which caliber for jaeger rifle????

[William Joy]

I am planning on building a Jaeger rifle and can't decide on the caliber....
Your imput is highly appreciated!

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Go big! I have a .62 caliber swivel breech Jaeger type rifle right now. When I get around to another, it will be a 10 bore with a 30 to 32 inch barrel.

 

[cptleo1]

I did a .62 last year specifically for big bear hunting - nice piece - 125gr of 2f - definite widow maker.

That being said - I consider the .54 the perfect caliber - IMHO

 

[Mike Vach]

The ones in TOW are .58 cal.

 

[Birddog6]

I would go with at least a .54, and it is the most economical to shoot in a large bore. The .58 is good also, and cost a lil more to shoot. The .62 is nice but even more expensive to shoot, especially with the price of lead going up as it has been. And shipping on the .62 balls for the quantity ya get is a chunk of $ too.

 

[Stumpkiller]

.58

That way you can usually still find cast round balls for sale relatively easliy if you get lazy.

.62 would be my choice otherwise. If you're gonna do a Jäger do it uptown!

 

[flintlock75]

I just purchased a Jaeger rifle from sitting fox.
Its a .54 caliber.Love it. I have taken alot of big game with my .54 cap lock and look forward to this fall to hunt with my new flinter. I have taken deer, black bear, caribou and moose with the .54 all one shot kills. .62 are good also but the .54 does the job just fine.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I did my PA Longrifle in .54 (a great caliber).

For a Jäger that's a squirrel caliber. ;-)

I concur that it is a very useful caliber for one do-it-all rifle.

 

[mazo kid]

The original Jaegers were a big bore hunting rifle, usually 58-62 cal or larger. Mine is 54 and I really like it, big enough to get the job done on anything around here, and fairly economical to shoot.

 

[Stophel]

A good average for an 18th century German rifle would be about .58. Many larger, some smaller. :wink:

 

[Story]

Go big! I have a .62 caliber swivel breech Jaeger type rifle right now.

Pics! PICS! PICS!
Barrel length?

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Unfortunately I can't get my camera to talk to the computer right now. The barrels are 24" long and swamped. They are 28" Colerain Jaeger style barrels that Track cut down for me. The rifle is made with an early Jaeger/Germanic flavor. The stock is walnut.

 

[Allan Gray]

Jaeger must be BIG!! :shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2:

See the below link for pics of my recent TOW Jaeger build in .62cal

The thing throws a big hunka'lead and sounds like a howitzer...allot of fun :grin:
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/217035/post/522850/hl//fromsearch/1/

 

[Ephraim]

Mine is a .60 cal. and shoots well have had it for 20 yrs and still love it.
Ephraim

 

[Dphar]

Go big! I have a .62 caliber swivel breech Jaeger type rifle right now. When I get around to another, it will be a 10 bore with a 30 to 32 inch barrel.

If you try to make much (read usable) velocity with the 10 bore recoil will be bad unless the gun weighs about 12-14 pounds. If a true 10 bore the ball will weight 650-700 grains (about 1 1/2 ounce) and a ball this heavy will produce a significant recoil pulse even at 1000 fps in a light rifle.
4 1/2 to 5 drams will be bad in a light gun.
I would not bother with a caliber much over 66.-69. A .662 ball weighs an ounce and is about all a person needs for NA game though a 10 or 8 bore might be nice for the biggest bears if the shooter could handle the gun and load.
I would think 58-62 would be the best for a "typical" Jaeger that was going to be actually used rather than just commented on.

Dan

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Dan--A few years ago I had an opportunity to fire several shots from a .77 caliber Jaeger. It had a 33" barrel and weighed about 9 pounds or so. The charge was 140 grains of FFg GOEX which seemed quite impressive at the time! Recoil can't have been too bad as I really don't recall it at all. I have no idea what the velocity was, but accuracy was very good at 100 yards. I have a feeling that this would probably not be a fun rifle to shoot from the bench though! My present Jaeger is a swivel breech in .62 caliber and is quite pleasant to shoot--the ball weighs about half the weight of a 10 bore's and the charge is much lighter as well. I personally find the larger bores very satisfying to shoot--something to do with all that smoke and fire and noise.

 

[chuckpa]

I have a Davis Jaeger on the bench right now in .54. I'm glad to hear all the good things you have to say about the .54 because I plan to use this rifle for hunting.

 

[bingo1952]

I ahve one of the Pedersoli Jaegers in .54 cal. It is a fast twist gun but it still shoots RB well with .017 patch, a .530 ball, and 75 grains of 2f powder. Its a little tough to start, have to give the short starter a couple of good whacks but once started it rams easily.

 

[Dphar]

Dan--A few years ago I had an opportunity to fire several shots from a .77 caliber Jaeger. It had a 33" barrel and weighed about 9 pounds or so. The charge was 140 grains of FFg GOEX which seemed quite impressive at the time! Recoil can't have been too bad as I really don't recall it at all. I have no idea what the velocity was, but accuracy was very good at 100 yards. I have a feeling that this would probably not be a fun rifle to shoot from the bench though! My present Jaeger is a swivel breech in .62 caliber and is quite pleasant to shoot--the ball weighs about half the weight of a 10 bore's and the charge is much lighter as well. I personally find the larger bores very satisfying to shoot--something to do with all that smoke and fire and noise.

I have a 10 pound 66 (16 bore). If over 140 grs of FFg Swiss is used it gets pretty bad off the bench and 20 rounds with 140 is not something you would want to do every day. 110 will produce pretty good velocity and can be shot indefinitely off hand. 140 is not trouble off had but the rifle must be held differently than a 54 Kentucky with 100 grain sor so of powder.
This is a late English sytle flint rifle with a 2"x 5" Manton buttplate with little pitch.
110m gr of Swiss produces 1640 fps. 140 gives 1740. Either load will give a deer sized point blank of about 120-130 yards (about 3" rise or fall). 140 might give a 100 yard point blank on deer with a 10 bore. Would have to shoot one to get a velocity.
The thing is that with a ball this heavy its not going to be a fun gun to shoot with a powder charge that will produce hunting trajectories at the ranges I need be.

Dan

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I'm pretty sure he said the rifle weighed around nine pounds. I could be a little low on that. At any rate it carried easily and felt no heavier than my Hawken which weighs at just under 10 pounds. I do remember the powder charge because I had never fired a load that heavy before and it seemed impressive. Fired offhand it wasn't unpleasant though I definitely knew something had gone up the spout! It left no bruises and did leave me wanting my own similar rifle. As you say, firing one of these from the bench would be unpleasant and after getting it sighted in I doubt I would want to do it again. The comb on this rifle was well made and didn't smack the cheekbone in recoil which does go a long way in making a rifle nice to shoot. It would be good to know what sort of velocity was being achieved.