A quality barrel is paramount to having an accurate rifle. Heavyweight barrels were common in the Buffalo days, but current NRA rules declare the entire rifle cannot weigh more than 12 lb., 2 oz. This will help decide the barrel weight. In the silhouette game you want a barrel as heavy as possible to deaden recoil, hold steady, and not "flex" much when fired. Several rifle manufactures are making guns for this sport, and they will make the weight. If you are having a gunsmith build your rifle, make sure he understands the weight rules. Badger, Douglas, and Shilen make quality barrels, among others.

Some types of rifles are relatively inexpensive and easy to find, but the barrels are shot out or are in a non-useful caliber. Such is the case with some Remington Rolling Block actions, which when rebarreled, makes an accurate silhouette gun.

Calibers for these barrels can be any originally black powder cartridge of the period. The most common caliber today for Silhouette competition is the .40-65. This round has enough power to knock over the heavy rams at 500 meters, without kicking too hard. The brass can be formed from common and cheap .45-70 brass. The .45-70 is also a good choice and is even easier to reload, but kicks more. For longer ranges you would need a bigger caliber such as .45-90.