your thoughts on custom rifle

[Rat Trapper]

I have been thinking about having a custom cap lock rifle made. Anyone have any ideas of style of rifles built with a snail? Pictures would be most welcome in helping me make up my mind. Also ideas of builders.

 

[gunmaker43]

That opens up a wide variety of styles. English rifles come to mind, as well as late mid west types and of course Hawken or plains ones....many many...google around awhile.
Not a snail, British standing hooked breech on this one...Tom

 

[Spikebuck]

When it comes to percussion, I'm pretty partial to a nice Hawken. John Bergmann does a very nice job at a reasonable cost. You can do half or fullstock, whichever tickles your fancy. A few of his guns show up on ToTW each year, some new. He spent nearly an hour on the phone with me. Nice guy.

 

[kurts]

Mr Knight you do very nice work.

 

[Don Steele]

What caliber do you want..???

 

[galamb]

Before I go diggin' through my pile of pics and find a few to post up I have a question.

Any particular reason you are limiting yourself to a Snail breech?

Answering that (why), may lead to some other option suggestions.

 

[Snakebite]

I'm partial to a nice Hawken or plains style halfstock rifle with a really nice piece of curly maple with a .54cal barrel about 34" long.

Jim Parker makes a very nice rifle and he's a great guy.
www.parkerfirearms.com

 

[don hepler]

Go to Track of the Wolf, and you should see some examples. Or, just google Custom Hawken rifles.

My next rifle, will be a Custom Hawken rifle, in 54 cal. with a tapered barrel, and as close to an original as possible.

 

[Rat Trapper]

Before I go diggin' through my pile of pics and find a few to post up I have a question.

Any particular reason you are limiting yourself to a Snail breech?

Answering that (why), may lead to some other option suggestions.

I just prefer the snail breech over drums. As to caliber not sure yet but one of these: 45, 50 or 54. A nice Hawken might be nice?

 

[Rat Trapper]

Anyone have a website for John Bergmann?? Any other builders you guys would recommend?

 

[Elkeater]

When you come to an agreement with a builder be prepared to wait. For me it is 2 weeks short of a year. He has the lock, stock blank and barrel. Looks like he will get started next summer.

 

[pwbsmokey]

Just curious, besides plains rifles and Hawkens what other rifles had a snail?

 

[Pete44ru]

Just curious, besides plains rifles and Hawkens what other rifles had a snail?

T/C Cherokee's & Seneca's.


Since I'm from New England, my preference (YMMV) is for lightweight walkabout New England (style) hunting rifles, exemplified by the T/C Seneca, with a 13/16" barrel, a small lock, and a likewise slim half-stock.


Someone interested in a rifle for larger Western game (Elk, Moose, Brown Bear, etc) would be better served by a well-balanced Plains-type (Hawken) rifle in the .50cal & up (.54, .58, .62) range.

The somewhat more slender (than a Hawken/Plains) stocked Mountain rifle in .50cal would made a great compromise rifle.

 

[fleener]

I love my hawken and my English sporting rifle.

Either one would be a great rifle.

Fleener

 

[BriR]

RT, here are the two rifles I had John Bergmann build for me:
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/246459/post/854383/hl//fromsearch/1/
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/297169/post/1520566/hl//fromsearch/1/

John's contact info is:

John F Bergmann Longrifles, Ltd. 224 Bell Ln Granville TN 38564 www.flickr.com/photos/flntlok, email [email protected]

John is a really nice man. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Jim C]

Those are some truly beautiful rifles. Mr Bergmann is a top notch artisan.

 

[Cowboy]

John Bergmann has many of the rifles that he has built through the years on TOW Archives. He is truely a master builder. His rifles are a little pricey but you get what you pay for. On the TOW website I love to look at his and George Nelson's rifles. Nelson is out of Minnesota. I would love to own a rifle built from either one of them. Respectfully, cowboys1062.

 

[Naphtali]

I am having a matched pair of .72-caliber English-style rifles made. Being left-handed, it has been a multistep four-year process. Kerry Stottlemyer did the first machine work on Joe Williams' 1.25-inch barrel blanks. He also made breeches and tangs. L&R makes the only production left-handed English-style lock. And a pair of Serengeti/Kilimnajaro Stealth® laminated stock blanks, one maple and one Bastogne walnut, will become the stocks.

The whole mishmash is now with Gene Gordner (Kalispell, MT) who will have the maple stocked rifle ready this spring. Gene is adding a whole bunch of nuances to my brief description that I won't go into. The only work done I can show you is in this link Kerry Stottlemyer's work

Were I to mention my total cost for the rifles, I would be subject to be on somebody's watch list for insanity. My response is: Eat your heart out. If I raise the cash, these - plus a LOT of Swiss FFg and a 900+-grain conical - will allow me an even chance with the cape buffalo that will be 30 yards away.

FYI: The conical in the link is not the biggie. It is only 775 grains. Loads are light (540-grain patched RB), medium (775-grain conical), and heavy.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hope this helps.

 

[galamb]

Just curious, besides plains rifles and Hawkens what other rifles had a snail?

Snails showed up "later" in the American longrifle evolution.

So while Hawken plains rifles come to mind you will also find snails on Ohio rifles and some later New England rifles.

If you are looking to have a rifle a little different than the (typical) Hawken here are a few options (a couple are "non-typical" Hawken rifles).

First here is a couple of 1840'ish Ohio rifles:

A pistol grip Sam Hawken - a little different..

A Sam Hawken local rifle (also called Turkey or Squirrel rifles - single keyed rifles "typically" 42 cal or smaller with 38 or 40 cal being common)

And finally a Sam Hawken which I patterned for myself (my notes for creating a pattern and sourcing the parts for the build).

 

[Jim C]

Thanks for the heads up Cowboy, I'll check them out. I love finding new (to me) builders work to drool over...LOL