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jacki brown

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tdiem52

32 Cal.
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Oct 26, 2013
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I just purchased a smoothie with j brown on top of the barrel would like information on the builder
 
Jackie built a lot of "semi-custom" guns on speculation. His early guns were pretty well built traditional style guns, but not necessarily exactly historically correct. He built a lot of the early "Canoe Guns". His rifles generally functioned pretty good. He went through a series of heath issues and was pretty unreliable for delivery. He seems to have recovered and presently offers speculative firearms assembled for sale. You should have a fairly well made firearm.

Tell us a bit more about your purchase. Style? Caliber? Lock? Barrel Length?
 
Did you forget to post pictures of your new rifle Soldier?!! :D
Just got off the phone with Jackie. What a nice guy!
I have been shooting his guns for 10 years.
The 62cal smoothbore he made for me has taken deer and it really handles well for jump shooting birds with its swamped barrel.

My favorite rifle was made by him. She's so slender and elegant.. and she'll put a .490 roundball on target easier than any gun I've ever shot
She is just a joy to hold.
Jackie still lists guns for sale on American Long-rifle.
 
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I briefly owned a Jackie Brown 62 smoothie I bought from another member here. It was a delight to admire, to handle and to shoot. It was my first experience with a fast, reliable flintlock. Alas, the guy I bought it from was pining to have it back so we made a deal.
 
I've seriously thought about buying one of his spec guns but I'd be interested in any comments on whether those L&R locks he generally uses are well tuned and polished up. The L&R locks and triggers I've purchased to use on a few builds took an immense amount of work to get into shape. At the relatively low prices Jackie usually sells for, I have wondered how much time he can put into the lock.
 
I almost bought a .54 cal rifle built by him and ET Harrison this fall in Friensdhip. Was high quality, but not exactly what I was looking for. I'd buy a Jackie Brown gun without hesitation if I liked it.
 
I briefly owned a Jackie Brown 62 smoothie I bought from another member here. It was a delight to admire, to handle and to shoot. It was my first experience with a fast, reliable flintlock. Alas, the guy I bought it from was pining to have it back so we made a deal.

I bought an unmentionable .22 six shooter from old boss. $65.00 back in 1978 and we agreed if I ever sold it he got first dibs. He has regularly asked about it and made some high offers but I like it and the wife LOVES it so I still have it. This deal makes it easy to keep a keeper (I would NOT ask him more than I paid for it so easy not to let go for $65.00!).

Try it next time yer buying/selling/trading a "keeper"
 
I bought one of his wormy wood poor boy LH 45 flint rifles in the white about 4-5 years ago. It uses lots of small wood screws for attaching the trigger guard, barrel tang and such. Inletting was fair but it dint cost much and shoots very well. I’m a fan of L&R locks and haven’t got a bad one yet. I see L&R as the left handers choice since they produce more choices than the rest combined.
 
I had a lancaster fowler he made for Narregansett Arms I bought in the white, it was a good shooter
 
I have a left handed rifled fowler built by Jackie Brown. It is a Lancaster-styled .62 smoothbore with cheek piece and rear sight. He made if for another customer who did no like it. It is not the most finely finished gun I own, and a purist would find some fault with it. But for a working class gun, it shoots well and has been very dependable. The lock is quick and dependable, and is easy on flints. It has taken ruffed grouse and turkeys. I have seen some of his work that I thought was very good, and I have seen a few that were pretty rough. Mine is right in the middle.

ADK Bigfoot
 
I have a Jackie Brown 20 ga smoothbore that I bought from my AMM sponsor. Nice gun and I've shot some grouse with it. Only complaint is that the trigger is way too heavy. Would get a trigger job done on it but the previous owner broke the stock in two at the wrist, and had a smith in Pocatello Idaho do a repair job, the final element of which was a wrap of brass wire, which goes over the trigger guard. The repair looks really great but I heard he had a hard time getting that wire so tight, so I haven't been able to bring myself to ask if he'd consider re-doing it as part of a trigger job:)!
 
Love to see pictures of you're brass wire repair! Sounds interesting.
I don't believe it necessary to remove the trigger guard to do a trigger job on a Flintlock. All that is necessary is to be able to remove the lock.
 
Oh man, I should have thought of that. Guess I was just thinking the whole trigger mechanism had to come out. Thanks for letting me know. Now to see if I can figure out how to attach pics.....Ok, I think that worked, but let me know if you can't see 2 pics below. Thanks again.
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You're brass wire repair does look nice! Thank you for showing us.

Yep, there's no need to mess with your brass wire repair . Just mail the lock to someone qualified to tune and polish your lock.. much better than shipping your entire rifle.
 
At the relatively low prices Jackie usually sells for, I have wondered how much time he can put into the lock.
One could, of course, ask that other than the standard rifle or fowler that he's building, he make one part substitution, and use a different lock. ;)

The only "problem" I found with his products, seemed to be when the rifles or guns when ordered were completely custom orders on the components. Meaning, the person specified the barrel, the lock, the hardware and the style... that seemed to bog him down, and coincided with a time in his personal life that had unforeseen complications....

I bought my .40 from him when he advertised both a .40 and a .45 caliber rifle for sale, steel hardware, finished in-the-white, ready for purchase, and I bought it as such. I had to remove the casting marks from the metal, and polish all, plus sand, stain, and finish the stock. So it cost more than if I had bought the components and done it myself, BUT it took less of my time and cost less than had I bought it fully finished. So the trade-offs worked, for me. ;)

I named the rifle Patience, as I got her in Winter and "shootable" but I needed the time to finish her before taking her out and I was very busy with work at the time.

I thought that offering a finished rifle "in the white" was a good idea. It seems from what one finds today, others think it a good idea too.

LD
 
When you are buying a completed rifle for not much more then the parts cost you can not expect a high level of craftsmanship.

I got a rifle from him several years ago. He did not deliver it on time, not even close. I had to badger him to get it done.

When I got the rifle the grinding marks on the barrel were terrible. The front sight was soldered on and it was not square. The finish on the wood was not good.

I ended up re finishing the stock, and re soldered the front sight on straight.

I ended up selling the rifle along with others to pay for a different rifle.

You get what you pay for, not saying that it is bad, just dont expect a high end custom built rifle. I chalk it up as just part of my journey and learning experience.


Fleener
 
Oh man, I should have thought of that. Guess I was just thinking the whole trigger mechanism had to come out. Thanks for letting me know. Now to see if I can figure out how to attach pics.....Ok, I think that worked, but let me know if you can't see 2 pics below. Thanks again. View attachment 22600 View attachment 22602
that repair is as slick as snot on a door knob. I rely like it and probley what would have been done in real time?
 
He makes solid, dependable working guns at a great price. He doesn’t have the best rep for meeting deadlines and some have reported being unhappy with his work, but most like their guns from him for sure.

In the interest of full disclosure I commissioned a rifle from him a couple years ago, and had a lot of trouble getting him to answer emails and he went overdue by many months. He kept having many excuses, and frankly it was a bit of a bummer. When he sent pictures of the completed rifle, it was not made to the specs I asked for and long story short, we canceled the build. He said he’d refund me and it took a long time to get my deposit back, but it eventually came.

I’d probably not hesitate to buy an already completed Jackie Brown rifle if it’s priced right and you’re not overly concerned with it being historically correct. What I probably would not do is commission him for a build. If you run a search for it, you will find unfortunately I am far from the only person with this type of experience.

My $0.02.
 
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