Hello,

I am new here and was looking for some input regarding fast twist barrels. A few years ago read about the Germanic Jeager rifle and it really caught my eye when I saw a photo of a custom gun. I Own a .45 Kentucky pistol and a "Frontier rifle" which I purchased from Cabela's under the name of "Blue Ridge Rifle".The rifle is in .36 caliber with a 1 in 48 inch twist.
Both are made by Pedersoli. When they came out with a Yeager a few years ago it intersted me. I was thinking that it might be very useful for deer hunting considering it's 28 inch barrel and 1 in 24 twist 54 cal.barrel for shooting sabots or conicals.
Modern inline rifles are mostly 1 in 28 inch twist and between 26 to 29 inchesin length so I began looking for a kit that would be close as possible to these modern inlines only with a flint lock.
I tried to find specs on Getz barrels and looked at several kits and custom jobs.
Anyway after I ended my quest I came to te conclusion that I'd have to shell out major bucks for such a rifle to be custom made or make it from sratch. I found this site for reference on bullets to use. I Dont know if a 54 caliber is too heavy for whitetails but the charge "i assume", would be sufficient.

http://www.prbullet.com/chart.htm

After all of this I concluded that the Pedersoli rifle in kit form might be my best bet. Doe's anyone have any thoughts about this? I'd hate to spend my hard earned money on a rifle that will not fit my need. I could buy an inline and scrap the though of a flintlock to hang on my wall for about the same price. Sorry for the lenght of my post. Any thoghts??

It don't take much to put one together yourself. You can get a good Chambers lock and pick up a pre-carved stock blank almost anywhere which will only require some fitting and finishing but nothing like starting with a square block of wood. Some folks can rough them out pretty close if you tell them what lock & barrel desing you're going with. For barrels, I recommend Long Hammock 352.748.7373

Me, I'm going with a .62 with a 1:96 twist. RB ballistics are quite impressive with the 330 grain .610" these throw. Makes you rethink sabots.

Howdy Flinter,

.54 caliber is great for deer, as is .58. I have killed deer with .45 - .50 - .54 - .58 caliber flintlock and percussion rifles and they all work - just put the ball, or minie bullet where it belongs and you can forget about sabots and all that nonsense.

On a running shot, which was ill advised but we needed some venison for winter meat, the .54 round ball took the deer in the near ham and exited the far shoulder. The doe dropped, tumbled, and was as dead as the nickel beer in feet. The ball penetrated her lungs and heart as it penetrated her almost lengthways. I lost about one pound of meat, maybe less.

With my short-barreled .58 percussion rifle I use minie bullets and you can take it to the bank that the 510grain cast bullets at 900 fps hit like the hammewr of Thor. A moose in Vermont didn't even move or flinch when I shot one of these through it at 90 yards. It stood stock still and then took a step and crumpled. Hydrostatic shock and expanding bullets are wonderful things, but to really enjoy black powder hunting we need to forget the in-line gadgets with plastic stocks and re-learn what our great-grandaddys knew. Put a decent bullet, even a little, tiny .45 ball, in the right place and you're eatin' good all winter!

Bluesman


Hello,

I am new here and was looking for some input regarding fast twist barrels. A few years ago read about the Germanic Jeager rifle and it really caught my eye when I saw a photo of a custom gun. I Own a .45 Kentucky pistol and a "Frontier rifle" which I purchased from Cabela's under the name of "Blue Ridge Rifle".The rifle is in .36 caliber with a 1 in 48 inch twist.
Both are made by Pedersoli. When they came out with a Yeager a few years ago it intersted me. I was thinking that it might be very useful for deer hunting considering it's 28 inch barrel and 1 in 24 twist 54 cal.barrel for shooting sabots or conicals.
Modern inline rifles are mostly 1 in 28 inch twist and between 26 to 29 inchesin length so I began looking for a kit that would be close as possible to these modern inlines only with a flint lock.
I tried to find specs on Getz barrels and looked at several kits and custom jobs.
Anyway after I ended my quest I came to te conclusion that I'd have to shell out major bucks for such a rifle to be custom made or make it from sratch. I found this site for reference on bullets to use. I Dont know if a 54 caliber is too heavy for whitetails but the charge "i assume", would be sufficient.

http://www.prbullet.com/chart.htm

After all of this I concluded that the Pedersoli rifle in kit form might be my best bet. Doe's anyone have any thoughts about this? I'd hate to spend my hard earned money on a rifle that will not fit my need. I could buy an inline and scrap the though of a flintlock to hang on my wall for about the same price. Sorry for the lenght of my post. Any thoghts??

Friends,

I was wondering about the practibility of a slow twist barrel on a Jaeger as they are short. I thought maybe most of the charge might be blown out of the muzzle before it was properly burnt. I had been using pyrodex with my " tennesee" rifle and I added a few grains of fffg flash powder ahead of the charge to ignite it better. I wondered how much of the charge was expelled without burning.
I read somewhere that the minimum caliber for whitetail should be .52
somewhere years ago and that had stuck with me ever since, ( not knowing firsthand). Man! a .62 caliber for deer? Is that practical? I have no Idea but seems to me it would leave a hole the size of a grapefruit. Well I guess the same might be true for shotgun slugs. The .62 barrel would be correct for a Jaeger but where in the world would one find one in 1 in 96 twist without having it custom made? This option really interests me. I've seem some nice part sets at The Rifle Shoppe but they sure aren't very specific about details. Kinda pricey too. Might be of interest to someone who wants to build a fancy Jaeger.
I also read somewhere years ago that a 1 in 66 twist is the minimum for a ronundball shooter and that stuck with me too. My 36 caliber has a 42 inch barrel and a 1 in 48 twist. I always thought that's why I couldnt hit my barn with it but actually I only shot it a few times and it's prolly just me.... hehe

Flinter

The faster the rate of twist the better it will shoot with less powder, the slower the twist, the more juice you can put to it without loosing accuracy.

My .50 w/ 1:48 twist tops out at 85gr of 2F Goex while my friend has a 1:66 .50 cal that'll take around 130 grains and hold groups.

Personally, unless you're only looking to punch paper, you want to get as much performance out of the one shot you have while hunting. a .62 tossing a .600" or .610" ball with only 90 gr of 2F behind it and limiting your shots to 50yds seems senseless to me. I've studied up on these extensively and talked with dozens of people who hunt with .62's and most are not afraid to put the fire to it and load hot.

You said you wanted a short barrel Jager but I don't know if this is for your likes or if you've been told as I was for quite some time that Jagers are "always short barreled". Not true, after a lot of looking and asking, I found original German Jagers listed by a German historical site as having barrels between 25" and 35" but that most people prefered the shorter barrels to make them easier to manuver in the thick German forrests. I wish I could tell you the web site but comp crashed and I have not had time to find it again. There is a lot of info out there, problem is finding it.

Custom barrels are not that expensive and as a matter of fact you can usually have one made for the same or only slightly more than what you'll pay for an off the shelf barrel. Not only will you get a better barrel but you will get what you want.

Check out Jim Chambers web site http://www.flintlocks.com/ for kits and or parts. If you don't see what your looking for or have any questions, ring his phone, he or someone will talk to you and help you out, real good people to deal with. I would suggest a barrel from Long Hammock 352.748.7373 or LC Rice 828.627.8959