Jimbo's Underhammer

[faw3]

I got my 2 62 cal barrels in 5wks i rifled i smooth by 30"x1 1/8 a long with the buggy barrel 50 and the 26 x1 1/8 50 cal 1x24 twist all I need is sometrhing like a 32,36. Did pick up a 1 of factory built 48" bench H + A shoots a sub size 45, and shoots like snipers rig, you can put a lot of speed and twist into a deep riled 45, oh my guy threw in a 14" 54 cal boat gun barrel, well we was wondering how are you doing? Fred
+

 

[jimbo15563]

Wow, my barrel is taking a really long time! Talked to Ed Rayl yesterday and it won't be ready until the middle of February. It seems that he does all his orders for the same caliber at one time and that he hasn't gotten to the .54's. That means this underhammer will be a 1-year project from the time I first decided to have it built.

Funny how your tastes change in that length of time. The finished project will in no way resemble the initial concept. My tastes have become more traditional. I've abandoned the long forearm idea, as well as the scope. It will be patterned after the Zephyr, pictured in previous posts. The action will be case-hardened, with the hammer,trigger, and spring blued. I haven't decided whether to blue or brown the barrel. The stock will be curly maple. With Dave's superb craftsmanship, it should equal the Zephyr in quality at 2/3 the price.

I purchased a Ghost-Ring type sight from Dixie Gunworks and tested it during this Deer Season on my Renegade Flinter:

New Sight

I shot some good 100-yard groups with a .490 PRB. I hunted with the large aperture. It and the white line on the front sight made it easy to acquire the target. So far I've filled 2 of my 3 tags (small 7-pt, big fat doe) and still have 3 days to hunt. I'm really happy with the results and will either move these to the underhammer or purchase another set. The other reason I like this setup is that there are many different aftermarket sights made to fit Renegades. I can take my pick of them without having to drill and tap new holes.

 

[jimbo15563]

Fred,

I'm wanting a slow-twist .62 (the one I ordered from Ed Rayl is a fast-twist .54). Who did you order your .62 from and how do you like it? I'm not willing to wait this long when I order the next one. I'd get a Green Mountain, but they only offer the .62 in a smoothbore.

Glad to see you back on the board. Hope you're feeling better.

Jimbo

 

[dd832]

Jimbo,
Track o' the Wolf just listed a 10 bore(.775") Zephyr. Just thought all you Over-bore lovers with broken shoulders would want to take a look. Mike (I'll stick with the 20 bore Zephyr thanks).[url] http://www.trackofthewolf.com...=12&subId=83&styleId=290&partNum=AAB-795[/url]

 

[BS]

jimbo15563

How about an update?

 

[jimbo15563]

I finally got my barrel from Ed Rayl! It took 9 months, partly because he's a very busy man and partly because I changed horses in mid-stream.

The original order was for a tapered octagon-to- round. Very fancy and very expensive. When I started liking the lines of the Zephyr, I decided to change the order to a 1" straight octagon. Also, I now get 2 barrels for the price of one.

The one that arrived last week is a .54 with 1:36 twist. The rifling is .007 depth, wide grooves narrow lands. I'll probably use maxi-hunters. Ed said no breakin is required and that he thinks I should use 2F instead of 3F.

At the left of the bottom pic is the barrel stub I ordered to pre-groove the conicals.

The second barrel, which will arrive in a month, will be a .62 with 1:104 twist Forsythe rifling to shoot bill RB's. Dave and I are thinking about porting it something like this to reduce recoil.

Several people have mentioned that this will significantly increase the decibel level when fired. This won't be an issue at the range with hearing protection, but could be in the woods when hunting. I need to think about this some more.

 

[jimbo15563]

Dave has picked out his nicest piece of curly maple for the stock. The sight will be the Ghost Ring pictured in a previous post.

I'm going to order custom nipples from Blomquist Percussion Works. I'd like to get both No. 11 and Musket Cap nipples with the same thread size.

Dave's a very talented guy. He just put up a website: Dave's Site

Every year he builds a custom rifle and donates it to the NRA for their annual auction. He also built a .22-250 that won one of the 1000 yd classes at Camp Perry 2 years ago.

He's also restoring 2 old Bedford County percussion rifles shown in this thread:

Bedford County

 

[BS]

Jimbo,

Two for the price of one, that is easy to understand.

How long are these barrels?

Guessing that the 62 is 1" also........so you can use the same forestock?

Try the 62 with max loads, before you port it, there maybe less kick than you think, then maybe not!

My 54 with a 1-36 twist shoots 90FF and a 460 Buffalo Bullet quite well.

Glad too hear it is all coming together!

No-BS

 

[jimbo15563]

BS,

The barrels are both 32" and yes, they will be made identical and use the same forestock.

With the .62, I'd like to be able to duplicate the Zephyr's performance-the trajectory is very flat.

Ballistic Calculations of the 20 Bore Ball
Driven by 175 Grains of Black Rifle Powder
Muzzle Velocity of 1700 fps

Distance Velocity Energy Bullet Path
(yards) (fps) (ft-lbs) (inches)

30 1476 1644 1.6
40 1408 1497 2.0
50 1345 1366 2.2
60 1286 1249 2.2
70 1231 1145 2.0
80 1183 1056 1.6
90 1139 979 0.9
100 1101 915 0.0
110 1067 860 -1.2
120 1038 813 -2.7
130 1012 773 -4.6
140 988 737 -6.7
150 966 705 -9.2

I'm figuring that 175 grains would give a good thumping.

