Longrifles

[roundball]

There are a couple rifles at TOW that appeal to me...an Issac Haines style and a Virginia style...the Haines has nice engraving without being 'over the top'...pricey for my budget but I'd be proud to take a deer with one. :grin:

I admire the craftsmanship that goes into some of these builds...even if I had the skill I don't have the patience :redface:

 

[wtilenw]

I too drool over some of the guns on TOTW. I suppose if a guy added up all we have spent on this gun or that over the years and the modifications and accessories that we thought we would use and don't, we would be better off to just have one rifle or smoothbore that just fit like a glove in the caliber we end up favoring. The price asked for some of those guns seems reasonable if weighed against all it takes to get to what our favorite is now. I know what I'm trying to say but I fear I am babbling.....Yeah, nice guns.
Idaho PRB

 

Better watch yer self there Roundball. I see that gleam in yer eye. I know the look well.....Pretty soon you'll be wearing funny clothes and goin' ta 18th c. trayde fayres and other re-enactment events and carrying a custom made longrifle like some a the rest of us. Maybe even doin' this stuff while deer huntin'!

 

[Dane]

roundball,

The Haines is one I built for my son a few years ago. The Haines is a VERY shootable style, and with th 38" barrel in a .54cal C weight, becomes a very nice hunting rifle.
Thanks for the comments about the carving. It is styled after Haga original. Nice hard sugar maple.

I sold it to someone else about 2 years ago, and it's for sale again.

My carving has improved a lot since then.

 

[Halftail]

RB,
I got me a Chambers Yorke.And Boy!I'll tell ya she is a Sweeeet gun to carry around in the woods.Unfourntunatly I don't have the heart to hunt with it the way I flop and skid around the woods.Haven't got the heart to sit in a treestand in a snowstorm with such a beautiful gun.

 

[roundball]

roundball,

The Haines is one I built for my son a few years ago. The Haines is a VERY shootable style, and with th 38" barrel in a .54cal C weight, becomes a very nice hunting rifle.
Thanks for the comments about the carving. It is styled after Haga original. Nice hard sugar maple.
I sold it to someone else about 2 years ago, and it's for sale again.
My carving has improved a lot since then.

Well hats off to you personally then, didn't know it's builder was among us :hatsoff:

Because "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", different types and amounts of carving, inlays, etc, are attractive to different people of course and speaking only for me personally, there is some line that gets crossed with the amount of stuff on a ML where it becomes overkill...and the comment is not to take away from the skill of a builder...it's just that it seems a line is crossed where the lines of the rifle itself become obscured and the whole rifle almost becomes a billboard of decoration instead.

One example are patchboxes...some of them are large with enormous amounts of brass all over them and that doesn't happen to appeal to me...but the clean lines of that Issac Haines, with a touch of carving here and there gives it nice balanced eye appeal...to me...others mileage may vary of course.

Anyhow, great job!

 

[roundball]

Better watch yer self there Roundball. I see that gleam in yer eye. I know the look well.....Pretty soon you'll be wearing funny clothes and goin' ta 18th c. trayde fayres and other re-enactment events and carrying a custom made longrifle like some a the rest of us. Maybe even doin' this stuff while deer huntin'!

The problem is I'd have to sell 6-7 of my TC Hawkens to pay for one, and give up all those different calibers !! :rotf:

 

[roundball]

I don't have the heart to hunt with it the way I flop and skid around the woods.Haven't got the heart to sit in a treestand in a snowstorm with such a beautiful gun.

And that's the reality of it...its one thing to bump a $400 TC Hawken against something and leave a permananet "character mark" on it...but to do that to a $2500 muzzleloader would make me sick, so I wouldn't hunt it either...maybe some rich uncle I don't know I have, will leave me lots of money in his will :grin:.

There's a "slot market" that I wish TC or somebody weould step up and fill...my set of $400 used/refinished Hawkens are completely excellent for all the uses I put them through...the enjoyment of weekend shooting year round, and for hunting deer, turkey, squirrel, crows, doves, etc...but then there's a big jump up to the Issac Haines we've been discussing...too bad TC couldn't make a couple models in that middle slot of $1000-$1500, full stock, fixed sights, etc...something a step more traditional than the Hawken, and with their same lifetime warranty of course...something that was a hunting rifle with a few frills but not so many you wouldn't want to hunt it

 

Yes, kind a like the one that Stumpy posted here awhile back. That WOULD be great.

Back in the 1970's Numrich Arms had such a kit called the MinuteMan Rifle. It wasn't too bad. That's what got me started in this lunacy we call a hobby. :haha:

 

[Halftail]

I don't have the heart to hunt with it the way I flop and skid around the woods.Haven't got the heart to sit in a treestand in a snowstorm with such a beautiful gun.

And that's the reality of it...its one thing to bump a $400 TC Hawken against something and leave a permananet "character mark" on it...but to do that to a $2500 muzzleloader would make me sick, so I wouldn't hunt it either...maybe some rich uncle I don't know I have, will leave me lots of money in his will :grin:.

