Hi.
I just found this excellent forum, but have been around this stuff since I was a kid. My uncle, George Lopata ( in case there are any of you from the area, who remember him), built a number of long rifles, and some beautiful knives.
My aunt gave me one of his unfinished Jaegers when he passed, and the plan is to get it together.
In order to get some experience, I purchased an older T/C .50 hawken rifle in a local shop. I stripped it apart, figured out how everything works, inlet the the lock better( there was an ugly gap between the pan and barrel), and reshaped some of the clunkier sections of the stock ( it looks like maybe it was a kit-gun). Refinished, and back together, it shoots well.
There's a great shop near here called Cooperstown Trading Post, that has been a good source of info. Found the name in one of my uncle's books. Turns out, it's less than 3 miles from my place.
Earlier this summer, we took the kids to Williamsburg, and found a few great-looking Jaeger rifles in the museum. These gave me a better idea of what they were all about. There seems to be less info availible about them than the longer PA/KY style rifles.
Anyway, I'll post some pics as things go along, and try not to ask too many obvious questions.
Thanks, in advance.
Chris
I just found this excellent forum, but have been around this stuff since I was a kid. My uncle, George Lopata ( in case there are any of you from the area, who remember him), built a number of long rifles, and some beautiful knives.
My aunt gave me one of his unfinished Jaegers when he passed, and the plan is to get it together.
In order to get some experience, I purchased an older T/C .50 hawken rifle in a local shop. I stripped it apart, figured out how everything works, inlet the the lock better( there was an ugly gap between the pan and barrel), and reshaped some of the clunkier sections of the stock ( it looks like maybe it was a kit-gun). Refinished, and back together, it shoots well.
There's a great shop near here called Cooperstown Trading Post, that has been a good source of info. Found the name in one of my uncle's books. Turns out, it's less than 3 miles from my place.
Earlier this summer, we took the kids to Williamsburg, and found a few great-looking Jaeger rifles in the museum. These gave me a better idea of what they were all about. There seems to be less info availible about them than the longer PA/KY style rifles.
Anyway, I'll post some pics as things go along, and try not to ask too many obvious questions.
Thanks, in advance.
Chris
