Jaeger in the planning stage.

[Long Ears]

I'm in the beginning stages of collecting parts to build my first Jaeger. I'm looking for the brass furniture. Does Reeves have any Jaeger furniture? Sure wish he had a catalog for us out west builders. I have a 32", 64 cal. Swamped barrel from Burton. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Bob

[Mike Brooks]

Reeves does have jeager parts. One thing I would do is study up on Germanic rifles and make up something proper instead of a generic short gun we refer to as a "jeager".

[rich pierce]

Reeves does have jeager parts. One thing I would do is study up on Germanic rifles and make up something proper instead of a generic short gun we refer to as a "jeager".

Have to agree.  A generic jaeger makes a great hunting gun but there are so many exciting originals to use for the basis of an outstanding build.  And there are early colonial stocked short barreled rifles such as the tulip rifle which are stocked in American woods that could provide inspiration.  Even the Marshall rifle could be considered a long barreled American jaeger as it retains a close affinity with European guns of the same period.

One picture of the carving on the tulip rifle.

[bama]

Check with Ron Scot, he has Jaeger furniture and a nice selection of English Walnut. I got my stuff from Ron for this Jaeger. Check out his web site.

[Mike Brooks]

The tulip rifle is one of my all time favorites. Seems like somebody posted a Brandenburg gun they had built recently that was really nice. Lots of options to consider.

[RAT]

Not to hijack the thread but... I have a theory about the tulip rifle. Shumway illustrates another rifle in Rifles of Colonial America with a simple scroll on the cheekpiece near the heel of the buttplate. If you trace both that rifle and the tulip rifle carvings the scrolls are essentially identical in size and position. I believe these 2 guns might have been made by the same person. I don't have my copy of the book with me or I'd give you the rifle number and page numbers. The other rifle appears more European and less American.

[rich pierce]

Rat, show me!  You don't mean RCA #19 do you? 

[t.caster]

I posted the steel mounted Brandenburg Jaeger a couple months ago. The English walnut was from Ron Scott, and I believe he has a good selection of furniture as well. I got some of the parts from TOTW.
That tulip rifle looks like another one I have to put on my list to build...it is a beautiful design & shape.

[rich pierce]

The Tulip rifle is remarkably slender and light and well balanced. It has no extra fat on it anywhere. Less robust than the Marshall rifle or RCA 19. I have more pix and Shunway's article in it if anybody wants them.

[John Archer]

Rich,
Email sent.
John.

[rich pierce]

Email is richpierceetl at gmail dot com.

[mark esterly]

I think rca #7 is the one rat is referring to

[rich pierce]

Good eyes!

[RAT]

Yes... rifle no.7 in vol I pgs 38-41. I had to look it up after I got home yesterday. Here are some specifics...

Shumway placed it in chapter 1 with rifles of Germanic origin. It has a 39 7/8" smoothbore barrel. It has a Germanic looking trigger guard with double spur. The side plate is more akin to German rifles and not American made rifles. The stock is walnut. It would appear that it was shortened during it's working life. The trigger pull is 12 1/4", the carving doesn't fit the space behind the cheek piece and some may have been lost, and the buttplate looks like a lesser quality swaged sheet replacement.

The cheek piece is where the likeness comes. It has a curved lower line, like the tulip rifle, and the relief line coming off the cheek piece is remarkably similar. This line doesn't flow into the scroll, like on the tulip rifle, but the scroll is part of a different element.

This is the kind of stuff I like to see because it gives modern makers a place to start, but allows them to use their own designs. Think of it like a math formula. You can stay within the formula (the overall artistic design) but change a number (specific design element) here and their to make a unique statement.

As I was looking through my books last night I came up with another one...
In the Jaeger book sold by Jim Chambers on pgs 233-239 their are a pair of jaegers made by Ferdinand Eckart in Bamberg Bavaria. The brass mountings are similar to a rifle in the ALR library.

The printed copy I have of the ALR library rifle is a little fuzzy, but it looks like the signature is Zully or Ziily. This rifle has a wooden trigger guard. and walnut stock. The carving on this rifle is remarkably similar to a rifle in a Muzzle Blasts article from May 2004.

The rifle on pgs 61-63 of the May 2004 issue of Muzzle Blasts is in the collection of the Washington Crossing State Park in New Jersey. The owner believes the rifle was made by A. Angstadt in Berks co. PA. Given the similarity to the rifle on this site, I don't believe this attribution is correct.

This gives us 3 related rifles... a jaeger made in Bavaria Germany... the ALR library rifle that is related by German gunmaking school which was probably made in Germany... and a rifle that may have been made, or at least used,  in America.

[SteveMKentucky]

...

As I was looking through my books last night I came up with another one...
In the Jaeger book sold by Jim Chambers on pgs 233-239 their are a pair of jaegers made by Ferdinand Eckart in Bamberg Bavaria. The brass mountings are similar to a rifle in the ALR library.

...

The book you cite is one of the highest quality books I've ever owned (for any type of rifle).  Jim Chambers was out of them at the last CLA show so I looked the book up on Amazon and found one brand new in the wrapper for $91.00.  I did buy Jim's English translation book to go with it (you will likely need it).   I just checked and don't see the listing any longer on Amazon.  The book is entitled "Steinschloss-Jaegerbuchsen: Kunstwerke der Buchsenmacher aus der 18 Jarhrhundert (Flintlock-Jaeger Rifles: Artwork of the riflemakers of the 18th Century - my translation so may not be exact).  It is listed on this site though:

http://www.germanguns.com/books/B086.html



I'm planning the start for a Jaeger this winter too.  I have almost everything that I need (unless I find something interesting and better).

[Bill Paton]

Eric Bye, author of “Flintlocks”, did the accompanying English translation, and it is a must for those of us who don’t read German. This is not just a great picture book. It has lots of interesting info as well.  Bill Paton

[Chris Treichel]

A great place to see jaeger rifles is on the German auction house site hermann-historice.de. Click on the English flag to turn it to English and then search through the closed auctions. Great zoom in pictures of most details and measurements are included as well.