doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Germanic- style barrels

I've always admired the part octagon, ribbed barrels so often seen on Mauser and other rifles from the early 19th century up to WWII. These barrels didn't seem to cost any more back then than a plain round ones. How could they have made them so inexpensively? Did they tack a premium on round barrels to offset the cost of the complex ones?

Labor was cheap at that time & bean counters didn't make all the decisions.

I believe they did cost more .
Mike

Billy, why do you think the round barrels were no more costly than the barrels which took more labor to produce. Even cheap labor costs must be paid for. It would be Socialistic to expect the producer of the cheaper barrel to subsidize the cost of production of the fancier one.

Do you think that would be fair?

I think they cost more as well but not that much more. As stated above, labor was cheap.

Billy, do you have anything at all to support your unsubstantiated assertion that 19th century to WWII part octagon, ribbed barrels didn't cost any more than plain round ones???

Bill,
I am getting ready for a run of three of them on the CNC....should be fun. How goes the Fraser project? Hope the sight worked out for you.
Steve

Specialty barrels have always cost more. Of course with labor and everything else being cheaper, the extra $1-$2 for a half octagon, or extra length barrel seems low today. But consider the average gun in the late 1800's cost $20, and expensive guns cost $60-$70, then a buck or two was a lot of extra money on a $20 gun.
I look at old catalogs and advertisements from the late 1800's often, and I'm always amazed when I see prices ranging from $15-$100 for different models from the same maker. Only difference in them being the level of embellishment. Wood, barrels, engraving, sights, etc. all added up quickly.
Consider the average worker made about $1 a day, not many could afford guns with extras!

Of course the mid to late 1970s were not the same as the 1920s, but my friends at Heym reported to me that it took a full day of machine time to produce an octagon barrel from a round blank. Also, this was a simple straight taper( not compound taper) with the quarter rib and front sight soldered onto( not integral and not full length) which ever flat was on top, and no grinding of a round section. At the time an octagon barrel cost $200 more than a round one.
Mike

I cut and pasted this from a GUNS magazine ad (1956) in the 'Some Rifles Just have It' thread.
Flaigs, Midvale, PA ad for Boehler Steel/Sodia mfg ribbed-oct/rd and also plain rd bbls both fitted and unfitted.

Not 1800's of course,,but 1956 is good starting point as any.
Cheap prices by todays standards but the average guy didn't make much either. It still shows the 1/2oct/ribbed bbl to be more expensive to buy and $5 more than the plain rd bbl to fit to your action.

Only a single snippet, but a common one from the era.

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From a 12/1956 GUNS Magazine, Flaig's adv:

BARRELS
BOEHLER BARRELS, proof steel, semi-octagon, ribbed,
matted entire length. Mode by FRANZ SODIA of
Ferlach Austria in .35 .270 7mm .30 8mm and
.375. 26" Highly accurate-in the white, $45.00.
(Fitted to your action, with sheard bead, complete
price $60.00)
New Springfield 4-groove barrels.. ........... $13.00
FRANZ SODIA Boehler proof steel barrels 24"
gradual taper. About 2 1/2 Ibs.; highly accurate 1-10
twist, caliber 25, .270, 7mm or .30 $30.00.
(Fitted to your action, headspaced and
test fired, $10.00 more).


http://gunsmagazine.com/1956issues/G1256.pdf

In the late 1890's most American gun makers charged $1.50 more for octagon vs. round. Later in the early 1900's the difference became less at $1-$1.25 for octagon. But by WWI era the price had jumped up to about $2 difference.