Another History No. 1

[Steve Rosen]

I've been spotting these in posts on a number of forums lately and decided I just HAD to have one, a Feinwerkbau History No. 1. .36 caliber underhammer target pistol. Now I'm looking (everywhere I can) for some load data, short of a custom mould, I cannot find any source for the recommended .362 balls, I have seen some posted loads using .358 balls, so I've ordered a box of those as a starting point.

My History No. 1

 

gee, that's a nice modern looking gun. :shocked2:

 

[Steve Rosen]

Modern in what way?

This pistol is pretty much an exact reproduction of a William Billinghurst pre-Civil War target pistol.

 

I just meant it "looks" modern, not that it isn't authentic.

Here's another example.
http://s124.photobucket.com/user/StaceyC123/media/billinghurst.jpg.html

 

[Billnpatti]

SA-WEET! You are going to love that pistol. I don't know why a .350 ball with a .015 patch wouldn't work just fine. I wouldn't shoot unpatched oversize balls nor bullets in it because of the certainty of lead fouling in your bore. That is one sweet gun with a very fast ignition. If it were mine, I'd treat it like a fine musical instrument. If you are a pistol shooter, that little beauty will make you fall in love with it. :thumbsup: Ya done good!

 

[Steve Rosen]

The instruction manual has a pretty specific load recommendation, but unfortunately, the components specified are metric so you end up with the 9,2 mm ball / 0,3 mm patch "translating" to 0.362" / 0.012" respectively. I have found posts where people have mentioned using a 0.358" ball with a 0.015" patch and getting good results, as well as using a 0.360" ball, also with a 0.015" patch.

I have not yet had a chance to live-fire the gun, but have obtained some 0.358" balls and 0.015 patches to start with. It seems to me that a 0.350 ball (even with a 0.018 patch) would be a bit on the small side.

So far a the gun itself goes, I did do a bit of dry firing (using the supplied "piston protector") and the trigger is simply unreal - the only thing that I have ever shot that compares to it was a Pardini free pistol owned by a guy that I shot NRA 50' .22 bullseye with way back when.

 

[Tinker2]

Just a thought but I have a gun that is a 9.3 mm that the actual land to land
mikes out 8.8 mm





William Alexander

 

[CKeshen]

The .362 balls recommended by the manufacturer cannot be found at any known source to me in this country. I have even seen threads on European forums with people looking for them.

So...I took a guess (after consulting some of the folks here) and ordered some .358 balls from TOW along with .015 Wonder Patches. That combo with 12 grains of Swiss 3F work like magic in my gun.

 

[CKeshen]

I also use 15 grns. of Cream of Wheat over the powder and load with a drop tube - sorry I forgot to mention that.

 

[Steve Rosen]

Took it out last night just to fire a few shots - the vast majority of my pistol shooting for the past 15+ years has been modern "IPSC-style" stuff, and it was obvious that my precision bulls-eye skills have seriously deteriorated... Only fired five shots - but every one of them seemed to go exactly where the gun was pointed, I was able to "call" each of the shots - I am convinced that this gun is capable of incredible accuracy, all that's going to be needed to achieve it is my relearning how to shoot a pistol one-handed

Last night's loads were 0.358" balls with 0.015 Wonderlube patches, over 11 gr. of Goex 4Fg. This ball/patch combo seemed to load pretty easily, and didn't feel excessively loose. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to get back to the range and shoot a few groups from sandbags to fine-tune the sights at 25 yards and be able to actually measure some group sizes.

 

[dd832]

Steve,
Here's a blog where a Dedinski .36 underhammer is used in competition in Europe. There is load info that can be used as a comparison to your UH. The Feinwerkbau & the Dedinski are very similar: http://brokensights.blogspot.com/2011/12/billinghurst-mlaic-training-sessions.html http://brokensights.blogspot.com/2012/04/scores-95-with-my-billinghurst.html http://brokensights.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html

Mike

 

[Steve Rosen]

Thanks, some very interesting stuff there.

The significant difference between the Feinwekbau History No. 1 and a Dedinski Billinghurst (other than the price :shocked2 is the actual bore size; Dedinski uses a "standard" .36 caliber bore of .360", whereas Feinwerkbau (for whatever reason) chose to make the bore .373" (9.2 mm).

I plan to experiment a bit more with a few different patch thicknesses and the .358" balls, and will likely get some .360" balls the next time I order something from TOW.

If I could find another 29 History No. 1 owners that want to cast .362" balls - we could do a group buy for custom molds from Lee and not have to pay a tooling charge.

 

[dd832]

Steve,
You could look into Jeff Tanner moulds, nice brass mould that uses Lee handles. Goes with the quality of your Feinwerkbau:
http://www.jt-bullet-moulds.co.uk/moulds.html

Look at the FAQ page for more info.

BTW, I have a Baumkircher .36 UH, but haven't popped a single round yet since winning it in a auction.

Good luck, Mike

 

[John May]

I can vouch for the accuracy of Jeff Tanner moulds, they are superb, only down-side is the lack of a sprue cutting plate but a pair of slightly curved flush cutting side cutters does the job perfectly (less than $10 from e*ay). I use the custom mould for my Carlton Under-hammer copy and they shoot sweet.

 

[mooman76]

I just took a pair of side cutters and ground the face flat to remove the bevel. I don't need it much though because I use mostly Lee moulds.

 

[Steve Rosen]

Seems that almost everywhere I've looked for these odd-sized .362" balls, Jeff Tanner's name comes up... Given that I've already got an old Lee Production Pot, all sorts of mold handles, and a whole pile of unused lead flashing (all inherited from my late father), I went and ordered a mold from Jeff, along with a bunch of 0.012 patches. Now the pressure is really going to be on me to hold steady on the target

 

[Mike M.]

BTW, I have a Baumkircher .36 UH, but haven't popped a single round yet since winning it in a auction.

You're in for a treat. Andy's triggers are unbelievable. Try a .350 ball with a .010 patch, in front of 10-12 grains of Swiss 4F (#1) powder.

 

[jimhallam]

The PROBLEM with the "History No.1" is that it is made to get round the rules for International (MLAIC) matches -- - sorry I meant "to not break any of the Rules" ;-)
Has anyone ever seen an original underhammer of that size? I mean a real PISTOL, not a "Pocket Rifle" .
I understand that it is likely to be banned soon, so as long as you don't want to try to get in the US M-L Team you ought ot be able to buy them more cheaply soon ;-)

 

[jimhallam]

Sad to report that Jeff passed away recently -- a REAL loss to our community.

 

[caspar25]

The PROBLEM with the "History No.1" is that it is made to get round the rules for International (MLAIC) matches -- - sorry I meant "to not break any of the Rules" ;-)
Has anyone ever seen an original underhammer of that size? I mean a real PISTOL, not a "Pocket Rifle" .
I understand that it is likely to be banned soon, so as long as you don't want to try to get in the US M-L Team you ought ot be able to buy them more cheaply soon ;-)

I'm always surprised by such preconceived ideas.
Like this one:
History No.1. of Feinwerkbau-
Not in accordance with MLAIC ???
Or disappears from the market because not good.
Here's what happened:
Feinwerkbau has probably stopped production and distribution by 2019.
And prices have been rising ever since.
In Germany there is a big portal "egun" where you can watch the price development very well.
In 2018 you could buy the History Nr.1 with luck for 700-800 € from the dealers.
On egun the prices are now between 1550 and 1200 €.
Why the production was stopped is not to be explored.
Various telephone calls always led to the same result: "What - we have stopped the production?
Manager-not to reach.
Nevertheless a very good weapon.

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