Do anyone know if October Country is still building the 4 and 8 bore front loadin' rifles ?? I know five years ago they built single and double barrels in both bore sizes ..

The website doesnt have any info on them and they havent answered my email query ..

Jack

GroovyJack,

I dont know about October Country sorry. but I do belive a 8 bore is a handheld cannon not a muzzle loader at .835" nevermind the 4 Bore at almost a inch ( .955" )!



Dimitri

Wow!


-DallanC

Actually I dont think anyone that build them use the correct bore size ( tho they're close ) ..
The correct bore diameter for an 8 bore would be one that would cast a two ounce ( 875 grains ) round ball of pure lead ..
.835 is pretty close for the eight bore .. As if you care to know October Country's eight handles up to 300 grains of powder and launches the 875 grain roundie at 1400 fps ( almost 6300 ft lbs in case you're wondering ) ..
The four shoots a .989 round ball at 1400 grains ( proper diameter would cast at 1750 grains ) .. It launches at 1400 fps for about 7000 ft lbs ..
BTW , there was at least one ivory hunter of yore ( William Moore ) who had a two bore , yep eight ounce round ball with 17000 ft lbs of energy ..
Anyways I want one o these puppies , if I had 50 grand I'd have Butch Searcy build me a double four breech loader ..

About a year and a half ago I was seriously thinking about getting a "Big Bore" Flintlock. I had shot a friends .75 cal that he got from October Country at least 8 - 10 years ago. All I found at the time was that they marketed other mfgs. rifles, not like they had about 3 years back. I heard "read" on another site that they had gone out of the production business but do not remember the reason. Their Web site shows and tells you to check back later so maybe they may be getting back into the production. I have to say that for a store bought rifle that .75 was very IMPRESSIVE!!!!!

Flint and Jack,

You think there would be a market for these muzzle loaders ??

Dimitri

Ouch!! Anyone seen my clavical??
YB

Well 'Meatree , there is a market , altho , granted a small one I would guess .. Jus' like the large bore centerfire rifles , there are a lot sold that are never used for the intended purpose , whatever that means .. Intended purpose is to shoot something ..
But something like the eight or four is costly to shoot .. From the powder standpoint , at least .. You'd have to run yer own ball , which I do anyways ..
They are the cats meow on anything you pop a cap at .. I shot a single shot four front stuffer , many years ago , and it will wake you up , I can tell you ..

Jack,

Oh I'm sure it would wake you up.

Dimitri

Well it took'em two weeks , but sometime today they answered with a Happy Birthday note that made me gulp ..

Yep today's my birthday , send presents , either guns or guns will do ..

They will start taking orders next year for the eight bore , base price is $5000.00 ..

Accepting donations ..

GroovyJack wrote:

They will start taking orders next year for the eight bore , base price is $5000.00

If I had the ability (read a machine shop and proper licenses) I'd make them for 2,500$ each and corner the market while making a hansome profit.

Dimitri

I take it these guns are rifled, right?
That has got to be a big job (no pun intended) to rifle one of those barrels. Rifling .016" deep, lands 1/4 inch wide for six groove... I guess you could use 12 grooves and have it at .125 inch lands. or 18 grooves at .0833 inch lands. Would that be considered micro-groove rifling?

Well in the last 12 hours I have found out several new things ..

1) I dealt with October Country in the past , and figured something was up when it took them two weeks to answer my emails .. They were sold about a year ago , and as this person stated , has become just another outfit selling minimal selections of stuff ..

2) And as he said , at a $5000.00 base price , they apparently arent encouraging you to order a rifle from them ..

3) He also said , that they arent as friendly and helpful as the previous owner , who I can vouch was top shelf material when it comes to ML'ing ..

4) Yes Paul they are rifled .. The four bore that I shot from them some years back , had an octagonal barrel , that if I remember correctly was 1.75" diameter at the chamber and tapered to 1.5" at the muzzle ..

5) 'Meatree , you're more in line with my thinking here laddie .. If I can buy a QUALITY production ( more or less semi custom ) for around a grand or so in .75 cal , why should a .835 cost four or five times as much ??

I dont think the NEW October Country will be getting my dollars ..

Jack,

A .835" would have the problem of cost of materials, but myself I'd figure its easyer to build then lets say a 45 or 50caliber muzzle loader for the fact you can use more rigid tooling when cutting out the barrel making your scrap rate less (assuming your not hammer forging the barrels)

To be honest more then 2000$ for a 8 Bore seems alittle steep. A lock from Dixie gun works is 150$ at most, so lets say a oversized lock would be 200$, the barrel another 500$ (because of its size not because of its "match qualities), A stock for another 200$, and 100$ for the sights. Thats 1000$.

Dimitri

Oh yeah I agree wholeheartedly with you 'Meatree . Bigger costs a bit more ..
As an example , I contacted Holland and Holland , as well as Westley Richards about six months ago ( no I aint that richified ) , as to why the 577 and 600 NE's base price was about 20% more than the smaller NE's , and both responses were that the recievers were about 20-25 % larger than the smaller calibers , and therefore required quite a bit more work ( all by hand here mind you ) ..
And I agree , as far as machining a barrel that large , it's probably a bit easier as well ..
So , when did you say you're buying all the lathes and rifling machines ??