Terry:
Yes, my Wesson does have a GM barrel. It is a .45 caliber barrel with a 1-18" twist, 34" long. It is chambered for the .45-90 Win. (or the .45- 2-4/10" if you are a Sharps kinda guy.) It started out as a Winchester #6 taper octagon barrel which I turned half round and then recut the octagon to a size that matched the top flat of the action. I guess it would be about a 5-1/2 taper. The rifles weighs just under the 15 pound limit legal for an NRA rules Creedmoor rifle. The load used in this rifle for the 1000 yard matches is a 530 grain bullet from mold that B&D Molds made for me on top of 88 grains of Swiss 1-1/2f powder lit by a Federal large pistol primer. Velocity is about 1350 fps. Bullet profile is a "Creedmoor" like shape, roughly a fat spitzer sort of ogive with a round nose.
My silhouette rifle is a Winchester action with a GM .45 caliber barrel, 1-18" twist chambered for the .45-70. I shoot three different loads in that during a silhouette match, the main one being a 495 grain bullet on 72 grains of Swiss 3f, velocity about 1340 fps.
Mr. Mann's rifle has a barrel that started life as a Winchester #3 taper and is also 34" long. This long light barrel allows for installing some gravity in the buttstock to balance the gun for offhand shooting whilst still making the 12 pound 2 ounce Silhouette limit. While we have yet to do a work with it the rifle is chambered identically to my Winchester so we should have a good starting point.
Best regards,
Glenn
