Built a Bear Rifle, .62 cal.

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From experience of hunting and killing deer w/ the two .62's I built for myself , always use a short starter, I lost my short starter in the snow , didn't know until I tried to reload , with one doe down , and 16 others standing 20 yds. from me. Dumb hunter!!!!!!!!! AHHHH !!! , hate it when that happens. Anyway , Sold that Jager rifle , and built a 37" barrel .62 cal. longrifle , so the sights were easier to see. Both these rifles performed to perfection with .610 ball , sparse grease lube , .016 patch , and 90 gr. FFG. .62's are really excellent killers. .......... The older I got , pushing 70 yrs. , I couldn't handle the .62's recoil , but I'm still in love w/the memories it created for me. I'm back to a .50 cal , shortened 7.5 lb. longrifle , w/ a peep sight. Flintlock bear , and deer season comes in in a couple days in Pa.. Will see if I get lucky.
 
is this with the barrel you bought from me last year? This is spectacular, Caleb. Well done in every way. Did you catch anything with it?
Took the rifle , whose back bone is your barrel , for a bucket list hunt in the Pennsylvania bear woods. Also carried it for Michigans muzzleloader season . Michigan has a draw system for elk tags. My twin drew a cow tag , after 36 years of applying, and the area to hunt is also prime whitetail country. I enjoyed putting some miles on in these hunts carrying that rifle inspired by your barrel. 😊
 
Took the rifle , whose back bone is your barrel , for a bucket list hunt in the Pennsylvania bear woods. Also carried it for Michigans muzzleloader season . Michigan has a draw system for elk tags. My twin drew a cow tag , after 36 years of applying, and the area to hunt is also prime whitetail country. I enjoyed putting some miles on in these hunts carrying that rifle inspired by your barrel. 😊
Wow this thing was baptized. Bear, elk, and deer hunts right after birth! Way to go, Caleb. Scott Keller at Colerain made the barrel, and he gets the credit. He is really into gain twist, and he has made a bunch of GT barrels for us over the years. I’ll bet your pretty gun here is one of a small handful in existence with a swamped GT .62 rifle barrel. Thing about GT is it can handle conicals as well as round balls, and I hope you experiment with them. My son’s .45 GT barrel shoots patched conicals and sabots with pistol bullets as well as and at distance even better than round ball. So should you decide to hunt dangerous game with a flintlock, you can put a +\- 600 grain conical in that and get perfect accuracy and crushing power. Please post pictures of anything the gun takes. It’s late flintlock season here in PA, but conditions stink. Rainy, foggy, no snow.
 
Thank you for your reply and link. I missed the previous thread. Very interesting !
So.....Colerain offers this option on their barrels ?
Colerain does indeed offer gain twist rifling. In fact I think it has become a bit of a trademark for them. One thing I have noticed with gain twist is less powder is needed to achieve the same velocity and accuracy as conventional rifling.
 
WOW, awesome job!!! That is one sweet look’n rifle! Good luck and hope you bag a bear with it.

BTW, lots of black bears where i hunt so if you want to know if it works…send me the gun and i’ll let you know!!!!!
 
How can you tell if the bear is left handed though?
After living in Southeast Alaska for the past 25 years you get to know bears. In our three island group there are more Brown Bears than humans. About 1 per square mile.

You learn about Brownies by getting out on the water and into the woods. Another learning method is staying away from the water and the woods. And spend your time in the bars and taverns listen to the old crusty guys. Who may not be old but will be crusty.

You can make your own decision about which is the best method to aquire knowledge.

It's relatively simple to determine a Brownies dominant Paw.

Not so sure about his Maw though?

It does take some strong observation skills. Along with some fortitude. Intestinal, institutional, store bought, just get you some!

Using your powerful observation skills see which Paw it uses to take your firearm away, (type of firearm don't matter, .32 Flintie or a crew served weapon.) Don't matter at all.

Using that powerful observation skill you've seen the Paw the Brownie used to relieve you of your weapon. Take note, see if the Brown Bear continues to use the same Paw, most do. But keep track, as the animal will demonstrate a little known fact about the Brown Bears of Southeast Alaska.

They are nature's most prolific, interspecies Proctologists!

There you have it. A simple method to tell a "lefty" from a "righty."

If you ever make a Brown Bear hunt in my neck of the woods and your guide "strongly" suggests filing your front sight off. Well, following that bit advice makes things, coming or going, smoother.
 
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