.58 caliber Jaeger?

[jordanka16]

Having yet to find a flintlock still, I've decided I really like the jaeger style rifles, and to be able to use the same ammunition as my springfield I'd like a .58. Trouble is most of the ones I find are extremely expensive or the wrong caliber, or they generally have a slow twist for roundballs. I'd prefer a fast twist for minies.

Is anyone aware of a good production gun or even a relatively easy to build kit with those parameters? It looks like track doesn't have jaeger kits anymore.

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[Andy54Hawken]

Just did a quick look at some sites that I have bookmarked...
No Jaeger rifles to be found...
Or if they had one...wrong caliber and or set up for round ball and not conical bullets.

Something to consider :
A traditional style Jaeger Rifle will be expensive as a quality flint lock is expensive to begin with..not to forget the carving , inlays and patchbox that are part of the rifle.

I'll do some more thinking and see if come up with a site for you.
Andy

 

[Andy54Hawken]

RE Davis offers a kit....with brass furniture for $645...
RE Davis makes an excellent lock for sure.

Now with that said...the kit does not come with a barrel....the kit is inlet for a .54 Rice 31 inch barrel....maybe Rice has a 31 inch barrel in .58 caliber , with the same dimensions as their .54 barrel.....?
Andy

 

[jordanka16]

So I assumed the slow twist was for roundballs and a faster twist would be needed, but looking up the specs for the 1861 springfield it says the twist rate is 1:72 or 1:66 depending on the source, which is the same as the rice barrels. Will that slow twist work with a standard minie? Or does something else make those guns work?

I hadn't seen RE davis, I'll check those out. The other I was looking at was sitting fox, are those pretty good? I just dont want a kit that will take months of work with files and stuff like that, I dont own any machine tools.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Sitting Fox makes a nice gun....a kit in the "white" will be the best bet if you don't want a lot of hand work.
That said a Jaeger , will take some skill and work to put together.

In my experience slower twists like 1-72 and 1-66 generally do not work with with conical bullets...
Looking up a 1861 replica rifled musket...I see a 1-48 twist listed...that would work for both round ball or conicals....who made yours...?

Edit to add....depending on the era..
Most flintlock Jaeger rifles used a large caliber round ball....some later rifles in the percussion era , can be found set for conical bullets.
Andy

 

[jordanka16]

So apparently it's the 3 groove shallow rifling of the army muskets that let them use a slow twist with minies. If I used a rice barrel with 7 grooves I would for sure need a faster twist. I like your idea of 1:48 so it could be used for everything.

I dont mind some work, I just didnt want like rough castings and a square piece of wood, lol. It looks like RE davis kits have a lot of work done, although for my purposes the sitting fox in the white kit might be a better choice for a first build.

I understand a jaeger is probably not the ideal choice for a first build, but I really love the style and look.

Thanks Andy!

 

[Andy54Hawken]

You are very welcome.
A big help in building a flintlock or percussion rifle is the book :
The Gunsmith of Grenville County by Peter Alexander...
It is well worth owning.
Andy