I would like to have a reproduction of a Kerr patent rifle barrel made, but need the correct information to give to the barrel maker, who is willing and very experienced in such things, to make one. His normal charge is approximately $350 for a new barrel these days. In this case, he would have to have the tooling to cut the groove as per the original Kerr rifle. His set-up would involve 4 inches of straight rifling, a parabolic curve/twist into the 20:1 and then the standard 20:1. Then we have the special Kerr muzzle treatment which would add some additional steps/labor. Once he is good to go with the tooling he can and would make a barrel on order for anyone. So if you have a Kerr and don't want to take a chance with the barrel, or the barrel in not in good shootable shape this is your chance to make the old girl perform again as she once did. If you have a standard LACo or Enfield Lock P53, the barrel should be a drop-in just like the ones the Volunteers bought from LACo into their standard P53's. Your .577 will become a .451 target rifle. I think of the Kerr rifle barrel as being good for mid-range target, out to 600 yards.
What I know:
1) There is four inches of straight rifling at the breech;
2) there is gain twist from there to approximately half the length of the barrel;
3) the form of the rifling profile is "ratchet with no angles" (I assume this means the straight side of the ratchet is on a diagonal of the bore);
4) the ratchet has some form of parabolic verge into the bore on the non-straight side (but I don't know exact profile);
5) there are six grooves, of progressive depth varying from .0015 deep at the bore to .0005 at the muzzle or almost the end of the muzzle depending on the champher;
6) the second half of the barrel is 20:1 standard twist; 7) the bore is .451 and maybe a tad less.
What I think I know (maybe):
1) The muzzle is of unusual configuration:
a) It may be a recessed muzzle per some pictures I have seen,
b) the rifling is chamfered at the muzzle (there is a tapered cone at the muzzle to aide loading):
- the rifle appears to be a smoothbore at the muzzle?
- the rifle appears to be a Whitworth at the muzzle?
2) I believe a parabolic curve is used to define the gain twist (but, I don't know its parameters).
What I don't know and need help with:
1) Exact profile of full groove cut at breech showing ratchet side and curve from low point hereof to where it verges into initial .451 bore;
2) exact configuration of rifling at muzzle end (a casting of the muzzle rifling would be a great help),
3) what the full depth .0015 rifling cut looks like (again, a casting would be of immense help).
So if you can help me get the info I need, I will push forward to get the Kerr barrels back into limited production.
Many thanks for any info you have and share,
Pat in Virginia
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