Jimbo

 

[faw3]

Was wondering what ever happened to you, since you got me started in H+As and now Ive got a room full of new parts, barrels et, this week I got a new Zephyr barrel that wasnt "just right". Geting sights ect put on it ect and still came in under 200. Another one to go with the 48"er, 50 cal 1 1/4 1x26 twist, and the most fun the 62/20 ! with the 32"X1" and big bore its balance is near perfect. I think your going to find that 150 to 200 gr charges arent that much fun , not much Epflaqnts :rotf: to shoot around here. Good luck, have fun with it. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[walruskid1]

fred, you'd better chock your wheels before you touch off 200 grains or they'll find you in the next county!

 

[faw3]

Im out of that thing "Most" the time when I dont fall over and pop my stiches open, got cut open Again! while you was gone. Im still hell on wheels :rotf: at shooting sitting down! :rotf: FRED :hatsoff:

 

[walruskid1]

fred, it pleases me to hear that you are standing on your own two feet again. don't pop the stitches, something that you need may fall out! i took a few bucks of the money that i earned last month and fitted a lyman sight on my heritage. i'll try to post a pic. WK1

 

[jimbo15563]

I'm working on ideas for the ramrod. I like the candy-striped look, and would use it only in the field. I have a brass range rod.

I'd like to get one custom made with one end cupped for seating ball sn conicals and the other one tapped for jags and other tools. Otherwise, I can buy the parts and have Dave put it together. He can also do the striping.

A concern I have is the length of the rod. I will be short, ending in the forend in front of the hammer. I will need to order attachments with some length to them to compensate for the rod length

If anybody has been down this road, please feel free to offer suggestions.

Jimbo

 

[gmww]

I got a t-handle for mine. Also T/C sells those extended bullet seaters. I think they add about 4".

 

[paulvallandigham]

Why does the ramrod have to go in the gun? I suppose you could put it along side the barrel, instead of under it, but you would still have to cut away some wood on the foregrip to allow it to be the correct length.

Instead, how about simply carrying the ramrod into the field like I do with my shotgun? I run it down my back, under the strap for my possible's bag, and the end into the top of my jeans, in the small of my back. The other end sticks up above my head some, and has a doorknob type handle up there. I just reach behind my neck, and grab the rod, and pull up on it to remove it. The jag does bump the strap on my possible's bag a little, but the strap is wide enough that I don't get the jag hung up on it before it lets it pass. When I am done reloading my shotgun, I stick the rod back down my back, and into my jeans, Pick up the gun, and go on. My double Barrel is a little lighter to shoot without the ramrod adding its weight to the front of the gun, and that seems to be okay for me.

Just a thought. Underhammers do pose problems. You can drill a hole through the stock and then carve out( rout) a space in the forestock for a ferrel that is covered by the wood. The forestock screw could then be screwed into a thickened portion of the ferrel , and the ferrel can be welded, or soldered to the barrel as normal. I would use a steel ring only about 3/8" wide for that stock ferrel, and it would be thicker than the ones used under the barrel. That way, I could tap and thread and screwhole in the outer rim of the ferrel for mounting the stock and stock " bolt ". The stock is merely hung from the barrel, and does not provide any pressure or uplift to the barrel, as a modern rifle stock would do.

The ramrod would then go through the ferrels under the barrel and through the stock, stopping at the end of the barrel, and just before the nipple, leaving only a couple of inches sticking out in front of the muzzle. The forestock would cover the one ferrel, but it would serve as both a ramrod guide, and the mount for the forestock screw.

 

[faw3]

Except for when Im shooting the 48"er H+A I carry the rod around my neck on a strap, never lost one yet. FRED :thumbsup:

 

[dmills]

I got a t-handle for mine. Also T/C sells those extended bullet seaters. I think they add about 4".

They do, but the second or third time I used it, the threaded end broke where it screws into the rod. I had let it loosen up in the course of the day and it somehow got itself flexed (tight ball/patch combo) and snapped. $9.00 down the drain.

 

[gmww]

Check out how John Taylor set up my front stock with thimble to drill a pin hole for the stock.

The H&A's simply have the ramrod groove routed out of the front stock and thimbles soldered beyond that. Simple and functional. They usually just drill a pin hole through one of the flats. I could not do that on mine since the walls were too thin.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I saw this a few days ago, and thought that most forestocks don't have enough wood on them to pin them sideways. That is why I put my thinking cap on, and came up with this other suggestion. No need to use a long thimble that is inside the stock, but it needs to be made out water pipe or something that gives the ring enough meat to it so that you can drill and tap it with enough threads to hold the forestock to the barrel. Might even have to weld or silver solder a nut to the base of the ring to turn the screw into. A washer under the screwhead will distribute the torque, and give a more stable hold between the screw and the stock. Otherwise, you could turn a screw with a wide head on it, as you see on the old, single shot, .22 rifles. Knurl the edges with a file, and you can turn them in and out with just your fingers. I frankly prefer the use of a washer, so that you limit the amount of crushing of the wood fibers that occurs over time. Again the wood is simply hanging from the barrel, and not providing any uplift. Unlike when a thin round barrel is used, these square and octagon barrels have enough size to them so that flexing is not a problem. they should not shoot to a different POI when shot off-hand than when shot off a bench, or rest, or, frankly, with and without the forestock in place.