Jaeger "From Scratch"

[ligonierbill]

I was asking about Chambers' jaeger lock on the Flintlocks Forum, and folks kindly filled me in. Looking at Rice Barrels website, I see they have a TOTW 31" barrel and a 32" Chambers barrel. I guess Chambers must be offering a jaeger parts set that is not on their website, but I am thinking of buying "lock, stock blank, and barrel", and doing my own, including cutting the barrel channel and drilling the ramrod hole. I've done some Chambers kits, and put together a Golden Age flintlock from a blank with the channel and ramrod precut. So, next step in my education. What am I in for? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[hawkenhunter50]

I'd say you are in for a good time. Going this route will give you lots of freedoms. You'll be able to build about anything you want. You can add cast off/on to the stock, have a stock with an exact LOP that fits you. You'll have control over each step and wont have to work backwards or work around issues that aren't right with precarve locations of parts. Inletting barrels and drilling RR holes isn't hard but takes time and good planning and layout. And it sure is a good way to pass the long winter months. Good luck.

 

[billraby]

Barrel channel and ramrod hole are easy. Get a good drill bit.

 

[Rob M.]

I was asking about Chambers' jaeger lock on the Flintlocks Forum, and folks kindly filled me in. Looking at Rice Barrels website, I see they have a TOTW 31" barrel and a 32" Chambers barrel. I guess Chambers must be offering a jaeger parts set that is not on their website, but I am thinking of buying "lock, stock blank, and barrel", and doing my own, including cutting the barrel channel and drilling the ramrod hole. I've done some Chambers kits, and put together a Golden Age flintlock from a blank with the channel and ramrod precut. So, next step in my education. What am I in for? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Just dont get it a hurry . One step at a time . I love Hershel Houses building a Kentucky Rifle VDO of 1991 . Its great . Helped me tremendously on my first dozen builds . Once you get you blank cut to your pattern , and your barrel channel bandsawed to half depth , time to start the longest most drawn out part of the build . Mark your center at breech and at muzzle ...keep that barrel centered during the whole bedding process ...mark top and bottom of your barrel and unbreech it ..time to start her down ! At the breech , at center line , mark width of your barrel . Start squaring that barrel into the breech wood .Once thats done and its centered you can trace the barrel edges , always stay inside these lines esp. at the beginning . As the barrel starts down keep retracing the barrel , as the barrel goes down those lines get more accurate and you can get closer to them but never past ... Best of luck !

 

[rchas]

Read, Read, READ! Get a copy of Recreating the American Longrifle by Buchele and Shumway; or The Gunsmith of Grenville County by Peter Alexander (or both....) and read them cover to cover. They will outline all the steps in a build. Shumway's book on Jaeger Rifles is also helpful. Once you have parts it is well worth the time spent to draw a full size plan on butcher paper. Another alternative is to purchase Track's full size plan. Pictures are great, but having worked out accurate dimensions on paper before you start cutting wood will save a lot of later pain.

 

[ligonierbill]

Thanks. My Buchele and Shumway is worn and dogeared. I have ordered Shumway's collection on Jaegers. This may be a very long project!

 

[Wncman]

I was asking about Chambers' jaeger lock on the Flintlocks Forum, and folks kindly filled me in. Looking at Rice Barrels website, I see they have a TOTW 31" barrel and a 32" Chambers barrel. I guess Chambers must be offering a jaeger parts set that is not on their website, but I am thinking of buying "lock, stock blank, and barrel", and doing my own, including cutting the barrel channel and drilling the ramrod hole. I've done some Chambers kits, and put together a Golden Age flintlock from a blank with the channel and ramrod precut. So, next step in my education. What am I in for? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I too am thinking of a jaeger in .62 cal.
TOW has a “full size” plan/photo type affair for the jaeger.

 

[ligonierbill]

I ordered the TOW drawing to get the "correct" dimensions. Just thinking...did the German smiths who came to America make any Jaegers? Or are the "transition" rifles (e.g. Edward Marshall) the earliest? Would a Jaeger in America likely have come from the Old World (it wasn't actually Germany until 1872)?

