Shiloh Rifle Forums

The original Ideal catalog lists the barrel twist of Sharps rifles at either 20-1 or 18-1. So considering Ballard bought some barrels from Sharps, it would not be surprising to find rifles from either manufacturer with either of those twists.

What I have found Brent is that it depends on rifling depth , patch tightness, bore condition and even jag configuration. Many times I have remeasured the same barrel several times and found the pitch angle to change some. It was enough to make me doubt the read. This won't ever happen if one casts a slug on a rod. Lapping barrels gives one a little different perspective on this subject as I used to think the same thing about the accuracy of a tight patch,pitch read.
I have no trouble with disagreement as it continually teaches me new stuff by testing what I think I know. It doesn't make either of us less valuable to disagree on occasion. Actually I wished you lived next door an was in my shop challenging my thinking on a regular basis.
I miss my old friend Bob Englebach who was continually giving me new and interesting stuff to think on and build. His, very bright ,engineer mind was a great benefit to my own knowledge growth.