under-hammer

[tom hargrove]

anyone here shoot an underhammer ,just wondering how good they are think i would like to try one but ,looking for some experienced voices first. :thumbsup:

 

[silverfox]

I can't say about the new ones but most of the older ones were probably target rifles. That makes them pretty good guns. They only have one problem inherent to all of them. If you use them for hunting you will have to be careful that the cap does't fall off. I shoot and old H & A with a target barrel and it is fast and accurate. Almost everybody who has shot it say they would like to get one. I would like to find another one along the lines of the Heritage model but haven't been able to yet.
The Pacific Rifle is a litte high and Deer Creek and Blue Grouse don't seem to have any available at this time.
The guys who have them don't seem to want to let go of them.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[Tinker2]

two-bellys

I still have two under hammers, a rifle and a shotgun.
I am working on making some more. I like them a lot.

Of course I like most guns.

If you have any particular questions about them that I
might be able to help you with, I would be glade to help.



Tinker2

 

[twotoescharlie]

back around the first of this year I purchased the last 50.cal. buggy rifle that Bruce had,built it put some target sights on it and it was good to go. shoots PRB and REALs very accurately. also have an old numrich arms .36 cal. that I have owned for about 35 years. excellent squirrel rifle.
as for caps falling off, never had that problem. correct caps and nipple will cure this ill.

TTC

 

[flintlockmdj]

TTC. P.M. me [email protected]

 

[twotoescharlie]

whitebear, your email doesn't work for me.

[email protected]

TTC

 

[walruskid1]

check with fw, he may still have a couple of kits. pm him. underhammers rule! i have 4 and love each one. :bow:

 

[TN.Frank]

Ahh, but now what about an underhammer in flint. No cap to fall off, it'd get the flash out of your face and since the heat from the flash travels upward it'd probably be more sure-fire then a sidelock flinter. Not that I have much problem with those. :hmm:

 

[wulf]

I have been a flintlock shooter all my life,even
made and shot wheel locks and Miquelets ...things were going well when a friend gave me a barrel
frame and butt stock for an under hammer..there ware no other parts..so that was kind of a challange...I made all of the rest of the parts. like trigger,hammer,springs bolts screws butt plate..etc etc..when i got it all done naturally
I tried it out...not much sight adjustment and it
shot a clover leaf in the ten X. I considered it
zeroed it. Health problems halted shooting but I
will be going again this thrusday..with it. Can't
wait....Everybody I know who ever had one say it
was the most accurate BP they have ever had..

 

[Slamfire]

I've got a .36 H&A with 20" barrel. It shoots pretty good, but I'm thinkin' about freshin' the barrel. It is one of the old Numrich guns. I've not had any trouble with caps fallin' off. :thumbsup:

 

[renovato]

I can see how an underhammer can be very accurate. It's sleek and simple in design. I just can't get past the looks, myself. Then again, I haven't seen many either.

 

[shmrck1]

Plink,
I to have heard that U/H are very
accurate. Can someone please tell me why an U/H
would be anymore accurate than a sidelock??
Does it not still come down to a good
barrel,proper load and a good shooter to obtain
a given result... :hmm:
snake-eyes

 

[Bob Riegl]

:hmm: Though there are othercontributing factors for the U/H rifle's accuracy---my belief is that the ignition is direct from nipple to the powder without making any left or right turns. The faster ignition time could contribute greatly towards the accuracy. In target pistols---we talk about "lock time"---the amount of time it takes for the firing pin or striker to fly foward and strike the primer after the sear releases. The faster lock time often "smooths out" the herky jerkies that can cause a wild shot. IMHO :thumbsup:

 

[shmrck1]

Pasquenel,
I see the point you are making, could you exspand on the other contributing factors
that make the U/H more accurate than a side lock?
I see your point about ignition, and another point is the ignition is not in front of your eye.But I still think a good sidelock shooter can
compete ball for ball with any U/H shooter.IMO
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[faw3]

As said I got the last 3 " kit" guns from DC where Bruce got his, and about another 3 or 4 , all are for sell but Im not pushing to sell them , also got the last 5 working frmes and a slew of parts. John Taylor found me a 62 Zep barrel and this one just "roars" but I keep it down to 120/1302f not the 200grs they use, and a 20 /62 smooth and 62 rifled , as well as a room corner of different barrels,and one of the bigger heavy underhammer actions built by John for the 2" wide barreled target rifles so I got a fair idea about them, as far as they shoot better than side locks I dont know about that but the big boys use underhammers when they shoot for ball on top of ball at 100, myself I find it a bit easy to shoot the same shot with a uh that I would with a say Hawken, sight plane or whatever,but mostly I like switchen barrels in 30 seconds when Im slow, can do it 10 can you do that in a side lock I cant. And in 20 years I never lost a cap hunting, just when putting them on, thick fingers. :rotf: fred :hatsoff:

 

[arcticap]

Sometimes you can get powder residue on your wrist or sleeve during ignition, and the trigger guard/mainspring is wide and does not make for the most comfortable trigger guard IMO.
The flat internal breech plug base on my old Numrich Arms has a tendency to accumulate more than average fouling residue after shooting. Since the nipple is in front of it and the plug isn't tapered for a flame channel, it acts like a reservoir for the heavy residue build up, but it doesn't interfere with rapid ignition or anything. It's is more difficult to clean it out of there than some guns too that might otherwise burn or shoot that residue out.
Also, because the trigger and sear are exposed they can relatively easily accumulate some fouling residue and their disassembly after each shooting session is another added chore.
But again note that this is just an old Numrich Arms designed gun so I don't know about the others.

 

[renovato]

Snake Eyes, barrel and load are always the most important things. But there are a number of small factors that contribute also. I see the simplified underhammer as having potential for faster locktime and ignition, as well as less complicated trigger parts. I've heard a lot about the accuracy advantage of them but I've never owned one, so I'm merely speculating as to why.

 

[John Taylor]

I have owned several and still have a 62 that shoots good. Have a couple more in the works, one in 45 and the other a 50. I have shot both sidelocks and UHs in compatition and havn't noticed much differance other than my T/C has a set trigger. The 62 is fun for candle shoots but the last time out I had to buy a candle.

 

[Slamfire]

I've a .36 Numrich buggy rifle. It'll build up enough soot when shootin' FFFg Wano that it gits hard to load the 4th or 5th prb. If I wipe, I have to remember to choke up on the rod, otherwise all the fouling gets pushed right into the nipple, and causes misfires. This only happens at the range, I seldom see 4 or 5 groundhogs in a single day. :winking:

 

[tom hargrove]

a small price to pay for ,for something that is so fun.the ones i have had to buy burn proudly in my lantern :winking: