawk, a Hawken, a Renegade and 3 extra barrels.
Inliners beware! See what dabbling in sidelocks can lead to!

 

[Sideshow]

My sidelock barrel collection has grown again.
Just scored a VERY nice Sharon barrel ( spade mark) barrel for my Renegade. Percussion, .54 caliber. Thank you Omega218r!
This joins the original M stamp, now a .54 rebore, and another M stamp .50 caliber. Both flintlock.
Folk will tell you that sidelocks are promiscuous, but fail to mention anything about barrels. Neck! I have 2 barrels for my Hawken! One an M stamp.
Sooo... I 've heard of Sharon barrels, but have never had one. Anyone out there have experience with them. I know their long out of business. How does their quality compare to say, a Douglas or Green Mountain? Mine is a .54 with a 1-48 twist. Haven't slugged her yet, but I'm guessing .005 -.007 deep rifling. This is an early barrel. Has a clean out screw and serial number 95xx.
While ball loads are always an option, in hoping this one will do well with conical and maybe even minies. I like minies!
So. My cabinet now holds 1 inline, my Firehawk, a Hawken, a Renegade and 3 extra barrels.
Inliners beware! See what dabbling in sidelocks can lead to!

Lol !!! Well i dunno , i kinda got that same issue going on !!! My 700ml build will have 4 barrels just for it , a 40 sml , and 45, 50, and a 54 smokers !!!! I think this is contaigous !!! Lol !!!
I hope your new barrel shoots like gangbusters !!!

 

[Confederate rifleman]

I think that, between my Hawken and Renegade, this might be the year of the side locks. Percussion and flint.
It HAS been awhile.17 year to be precise.
Oh boy...

 

[eekjellander]

My sidelock barrel collection has grown again.
Just scored a VERY nice Sharon barrel ( spade mark) barrel for my Renegade. Percussion, .54 caliber. Thank you Omega218r!
This joins the original M stamp, now a .54 rebore, and another M stamp .50 caliber. Both flintlock.
Folk will tell you that sidelocks are promiscuous, but fail to mention anything about barrels. Neck! I have 2 barrels for my Hawken! One an M stamp.
Sooo... I 've heard of Sharon barrels, but have never had one. Anyone out there have experience with them. I know their long out of business. How does their quality compare to say, a Douglas or Green Mountain? Mine is a .54 with a 1-48 twist. Haven't slugged her yet, but I'm guessing .005 -.007 deep rifling. This is an early barrel. Has a clean out screw and serial number 95xx.
While ball loads are always an option, in hoping this one will do well with conical and maybe even minies. I like minies!
So. My cabinet now holds 1 inline, my Firehawk, a Hawken, a Renegade and 3 extra barrels.
Inliners beware! See what dabbling in sidelocks can lead to!

Don"t forget the little R.E.A.L. Lee both my 54 cal barrels factory 1-48 and a Bob Hoyt 1-54 shoot deer well over 80 gr OE with a lubed felt wad ,furthest this year Ranged 86 yds (all 4 legs) inverted !

 

[Matthew323]

Sharon was a top notch small barrel maker. Easily as good as Getz. Or Bill Large. As good, maybe better than Green Mountain. Or Green River Rifle Works.

It all depends on who one talks to. Some of the real old timers at ALR, or our sister forum will have owned, shot, and sold on all of the above maker's barrels. As well as another dozen, or so barrels from equally good companies.

A lot of these barrels came out of 1 and 2-man shops.

Our country has been blessed with a plethora of good small barrel makers for a long time. It's the future that does not look as bright as the past, with the small shops closing up due to old age, and most young people not wanting to work with their hands for the kind of wages that m-l folks are willing to spend.

 

[Muley Hunter]

I had one for a short time and never got to shoot it. I've heard nothing but good reviews. Very accurate.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

I took her out this afternoon. A .530 Hornady ball and .010 and .015 patches.
Shot one .010. Went down like a minie and wound up a smouldering wreck. The .015 did much better. Recovered patches showed cuts on every land. The crown isn't the best for ball. Must look to this. 70 gr 3f Swiss was the charge. 3 went into 5 inches at 50 yards. I tried a field expedient wad. A .015 lubed patch, started with my short starter and then the patch ball. Had a couple cut holes, but the last 2, 3 rounders were about 3 inches. Haven't measured them yet.
The patches still show cuts on each land, so I'm figuring that once I polish things up and round them a wee bit, she should be a good shooter.
The bore is quite smooth and ramming is easy. Recoil with this load is comfortable.
I plan on trying a variety of loads. Ball, bullet and sabot. In this day and age, the ability to effectively use a wide variety of loads is critical. I love sabots, but the day may come that if you're gonna shoot, you better be casting!

 

[Muley Hunter]

Swiss 3F is hard on patches. You need a thicker or stronger material patch.

 

[eekjellander]

I took her out this afternoon. A .530 Hornady ball and .010 and .015 patches.
Shot one .010. Went down like a minie and wound up a smouldering wreck. The .015 did much better. Recovered patches showed cuts on every land. The crown isn't the best for ball. Must look to this. 70 gr 3f Swiss was the charge. 3 went into 5 inches at 50 yards. I tried a field expedient wad. A .015 lubed patch, started with my short starter and then the patch ball. Had a couple cut holes, but the last 2, 3 rounders were about 3 inches. Haven't measured them yet.
The patches still show cuts on each land, so I'm figuring that once I polish things up and round them a wee bit, she should be a good shooter.
The bore is quite smooth and ramming is easy. Recoil with this load is comfortable.
I plan on trying a variety of loads. Ball, bullet and sabot. In this day and age, the ability to effectively use a wide variety of loads is critical. I love sabots, but the day may come that if you're gonna shoot, you better be casting!

Try wet/damp ,I use bear oil but Neatsfoot works good 020-.022 mattress ticking with the 530 ball after smoothing out the crown and you"ll have beat the fouling and patches should do better . I also use a card or lubed/felt and the patches end up better and so does the groups ,in my guns anyhow/Ed

 

[WV Hunter]

How do you figure out what type barrel you have? I have an older .54 Renegade. No gun model on the barrel and no warning. No idea what barrel it is, and it probably doesn't matter really, just curious.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

The lack of model or warning seems to indicate an earlier production date.
As far as who made the barrel, nothing is definite since the fire at TC destroyed all records. A spade mark is ( apparently) a Sharon barrel. An M stamp is Green Mountain. There are diamond and cross marks too, and no stamps is actual TC production. The stamps are found in the bottom flat by the wedge staple.
I have 2 M stamp barrels, one a Hawken the other a Renegade, both have warnings and model markings.
The stamps make it more interesting. I have noticed differences in bore finish, quality and accuracy between TC and contract barrels. M stamps, whoever made them, have proven a bit more finicky than TC. The spade mark is too new to me to make any statements. Although the bore is very nice and as far as I can tell, quite uniform. All the manufactures seem to conform to a standard for bore/ groove/ twist and number of grooves.
The Sharon barrel has a sharper more angled crown, while the other have a nice sloping one.
Hope this helps