$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ they are on the rare side and pretty expensive, so hold on tight..Don

sureshot,

I’ve seen two Ballards that had long slender barrels with what I would describe as poly groove rifling, both were described as Farrow re-barrels, neither one was marked, but I believe that they were probably Farrow’s work.

I have a Farrow with Stevens Pope barrel, nominal .32-40.  "Waterman" has one in .22 rimfire.

Both are very "fussy" in terms of excess stock screw tension locking up the action and closed lever position/compression by griping hand to permit triggers to function.  They are clearly intended for target use only - they would never survive in the field.

Value is what you are willing to pay - I probably went over board as the one I have was the first one I'd seen since I sold two in 1973.

There was an article in one of the older Gun Digests.  I remember the article, but not the volume in which it was published.  If you can find the volume in which the article appeared, I'd be happy to make a copy for you and send you the copy electronically or by mail.

I have a Farrow in .22 Long Rifle with its original frosty 12-groove .2243 barrel with a 1:16 twist.  The rifle has the reverse-DST and has to be handled very carefully. They are range-only "race guns" and have no place anywhere else.  They leave the hammer at full cock when the action is closed and will discharge if not handled gently.  I am trying to learn to shoot it offhand.  It is very temperamental.  Currently, I am shooting Eley Club, some out of the box and some run through a Waltz die.

After looking at  Terry Buffum's Farrows and mine and at the few articles I have read, I think there are at least 6 variations in the action, maybe 7.  There are the 2 actions in the patent drawings and the "final Farrow" in deHass' book.  Terry's were different again (and different from each other) and my Farrow is different from all of them. Ned Roberts wrote about Farrows with a through-bolt to attach the stock, but all I have seen were fastened much like a Winchester.

Parts do not interchange.  Perhaps they were made in batches or perhaps they were made one at a time.  The barrels with more than 8 or 9 grooves were early barrels.  Later barrels had fewer grooves.  Early actions also had built-in mounts for a tang sight.  Later ones were apparently drilled & tapped for conventional tang sights.

All original Farrows (including my 22 LR) are sighted to be on target at ranges of 200 yards or more.  I had to have a very high front sight block built for my Farrow before I could put it on paper at gallery ranges. 

The original wood on Farrows is beautiful and the workmanship is first-rate.  I think Farrow bought  & installed Winchester front sights but made his own tang sights.

Here are some photos of the Farrow rifle I picked up last week;

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