August 2020 ADA Rifle Project Update

By Ben Quearry

The American Disabilities Act rifle project is well underway. This Rifle giveaway will be a first not only in the master gunmakers and artisans working on the project but in what the winner will receive. Along with the rifle, a handmade rifle case, a period-correct bag filled with a ball mold & lead ladle, cleaning jag and worm, a handmade patch knife, hunting knife, priming horn, powder horn and a hard case. We will be actively working on the ADA rifle at Gunmaker’s Hall during the shoots and giving talks on its construction. This is not just a rifle, it is also an opportunity to see and learn the rifle building process. Think about what you could win here. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a piece of NMLRA history. On top of that by purchasing tickets you will be helping to improve our beloved Walter Cline range. Look to upcoming Muzzle Blasts and NMLRA.org for how you can purchase tickets to win this exceptional rifle. The giveaway will be held at Gunmaker’s Hall during the September 2021 shoot.

We are also working on having a match during the spring and fall shoots at Friendship with the proceeds from the match going to help fund the ADA project. It will be similar to the Gunmaker’s Match, in that the target will be wrapped in paper to conceal the exact location of the bull’s eye. This way there is a certain amount of chance in winning the match. Unlike the Gunmaker’s match you are not required to have made the gun you are shooting; it is open to everyone. Myself and others will be providing a prize for each match and tickets for the drawing will also be awarded.

Last month we acquired a smoothbore barrel for the ADA gun. Now let’s talk about hand rifling. The quintessential picture of the early American gunsmith is a man working at a rifling machine, hand making a barrel. Craftsmen that can hand rifle a barrel are few and far between now. 

Have you seen the guy with a rifling machine during the spring and fall shoots at Friendship? That would be Bill Hoover. Around the Gunmaker’s Hall Pavilion Bill is the rifling guy. Many skilled craftsmen that rifle barrels show up at Gunmaker’s Hall. Bill actually brings his rifling machines and shows people how to do it. People flock around Bill and his demonstrations. Everyone is welcome to have a few pulls on the rifling machine.

Hoover has been rifling barrels for a long time, longer even than I have been involved in muzzle loaders. Bill hails from Orrville Ohio. Always kind and willing to share, normally quiet, he opens up to anyone interested and shares his secrets of making an accurate barrel. When I first met Bill and he learned I was Tool & Die maker too, he explained to me, in technical machining terms how he made a rifling cutter. A young boy came over and showed interest, Bill explained to him, in terms the small fellow could understand, how the process worked. Bill was able to teach us both something. He has a rare gift for that.

Bill made his first rifle in 1964. Using a .36 caliber Numrich barrel, he pretty much made everything else on the gun. He even built the lock and made the triggers. Bill’s still got that rifle leaning in a corner of his shop.  Going to several shooting matches with that little gun proved to Bill it was not accurate enough. Bill traced the problem back to what he called “warbles”, small air pockets or voids in the cast balls. Bill had acquired a bottom pour lead pot. New to casting bullets, Bill held mold tight to the pouring spout of the lead pot when casting a ball. This caused air to be trapped in the mold as it filled with molten lead, causing the void. Unseen voids can be under the surface but so big they cause the ball to roll crooked on a smooth surface. In flight this condition causes the ball to be unstable and stray from its intended course. Bill quickly solved this problem, but the gun was still not accurate enough. Bill Hoover is a shooter and a man that strives for extremely accurate rifles. 

 A shooting friend told Bill about Sy Blackburn and how he could rifle a barrel, making the gun more accurate. Bill went to visit Sy and brought his gun to show him. Sy must have been immediately impressed with Bill as they became friends right away. Sy’s father and his grandfather had rifled barrels for muzzle loaders. Sy still had all the family tools and knew how to use them. Bill quickly learned Sy was a man that deserved to be listened to.

Sy introduced Bill to gain twist rifling. In basic terms gain twist rifling increases the rate of spin on the ball as it accelerates down the barrel. As the ball speeds up, it spins faster to compensate for the higher velocity. This makes for some serious accuracy. The theory of gain twist has been around for some time. Even some 19th century pistols have gain twist rifling. In Tom Schiffer’s book, The History of the NMLRA, a champion gain twist rifle is mentioned in matches from the 1930’s. This gun’s barrel may have been rifled on the same machine that Bill brings to Friendship to give demonstrations during the spring and fall shoots. The same machine rifled the barrel for the ADA gun.

In 1978, after working together for many years, Sy offered to sell Bill his shop. Sy was reaching an age that prevented him from using the shop to its capacity and want to see it go to someone who could. Bill bought it all and proceeded to move it to the shop behind his house. Now he spends his days rifling barrels and building iron mounted rifles and fowlers, carrying on the tradition of the Blackburn family.

Rifling a barrel is not a simple affair, although Bill makes it look pretty simple. The smooth bore barrel is first placed in the chucks on the machine and aligned with the rifling guide. Everything has to be on center and in the right place. A cutter and rifling head are selected based on the size of the bore. The rod and head are mounted to the spiral rifling guide and passed through the barrel. The tiny cutter is placed in the head and everything is checked for fit and alignment. When Bill is satisfied everything is ready, he pulls the handle mounted to the rifling guide, the head is drawn through the barrel, twisted by the guide and the cutter gently scrapes a fine spiral groove in the bore. Tiny shavings, scrapings really, come out with the cutter. The handle is pushed back and the rifling head goes back through the barrel. This is repeated until the cutter comes out clean with no shavings. A pin is then pulled out of the index plate and the spiral guided is clocked over to the position of the second groove. The cutting process continues on this and the subsequent grooves until they are all the same depth. The cutter is taken out of the head and a thin metal shim is placed under it. The whole process is repeated again for each groove. More shims are gradually added under the cutter until the grooves are to the desired depth, approximately .005” to .007”. It can take thousands of steps back and forth pulling on the rifling guide to finish the barrel.

Bill has rifled the barrels of several of our Gunmaker’s Hall giveaway guns. Usually doing the work at the Gunmaker’s Hall pavilion. His addition to the ADA project is greatly appreciated. Not only is the work done by hand, keeping with our 18th century theme but Bill’s gain twist rifling will make it make a very accurate gun. The ADA rifle giveaway gives you a chance to own the gun with this barrel, a real piece of muzzle loading history.

Thank you, Bill

Benjaman Quearry

gunmakershall@gmail.com