Funny you should mention that.The longrifle that I have was in fact "Left to me" in an old friends will.I shoot it but I plan on preserving it for my lifetime and hopefully my Boys will do the same.That and the fact it cost my Friend close to 2 Grand to have a gun built that he never got to shoot will keep it in a place of Esteem forever,or at least until I'm gone.

 

[Bodie]

I think the "slot" market is currently filled by makers such as Brian Turner. I have a couple of rifles by him, one being a .50 cal Issac Haines style. His guns are not too fancy, but are well put together, using quality parts, swamped barrels, and both of mine shoot great. They sell in the $1000 to $1400 range and I think they are well worth it. I doubt we will ever see a major manufacturer coming out with guns like these.

 

[Desert Rat]

its one thing to bump a $400 TC Hawken against something and leave a permananet "character mark" on it...but to do that to a $2500 muzzleloader would make me sick,

I used to feel that way about a rifle that I have. Granted it's not $2500 but it is definatley in the upper in of what I could afford. It spent a lot of time in the closet being my "Pride and Joy". After a number of years I'm taking it into the woods trekking and enjoying it for what it is... a good rifle. So far I haven't added to much character to it but it will happen sooner or later and in my mind I think I'm ready for it to happen. I guess what I'm trying to say is that after time when the newness and the awe of the gun wears off a little you'll be ok with taking it out and using it for the purpose intended. But until that time happens it sure is fun taking out of the closet and shooting a few rounds through it and then spending hours lovingly cleaning it back to perfection.

 

[Vaino]

I occassionally sell LRs thru TOW's consignment sales and seeing I don't know who buys them, often wondered what the end use is. Built a Stith "S. Hawken" for a customer who wanted an outstanding curly maple stock and he says it's so pretty that now he doesn't want to take it hunting. Too bad! He should intentionally give it the first ding so the pressure is off. TOW adds 33% onto the seller's price but somehow they sell a lot of LRs thru their excellent presentations that are viewed by tens of thousands of prospective buyers. Too bad that big a commission has to be paid but TOW is basically a gun dealer, takes in trades and is responsible for the guns they sell. Dane...that Haines is one of your outstanding LRs.....Fred

 

[Roy]

heck boys hunt with them and shoot them thats what they are built for. :grin:

 

[RC]

heck boys hunt with them and shoot them thats what they are built for. :grin:

ummmm,
Roy, have I shown you the "mark" in my smoothie??? :redface: makes me very sad.... i'm gonna have to get a new gun now....... :cursing: .... :hmm: :grin: :grin: :grin:

 

[Roy]

gives it character :thumbsup:

 

[RC]

yeah maybe but i really didn't need anything to remind me of this past season.... :shake:

 

[RickD]

geez RC how can a little scratch remind you of ,zero,zip,nothing,nada

 

[cptleo1]

Here is the deal Roundball.

Good basic architecture is not that expensive.

Good basic parts not that expensive.

Frills ARE expensive.

A Chambers Haines kit will set you back about
$900.

If you use the wooden patch box, you don't have to worry to much about engraving cost/skills.

You can get a quality builder to put it together in the white for $350 - $500.

Sandpaper, AQ, beeswax finish, elbow grease are cheap .

You can have a really nice flinter with your LOP, custom cast off and such for about $1500.

You can get a Haines in the white from Tip Curtis for about $950, sand it down and have someone do $250-$350 worth of carving on it and you are still under $1500.

As far as not taking it to the woods -

That is what guns are made for.

Forget about dents and scratches, forget about resale value - With normal care/use a $1500 gun has very little chance of significantly going up or down in value anyway. So who cares about some patina.

It is strictly a personal opinion, BUT, for me an Isaac Haines with a "B" weight barrel is the finest flintlock ever made.

It holds,shoulders,carries and shoots better than any other flintlock that I have ever handled.

I have 11 flinters and love them all. But, I have to admit the Haines is the only one that makes me smile EVERY time I pick it up.

I am actually seriously thinking about doing an Iron mounted, "C" weight Haines .54 smooth rifle with a cherry stock. I have to believe such a piece would be close to the perfect do it all flinter. (IMHO)

Look at the worse case scenario ====

Spend the bucks, shoot it for a while, if it does not suit you I am sure you can sell it for pretty close to what you have in it.

Even if you loose a couple hundred I think you will see it as money well spent.

Roundball @ our age it is time to pamper ourselves, I myself want my "Bucket list" to be a blank piece of paper !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RC]

geez RC how can a little scratch remind you of ,zero,zip,nothing,nada

actually, I'm sure I'll get a few reminders (imagine that!) so I really didn't need this scratch/mark/gouge ..now had it got dinged up on a antler :hmm: .. in the Adirondacks,,, then it be cool... this not so cool....maybe it'll look better next season... :thumbsup: but sure is glad I carried it! Roy said thats what it was made fer...huntin! :thumbsup: