Alex Henry

[snapper]

Several years ago I purchased the last complete rifle kit from Don Browns widow.

Dave Kanger aka TOF put the rifle together for me in the white.  I am more of the general contractor for the build.  I did not do the engraving, checkering or color case.  I did do the final finish on all parts, rust bluing etc.

The sights will be mounted this weekend.  With a little luck, the rifle will be a shooter.

Looks like from the picture that I did not do a good job of wiping off the cooper anti seize grease very well after I installed the breach plug.

Fleener

[smylee grouch]

I like your gun a lot. Is it a bullet gun or roundball gun?

[snapper]

.45 cal bullet gun.

Will see if it likes 86 grains of 2f swiss and a 540 grain grease groove bullet.

Fleener

[FDR]

Now that is a rifle!

[Gunnermike]

That is a nice build Snapper and a great tribute to Don Brown.  Can you give us the specs on the barrel like breech & muzzle dimensions, length, caliber and twist?  I'd like to attempt one before, well you know time runs out.  Thanks.

Just found a James Julia Auction from this March with a Don Brown Alex Henry sporter with 2 barrels -  http://jamesdjulia.com/item/2393-391/

Mike

[Mike Brooks]

Very nice. All of it exceptionally well executed. Who did the engraving and case?

I've always wanted one of those bullet guns.....just another game I don't need to get into....

[Bob Roller]

Mighty fine looking long range rifle and one of my all time favorite muzzle loaders.
Did you cut the "Ears"off the tang to mount a sight?
Keep us posted on performance.

Bob Roller

[snapper]

The barrel is a badger with a 1 in 18 twist.  It is 35.25" long, 7/8 at muzzle, 1 1/8 at breach.   The sight radius from front to rear is right at 36", that makes the MOA changes on the rear staff and actual changes down range the same.  The front sight is a distant thunder, the rear a Montana Vintage arms.  Lock is a Roller.  The wood is from Iowa.  Engraving is Tim Halloran just down the road from Mike Brooks in Blue Grass Iowa.  Tim does a very quick turnaround time with just a few weeks, and I think his prices are great.  This is the third engraving job I have had him do.  The color case is from the guys in Crete IL at Classic Guns.  They to do a very quick turn around with about 2 weeks.

My orginal Rigby long range ML has a Griffin on the top of the breach plug, I think it is really cool, so I had one engraved on this rifle. When I got the Rigby I  had to looked up what is the significance of a Griffin and as a protector of priceless treasures I thought that was really a cool feature.   The griffin, is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and an eagle's talons as its front feet. Because the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. The griffin was also thought of as king of all creatures. Griffins are known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions.


I need to clean it up a bit, install sights, adjust a couple of screws (notice they are all regulated), trigger is around 6.5 lbs, that needs to be lightened up to around 2.5 - 3 lbs.

[snapper]

Bob

I never saw the parts until Dave got done with putting the gun together in the white.  When I bought the parts several years ago, I had them all shipped to Dave.  So, I am not sure.

I used the Montana Vintage Arms base for the rear sights , the base is for a Steven 44 1/2 and is installed backwards.  The base takes just a little fitting to get it to the right curve. 

This is my second Don Brown rifle.

Fleener

[snapper]

I had hoped to have the fitted case done before the rifle was completed, but I have some work to do on it.  Including adding the felt.  I have a replica Alex Henry label for the case as well.

Fleener

[tallbear]

Very nice Art,usually not a big percussion guy but this one is pretty sweet!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mitcg

[bama]

Very nice rifle and a cool project. Very well done I might add. I have had the pleasure of meeting Tim Halloran, he is a very nice fellow and a very good engraver. Post the completed project when you get her done.

[T*O*F]

Did you cut the "Ears"off the tang to mount a sight?

I cut the ears off and weld the holes up on all the Henrys I have built, otherwise custom sights would have to be made for them.  I suppose that Rod England has castings for them now, but there were none when I built the rifle.  Also, having separate bases allow Art to use the same set of sights on different rifles by just swapping the staff.

[Mike Brooks]

I had no idea that anybody with that kind of talent lived in Iowa, let alone with in 20 miles of me.

[Bob Roller]

Did you cut the "Ears"off the tang to mount a sight?

I cut the ears off and weld the holes up on all the Henrys I have built, otherwise custom sights would have to be made for them.  I suppose that Rod England has castings for them now, but there were none when I built the rifle.  Also, having separate bases allow Art to use the same set of sights on different rifles by just swapping the staff.

