Author Topic: Hern barrels and the start of a million questions (Read 1465 times)

rusty barrels · « **on:** June 07, 2006, 09:39:44 AM »

I'm brand new to this and all I can say WOW. I can see I have a whole bunch of learning to do, so please bare with me if I ask questions that have been addressed a million times before. Does Hern barrels have a good rep and are they steel lined (I'm looking at the 2/3 1841 field gun).Also I've noticed some barrels have a chamber or plug that is greatly reduced from the rest of the bore why, and how do you know if the powder is fully packed there? These questions are just a start. Thanks

Rickk · « **Reply #1 on:** June 07, 2006, 10:36:50 AM »

with the exception of the huge bowling ball mortar that Hern makes, I believe they are all made with a seemless liner with a welded breech plate on the liner, which is then cast around with cast iron to form the finished product. You should e-mail Joel at Hern Iron Works about the specific barrel you have in mind.

I have a Hern Coehorn. I have only fired it a few times, and have had no issues with it to date. The liner is very well centered, and I can not see any problems from what I can see with my eyes. . I have not x-rayed the barrel, so I cannot tell you one way or the other about what I can't see.

The Hern barrels tend to be substantially sub-bored as conpaired to a tradional nore size, so the bore to wall thickness ratio is generally very substantial. I don't recall the specifics of the barrel you are talking about, but Hern uses 2.25 inch ID, 1/2 inch thick seemless liners for lots of their pieces

For what it is worth, I would think that the cast 90# Coehorn barrel is easier to not screw up that a 300-500 pound barrel. That being the case, a review of the barrel you are specifically looking for would be worth waiting for.

There are discussions about Hern barrels on this forum. You will find many debates about cast-in-place liners verses bored barrles with pressed-in-place liners.

However, I don't recall anyone mentioning a bad personal experience with a Hern barrel.

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #2 on:** June 07, 2006, 10:50:31 AM »

rusty barrels -

WELCOME to the board!

This is the place to ask. We all are addicts (some are pushers).

GGaskill · « **Reply #3 on:** June 07, 2006, 11:37:32 AM »

The issues between cored liners and bored liners are basically these:

A bored liner starts with a solid cast barrel; a hole is drilled in the barrel lengthwise for the liner, which is then fixed in place. This results in a straight bore. It also takes a lot of labor and machine time so it costs more.

A cored liner places the liner in the mould and the barrel is cast around it. Potentially, the liner can melt through, warp and/or, the free end can drift around in the liquid metal and end up not concentric with the outside. This does not happen all the time but it does happen. All of these things are bad; some are dangerous. Post casting inspection can catch these flaws and prevent their being sent to the customer, but some vendors are better at this than others.

Tropico · « **Reply #4 on:** June 07, 2006, 12:57:11 PM »

I can only speak about the 2 particular barrels I own from HERN IRON WORKS. I bought mine when Jack Weigman was at Hern. He is retired now. My twin 2/3 scale 3" ordinance rifles are as close to a perfect barrel as any eye-ball can tell. I havent X-Rayed them., however with a dowel the diameter of the bore sticking out., the bore appears straight., the depth of the Vent hole is right according to the diameter of the breech. The bore looks great with a bore light...,and they do not consistantly hit wrong to one side or another., (I am capable of missing all over the place just as easy as you please) This is all I could do., I will say you'll be hard pressed to get a better barrel cheaper. I am impressed..., Did I mention it hits "Real Hard". :lol:

rusty barrels · « **Reply #5 on:** June 07, 2006, 03:58:20 PM »

Thanks for the replies Fellas especially the construction of the barrel, I'm getting pretty excited to own one (didn't know you could) but I know I've got alot to learn before I light a touch hole, I'm looking at the 1841 field model in the 2/3 scale because it would be at home on field carridge or a ships configuration and at 250lbs I think thats all the weight I want to deal with. Hern is also close to home (300 Miles) so the shipping cost would be less, heck I might even be in the neighborhood this summer to pick it up myself.

Rickk · « **Reply #6 on:** June 08, 2006, 02:29:05 PM »

Just be sure to place the order and give time to make sure the barrel is ready efore you plan your trip. They do run out of stock now and then, and it might be a few weeks before they pour that version.

In the case of my barrel, they apparently has something go wrong and they scrapped the whole lot (rather than try to sell them). It took a week or so longer than first expected. I would way rather wait a week rather than get something not up to snuff. It is good to see that they have standards that they must meet before they sell stuff.

rusty barrels · « **Reply #7 on:** June 30, 2006, 04:24:12 AM »

Thanks for that comment Rickk that makes me feel a little more confident in Hern. Now I've got more learning to do and buying stuff, like getting a 2 1/4" lead mold. Will a 2" worm be o.k. for a 2 1/4" bore I don't see one in 2 1/4"? Also and probably first is a good book on the safe operation of a black powder cannon and recommended loads if there is one.

Rickk · « **Reply #8 on:** June 30, 2006, 05:28:01 AM »

My worm is the 2 inch worm that Dixie gun works sells. It works fine for me. I epoxied it to a wooden handle with J-B weld.

As far as a mold... several options....

A custom mold (look at the sponsors here, they can make one for you).

A "Do-it" cannon ball type fishing sinker mold ( model CB-2-23LF... casts both a 2# and a 3# ball - not sure how big the 3 pound ball is, but the 2 pound ball will run somewhere around 2.10 inches. - a tad undersize, but not by much.

The lead round balls are going to run about 2#.

If you want to try something lighter, I am messing with concrete filled 2 1/8 inch muffler pipe. A 5 inches long piece filled with concrete should run about 1 # if I did the math right. The pipe is a bit undersize. I am thinking about wrapping a couple layers of masking tape around the pipe near either end, both to reduce the windage and also to prevent metal to metal contact between the steel barrel liner and the muffler pipe. I'll post the results of this experiment in a few days.

You will need sponges as well. There is a thread about this a page or two back. I posted pictures of sponges I made using synthetic sheep's wool and woden dowels (1 1/8 " I think). I have used them through serveral fireing sessions and they are dirtier but holding up fine otehrwise. I use 3 of them, one to wash, and two to dry. The only change I thought about making to them is possibly having my wife make a "sock" out of cotton towel material to slide over the sheep's wool. The wool leaves a bit of fuzz inside the barrel, especially when it is new, and the cotton "sock" should stop that.

Rickk · « **Reply #9 on:** June 30, 2006, 05:33:22 AM »

Good first book is "THE MORE COMPLETE CANNONEER By M.C. Switlik with selected excerpts from other artillery manuals " See the "safe Loads and Cannon Plans" thread for sources for the book

Powder keg · « **Reply #10 on:** June 30, 2006, 05:39:19 AM »

Have you thied a kids sock? There already made and cheep.

Rickk · « **Reply #11 on:** June 30, 2006, 06:06:26 AM »

Nope... I got my wife to pick up a somewhat colorful towel... Just havn't convinced her to do the "modification" that only she and her sowing machine can do.

kid's sock is plan B... might turn into plan A