Ohio Vincent Rifle -- Looking for any background information

[Rob McConnell]

I bought this Vincent 40 caliber rifle a short while ago.   The person selling it said at the time it was built for Roland Penner and his wife (maybe out of Illinois??) around 1985.  They commissioned Ron England of Ohio to build it but apparently the bulk of the work and the finishing was done by Ron Ehlert.   A quick google search found nothing on Ron England but I did get some hits on Ron Ehlert.   Thought I would ask the forum for info before trying to do a more exhaustive search.   It is a beautiful rifle built from a Getz barrel.   Lots of custom engraving, which I assume is why all the hardware was left in the white.   Shoots nice although I have not worked up a perfect load for it yet.  Beautiful rifle.  If anyone has information on either of the builders or  the previous owners it would be appreciated.

[Uncle Miltie]

Rod England hailed from Loudonville, OH: same place as Peter Reinhard, an old-time maker of rifles.  Rod began making Vincent rifles in Ohio, and is as fine a maker of the Vincent rifles as you will ever see.  My opinion is that he made nicer rifles than the Vincents did.

Rod originally designed the Vincent rifle kit that is currently sold today.  He designed the kit for Golden Age Arms in Delaware (later Ashley) OH where they sold many of them.  Rod built his rifles from planks though, and incorporated many details into his rifles that others were not able to with the kits.  Rod now builds fine English long-range rifles.

Ron Ehlert was a very fine gun maker from Duck River TN.  He passed away a number of years ago.  I find it odd that someone from IL would have Rod build a rifle and then have Ron finish it.  But, maybe Rod was not able to finish the rifle.  Or, Ron was hired to build a rifle from one of the Golden-Age kits.  Rod always signed his rifles "R. England."  If the barrel is signed, you can be certain he built it.  If not, then maybe Ron had a hand in it as well. 

Rifles by either maker are of very high quality and bring good money when they are offered for sale.  I have a .40 Vincent made by Rod England for Dick Bingham, who was the rifle builder at Golden Age.  It is one of my favorite rifles, and I wouldn't part with it for any reasonable amount of money. 

You have a very fine rifle there.  Enjoy it!

[Rob McConnell]

Thanks for the info.   It really is a beautiful rifle.   I feel I got a great price on it too.   There are no builder signatures on it that I have found.   Surprising that there is not something somewhere.

[borderdogs]

Rob,
Its a very nice rifle the engraving is impeccably done. I was interested to know if you have shot it yet also I noticed the barrel sight is a peep sight do you have a better picture of it?
Thanks and good luck,
Rob

[Rob McConnell]

The original sights on it were ridiculously fine.   I am not sure anyone did any serious shooting with this rifle, but I certainly could not use the original sights.   I am 65 and my eyesight is on the whole still very good other than needing reading glasses.  But that is enough to make the sight picture very hard to resolve, especially the sights so the original sights were just a blur to me.   So I decided to experiment with peep sights and switched the sights on this rifle over to a Skinner peep sight.  (http://www.skinnersights.com/barrel_mount_6.html) This barrel sight was nice as it fit right into the existing dovetail with very little modification.   The peep sights helped quite a bit and I actually added a Skinner Lo-Pro peep sight to the tang of my flintlock and use a three sight kind of arrangement.   The peep sight forces the light to come into your eye in a parallel sort of way to the barrel so that there is less blurring and you can keep all three elements (rear sight, front sight and target) in better alignment.   Not saying it is perfect but I think it helped me.  I have included a couple of pictures, but the Skinner web sight has better.  I am more of a shooter than a collector, so although I love the traditional guns and designs I am not above making modifications to make them better shooters if those mods can easily be reversed.

As for shooting the gun, I have put maybe 200 rounds through it.   Ironically I retired shortly after purchasing it and have been too busy to go shooting for the last couple of summers.  I struggled a bit with getting the right load worked up.   Seemed to burn up a lot of patches if I remember correctly.  Be deadly accurate for a few shots, then seemed to be random.   Possible the rifling is still sharp and new and cuting the patch.  I am sure with a bit more time I can work that out.  The lock and set trigger are superb on the gun.  It is a bit front end heavy.  Likely would have better balance if it was a larger caliber.  But I can get used to it.   I also found it a bit uncomfortable to shoot compared to my flintlock.   I am a big guy and the small, tightly curved butt was not comfortable for me.  Since then I have read that the old timers used to shoot with the rifle parallel across their chest and the buttplate seated on the bicept rather than the shoulder.   I have dry shot this a few times and it definitely feels more comfortable so I am looking forward to getting back out and trying it this summer.  All in all I really like the rifle.   As you noted the engraving is amazing, as is the workmanship,materials are top knotch.   It is a real looker.   The other stuff is just incidental to getting to know a new rifle. 

[Daryl]

Rob- I know how you feel about sharp points on hooked butt plates. That one, especially, but being a mild kicking .40, not as bad as a .54 or .58.
Hooked in the arm/shoulder joint might work, rather than the bicep, unless the stock length allows that out on the arm hold.
About those patches.  since you've fired approximately 200shots through it, the feather or sharp edge of the rifling will be long gone, from shooting and cleaning.
I suggest the crown might need some modicum of "work" to smooth the machine-cut corners. This will allow using a thicker patch that will eliminate burning and cutting
in one fell swoop.
The end of your thumb, twisted in the muzzle with wet/dry paper or emery cloth in 320 grit, will smooth the edges. What this does it allow the ball and patch to
form/conform into the bore at the muzzle. Once inside, they are easily pushed down the bore.  Small calibres like the .45 and smaller, are easiest loading with tight combinations.
The smaller the bore, the easier.
A wet patch helps immensely - wet, not damp or dry and having to wipe of losing accuracy is gone. You will be able to shoot all day without having to wipe the bore.
The bore will get wiped as you load the next patched ball.
best wishes
That is a beautiful rifle, btw.
Daryl