 

[Wncman]

I ordered the TOW drawing to get the "correct" dimensions. Just thinking...did the German smiths who came to America make any Jaegers? Or are the "transition" rifles (e.g. Edward Marshall) the earliest? Would a Jaeger in America likely have come from the Old World (it wasn't actually Germany until 1872)?

Point taken about the Germany part. I think it’s a time saver for most. The Swiss/Austrian/ Hessian peoples made and used the pattern. I’m sure they started with the basic pattern and begin to vary them as they moved forward. (IMO).

 

[ligonierbill]

I received the TOW plan today, and Shumway's book is in transit. I'll lay out the full scale plan and do a comparison with my Marshall. My other inspiration, or fantasy, is going to be the firearms display at the Veste Coburg. My paternal grandad came from Coburg, and we still have family there (and they're hunters!). It's in the northern end of Bavaria just a few kilometers from Thuringia, but until WWI, it was the Duchy of Goethe-Saxe-Coburg. The Veste is a fortress above the town that saw action in the 30 Years' War, now a museum. They have a great display of old guns, including matchlocks and at least one Winchester. I think my fantasy will be a rifle for the Duke's gamekeeper, a nice but not grand piece worthy of a working man, but not a Duke. I'm not good enough to craft a piece of art like I've seen in the museum. I don't need an excuse to visit, but I'll add this to my plans. Hey, another 6 months or so, and my bench will be empty.

 

[ligonierbill]

I laid my Marshall on the TOW Jaeger plan, and other than length, the stock is a very close match. Shumway's collection of Muzzle Blasts articles is great, and I think I found my model on page 116. Published in the July 1991 Muzzle Blasts, it's a rifle made by Johann Wagner at Kronach in 1722. Kronach is about 30 km east of Coburg, and I imagine that the Duke could have ordered a gun from that family. In profile, it looks a bit like the Edward Marshall, but the dimensions are somewhat different. This rifle has a buttstock that is a little taller and wider, with LOP only 12". I notice many of the rifles described by Shumway have a LOP shorter than we are used to. Walnut and iron mounted. Barrel is 58 caliber, same as mine, but it is about 3/8" wider at the breach. And shorter, of course, 31 3/16". Rice sells a very similar dimensioned barrel. The lock looks similar to the Chambers Early Germanic, but is slightly longer, and the pan has a distinct forward tilt. The trigger guard looks the same at first, but it extends further from the bottom of the stock (more bow).

I won't attempt to duplicate this rifle, if for no other reason than I've not apprenticed to a master since I was 12, as I'm sure Johann did. But I can have some fun with it. Rice has my barrel, Chambers has my lock, and I think I can find furniture if I scour the vendors. American walnut is easy to find, but I'll be looking for something with a tighter grain. Could use some advice here! I'm an OK woodcarver, so long as I keep it simple. But one skill I need to develop is engraving. Got some tools and futzed with scrap brass, but I have a long way to go. It's about the journey.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

I ordered the TOW drawing to get the "correct" dimensions. Just thinking...did the German smiths who came to America make any Jaegers? Or are the "transition" rifles (e.g. Edward Marshall) the earliest? Would a Jaeger in America likely have come from the Old World (it wasn't actually Germany until 1872)?

I don't believe that a German trained gunsmith or gun stocker came to the colonies in the early 1700's jumped off the boat and said I'm going to start making long rifles. I think they would have continued to make what they had been taught to make. The switch to the long rifle is something that happened gradually over a period of time. If you look in Rifles of Colonial America you will see many that have barrels getting longer but still have the stocks that show the Jaeger heritage. I don't think you can make something today that wasn't already made back then.

 

[Tommy Bruce]

There is a guy who posts European walnut on the american longrifles site from time to time. It's not cheap. But it sounds like you are using quality parts. Jaegers were something that had to grow on me but man I sure like them now. Hopefully you will post pics of your progress. This sounds like a really neat project!