Two years later the project is done, the .62 rifle is complete.
.62 rifle project is done
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Typical gun porn, it’s not even in my hands and I’m posting photos the gun builder sent yesterday
Gun builder Mark Wheland of Huntingdon County, PA, built this. The gun is based on the Little Bat Garnier rifle in the Fort Robinson Museum. Mark put a lot of work in to accurately capture the butt plate. He had it cast after we each did a paper and a wooden mock-up (his were much better than mine) and then agreed on what the final should look like. I had Colerain add the long tang when they made the barrel, for reinforcement and to add a tang peep sight.
Took two years from start to finish, but the planning took about six months, actually about two years overall, if I count my initial sketches and watching Jeremiah Johnson a dozen times. Mark made the rear sight, which is exactly like the original. Original maker Folsom must have borrowed that sight from the Henry repeating rifle.
GANGGREEN
45 Cal.
Wow, it really looks nice. I was down to Mark's shop a couple of times early this year because he was inletting a couple of stocks for barrels for me and he does indeed do some fine work. You said it's a Colerain barrel, what are the dimensions, weight of the final rifle? As I said, looks very nice.
GANGGREEN
45 Cal.
By the way and purely out of curiosity, but is Mark in Huntingdon County or in Blair?
Green, I’m pretty sure Mark is in Huntingdon County. He’s in Williamsburg, which is the heart of the county. Grant you that Blair is not too far away. Thank you for the compliments. Mark gets all the credit. I don’t yet know the weight. Colerain made the .62 rifle barrel to my specs, with a five inch tang. They told me that daggone tang took a lot of extra time. The 34” barrel is heavy, that I can tell you!
The Colerain barrel has conventional rifling. It is not swamped, but has a 1/8” taper. The Hanson book on the Plains Rifle was very helpful in this project, but the curator at the museum was the most helpful of all. He took a bunch of photos of the Little Bat rifle with his cell phone and sent them to me. 360 degree view. That gave Mark and I everything we needed. We also had access to photos of several other historic Folsom rifles that have sold at auction in the past twenty years. Folsom made high quality full stock plains rifles to compete with Hawken and Leman.
GANGGREEN
45 Cal.
Williamsburg itself is in Blair County, although Mark lives a few miles east of the town. I'm guessing he's probably in Blair, but it surely doesn't matter one way or the other.
The rifle really is a beauty for sure. Hawken/plains rifles aren't really my cup of tea (I'm currently trying to sell a full-stock Hawken in percussion because it's just not my thing), but I'm sure that will be a really fun rifle to hunt with.
The rifle really is a beauty for sure. Hawken/plains rifles aren't really my cup of tea (I'm currently trying to sell a full-stock Hawken in percussion because it's just not my thing), but I'm sure that will be a really fun rifle to hunt with.
If I recall right, it’s a 1:72 twist.
Also, I believe Mark is on the other side of the creek from Williamsburg proper. I grew up with some of his family, who owned the biggest farm on our road (600 acres). Their farm is where I started trapping. Nice family, very hard working, great neighbors.
Also, I believe Mark is on the other side of the creek from Williamsburg proper. I grew up with some of his family, who owned the biggest farm on our road (600 acres). Their farm is where I started trapping. Nice family, very hard working, great neighbors.
Green, I hear you on the Plains style vs our Pennsylvania long rifle variants. Thing is, this build incorporates some English sporting rifle aspects that attracted me, and unless we did a Jaeger style, I could not find a way to get a .62 rifle. The Jaeger style does not speak to me.
Excess, I grew up right near Pennsylvania Furnace. We wrestled guys from Dubois, Clearfield, and Clarion, but as far as we locals were concerned, pretty much everything west of us was Huntingdon County, then beyond that was Ohio, and then the cliff edge of the world beyond that. You will have to forgive my parochial instincts. They die hard, modern mapping notwithstanding.
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Love shooting a big ol’ honkin’ .62 ball! My Jaeger has a Colerain swamped .62. Major melon buster. Your rifle looks awesome and I’m looking forward to a range report.
Nice! My .62 has a coalrain barrel as well. Mines a 1:66 twist, 36” and it tapers from 11/8 to 1” at the muzzle.
Jaegermeister and Thompson, Mark and I thank you both for the compliments! Have either of you taken big game with your .62s? This rifle was made for hunting deer, bear, elk, and I am both excited about it and also a little nervous. Wondering if I bit off more than I can chew here.
Thompson, Can you post a picture or two of it here? I am interested to see variations on the .62 rifle theme
Here are two 1860s Folsom rifle examples I pulled off the internet. Folsom really liked that distinctive pointy butt plate, and .54 seems to have been their usual caliber of choice.
excess650
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I'm thinking you're gonna want a .595" roundball and heavy cotton duck cloth, or at least their heavy ticking for patch material. My Colerain has been shot a fair amount with .604" from a Lee .600 mold, and both cotton duck and heavy ticking. I use the heavy ticking for reloads with the under barrel rod. A smaller diameter ball will definitely be easier to load, and you'll need those thick patches to fill Colerain's grooves.
Your rifle is going to be heavier than mine by a pound or two, but that buttplate still looks like a weapon. I'll suggest starting with 80gr fffg or 100gr ffg and see how that works. Work up 10 or 20gr at a time depending upon how it feels, and how much velocity you want, and what your groups look like.
I see TOTW has .595" and .600" RBs in stock. If you order from them, get a tin of mink oil to use as a hunting lube.
Your rifle is going to be heavier than mine by a pound or two, but that buttplate still looks like a weapon. I'll suggest starting with 80gr fffg or 100gr ffg and see how that works. Work up 10 or 20gr at a time depending upon how it feels, and how much velocity you want, and what your groups look like.
I see TOTW has .595" and .600" RBs in stock. If you order from them, get a tin of mink oil to use as a hunting lube.
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Thanks, Excess! I appreciate your guidance a lot. Last year I was fortunate to locate someone here who sent me three molds: .600, .605, and .610, and I cast a pile of the two smaller sizes. The Colerain barrel has shallow grooves, but this is all new to me, so I’ll be sure to have a nice stash of different patch material.
I use bear oil that I’ve rendered down. It’s very good for patched round balls. I’ll definitely report back
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