Pop Quiz

[GBullet]

Why was Daniel Boone's rifle barrel made from soft iron?

[krept]

to permit easier manipulation and as the grooves dulled through shooting, it would make rerifling easier? :D

I don't know much but I'm good at finding stuff sometimes. ;)

[andy]

cause they didn't HAVE much in the way of HARD steel with which to bore ,ream, and rifle the barrels, and the KY often got used as a club, since it was so slow to reload.

[RIKA]

Probably because they forged the barrels around mandrels at the time before rifling them. Backwoods technology couldn't make steel so they used what they had.

RIKA

[tuna]

Less vibration for better accuracy? Changing powder loads for different ranges would change the POI (other than just the range) if the barrel was stiffer?

[Aslan]

Metallurgy issues. They had problems with the barrels cracking.

:devil:

[GBullet]

Less vibration for better accuracy?

tuna gets an A! Though the gunsmiths of Boone's day had no understanding of why, they did know that the soft iron barrels shot better.

As for the scarcity of steels...recall that steel swords were already in use.

Changing powder loads for different ranges would change the POI (other than just the range) if the barrel was stiffer?

With roundballs, changing the powder loads does not alter the POI sideways enough to matter at ranges within 100 yards. This is more due to the roundball's lack of a nutation (the spiral way in which a bullet flies) changing shape, rather than the barrel. But, the iron barrel's less vibration would have helped as you have described. Even Boone would probably not have noticed the tiny shift left or right at 100 yards between 20 grain and 40 grain loads.

[Aslan]

Cool, I was just guessing....

Makes sense though.

:devil:

[krept]

yep,

cheers

[andy]

nobody had to bore, ream, or rifle a sword.

[SatCong]

Re: above post...
Another chance to remove all doubt regarding stupidity, seized!
SatCong

[andy]

like you THINK that they COULD have made gun barrels out of the same steel that they made swords, dumbass? No, they could not, dumbass.

[RIKA]

Why not, oh mighty guru?

RIKA

[GBullet]

andy, the steel used in guns is rather mild, so as not to be brittle. Iron is still used by a few handbuilders to make Appalachian (Pennsylvania / Kentucky) rifles, even in the 21st century.

[tuna]

I thought the iron barrels were a preference, they were the option of choice based on what worked best for them. I was under the impression that firearms made with steel barrels were in use during Boone's time but didn't shoot as well as the iron ones.

[GBullet]

tuna, you and I are saying the same thing.

[Aslan]

like you THINK that they COULD have made gun barrels out of the same steel that they made swords, dumbass? No, they could not, dumbass.

what is the point you think you are making Andy?

The thought that they might use different materials and different techniques for making swords and guns - what a concept!

Gosh Andy, you're right! Even though the applications are totally different, and the design goals are totally different. They should use the same metallurgy and manufacturing process for both.

:devil: