Hello all.
Some of you may remember my posts in Part I and II. Those who might be interested are encouraged to read/re-read my first two Threads above which will make more sense reading this Thread. LOL
I wanted a Torador Matchlock musket that I could actually shoot, safely like any other smoothbore muzzle loader. But the Torador barrels, which were made on mandrals, have some unusual/unique characteristics inside the barrel, which presented some challenges. Briefly, the interior of the bore, from the muzzle end, the nominal bore size of about .60 caliber travels back towards the breech about 3/4 of the length, where it comes to two different types of restrictions, then a very much larger than bore size powder chamber at the breech. Even though the forged welded breech plug looked stout, I considered it generally unsafe to shoot with the bore's original configuration. Especially with today"s more powerful black powder. So, off it went to the barrelsmith to see what he could do.
So here are some pics of what I ended up with. It has a new .54 caliber steel barrel liner AND a machined insert at the breech end with a threaded breech plug, which can be removed if necessary in the future. And the original vent hole re-drilled through the liner. The bore is now the same size from muzzle to breech, and is safe to shoot. I originally sent him this barrel in November, 2015. So it took one year this month to get it back
Now I'll oil clean the outside of the barrel and send it and the stock off to the Gunsmith. The barrel will need a new pan cover made to replicate the original, and a new brass front bead site installed in the existing hole. (It somehow came loose and fell out and lost during the heating process at the muzzle end). Then the forend of the stock repaired and a hole bored at the rear of the barrel channel to accept the new breech plug. Hopefully, I should get the gun back in a month or less. Can't wait to try it out at the range.
Rick