Jaeger length?

[tecum-tha]

As for swamping with a file. I just do it for a .50 cal barrel for a "youth" rifle. It takes about 2 hours per flat, is no fun,but you need to do some hand shaping to resemble originals. Some of the bulk could be removed with a vertical mill and that would probably save 10 hours of time.
I am 70% done and that barrel already balances great comparing with the pure octagon barrel.

 

[Doug Lykins]

Yep, The further I look into it the Jaeger may be the most varied style of rifle of all in the "Golden Age" of flintlocks. I really, really wish I had kept the rifle you built. At the time, (7-8 years ago) it was my first flintlock and I got frustrated with the whole flintlock process. Seemed undependable but it was user, (MY), error.
I really want a short or "Stutzen" Jaeger, 25-28", maybe shorter. I think this would be the perfect dark timber elk flintlock.
Having put together a few kits and remodeled a few rifles I've decide that at least half, maybe more, of the fun is in dreaming up and building the guns.

 

[BrownBear]

I really want a short or "Stutzen" Jaeger, 25-28", maybe shorter. I think this would be the perfect dark timber elk flintlock.

Oh yeah. Guys that pump long barrels being just fine clearly haven't spent days and years in the dark timber.

We have really tight alder tangles that are hand in hand with the dark timber I used to hunt for Columbia blacktail and elk in the Northwest. My go-to rifles have turned out to be in the 24"-26" range, with 28" nudging up into the too long category.

Quick "shotgun" balance is prime too, rather than muzzleheavy the range shooters like so much. Your dreams of a short Jaeger with a swamped barrel are right on the money in my nearly 50 years of tight cover bumbling.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Yep, The further I look into it the Jaeger may be the most varied style of rifle of all in the "Golden Age" of flintlocks.
***SNIP***

The Jaeger really isn't a Golden Age flintlock. It was the predecessor to the American Longrifle. The Golden Age started at least 40 to 50-years later.

There were also what are known as transitional rifles that were made as the short, stout, heavy caliber Jaeger rifle started to stretch out and sleek down on the way to turning into the American Longrifle. The American Longrifles were also typically made in much smaller caliber than the bulk of the Jaegers.

American-made Jaegers were pretty much a thing of the past by the time of the Revolutionary War, though of course, the Hessian "Jaeger" troops fighting for the Brits certainly had German-made ones. The Golden Age didn't really start until about 1790 (after the Rev War) and went until about 1820. That era had some of the most sleek and heavily decorated rifles, often using a much narrower butt with a very pronounced crescent shape to it. Some of the most aesthetically pleasing rifles were made during that time, which is why it is known as The Golden Age.

So I'd say you are right in that there are lots of variations in that style, just not commonly found let alone built during the Golden Age.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:
Dan