When I first saw the Muzzle Blasts article on Don Brown's Henry copy it stated
he was getting high quality sights from Mike Neumann in South Africa.
When I made my Henry misrepresentation I did make a custom sight to fit the
"ears" on the tang. They aren't hard to make IF a milling machine is available.
I made several over the years out of 9/16'square 12L14.It machines easily and
doesn't curl up like 1018 when released from a vise.
My rifle was the straight grip version because I am a poor stock maker and I do
like the trigger guard that makes a sorta/kinda pistol grip if checkered.
The front sight was cobbled together by me from a low base Lyman 17A on a special
windage adjustable base with a spirit level to make it complete.
Keep up your good work on these rifles as they are a break from the ordinary rifles
usually associated with muzzle loading.

Bob Roller

[PPatch]

That is one handsome rifle! TOF, beautiful work sir. It will be interesting to hear how she shoots.

dave

[T*O*F]

It will be interesting to hear how she shoots.

Its predecessor broke several national records so there is no reason to believe that this one won't do the same thing.  Other than cosmetic differences, they are identical.  Surely you don't think Art is responsible for that.   

[snapper]

Got the sights installed this morning.  If you notice the front sight is canted, the front of the tube is a little lower than the rear.  The reason is that as you go up with your tang sight, it changes the angle that you look through the front sight tube.  I use the mid range cant front sight, he makes one for long range and it has a steeper angle.   Distant Thunder is the only company that I know that does this.  Jim is a friend of mine and this is the 3rd front sight that he has custom made for me with a tall base.  Due to the height of the rear sight, I need a tall front to get me down to shoot 100 yards.

IMO you must make sure your staff is square.  So with a square and level I went to work and  I ended up adding a small piece of brass under the base on one side, then lock-tit the screws in.

fleener

[snapper]

I plan on putting this rifle through its paces this year and I am planning on making this my go to rifle for at least this year.

I spent the past 1.5 years working up the Rigby and getting it to where it needed to be.  It currently is with with Jim Westburg in MN for some TLC work.  Now that I know what it can do, I think I will save the Rigby for special occasions.

With the fit that Dave does, a Roller lock and a Badger barrel, all I have to do is pull the trigger, the rifle does the rest.

Fleener

[FALout]

Should shoot well, Badger makes very good fast twist barrels.  I have one on a modern rifle that is very accurate.  Biggest problem is the wait, since they do large orders for big companies and government, someone ordering just one barrel will have to wait.  They even hand lap the barrels when requested.

Very nice long range rifle there, not your everyday muzzleloader.

[tim crowe]

Snapper , nice looking rig. I need to get going on mine, but have a few projects before I get to it.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I love this kind of rifle, and this one is a beauty...wonderful work Dave! 

Snapper:  ever consider paper jacketed bullets?

[snapper]

I assume you mean paper patched bullets?

A couple of years ago I bought a PP mold and tried the bullet on the right in my first Don Brown Alex Henry.  I have for several years shot the grease groove bullet in the middle.  The GG bullet does very well in that rifle.  I have won several match with it and set 3 national records.  I can get a 1" group with it at 100 yards.

I wanted to try the PP to see if I could get the rifle shooting even better.  Shot it a couple of years ago at Oak Ridge TN and it worked OK, but at 1,000 yards I could not keep it on the paper, during the match I switched back to my GG and finished I think in 3rd place.

Last year shooting my Rigby I got it shooting 1.25" groups at 100 yards with the PP bullet.  With the paper patch bullet last year in the World long range match I won 2 bronze medals and 2 golds, including setting a new world record at 900 yard, I shot a 67 3-V out of 75.  The old record was I think 62 or 63.

A couple of weeks ago at Oak Ridge I won the 1,000 yard match with the PP, and placed 2nd overal.

I will certainly give the PP a try with this rifle and will see what shoots the best.

Fleener

[Bob Roller]

I assume you mean paper patched bullets?

A couple of years ago I bought a PP mold and tried the bullet on the right in my first Don Brown Alex Henry.  I have for several years shot the grease groove bullet in the middle.  The GG bullet does very well in that rifle.  I have won several match with it and set 3 national records.  I can get a 1" group with it at 100 yards.

I wanted to try the PP to see if I could get the rifle shooting even better.  Shot it a couple of years ago at Oak Ridge TN and it worked OK, but at 1,000 yards I could not keep it on the paper, during the match I switched back to my GG and finished I think in 3rd place.

Last year shooting my Rigby I got it shooting 1.25" groups at 100 yards with the PP bullet.  With the paper patch bullet last year in the World long range match I won 2 bronze medals and 2 golds, including setting a new world record at 900 yard, I shot a 67 3-V out of 75.  The old record was I think 62 or 63.

A couple of weeks ago at Oak Ridge I won the 1,000 yard match with the PP, and placed 2nd overal.

I will certainly give the PP a try with this rifle and will see what shoots the best.

Fleener

In October of 1962 I bought a fine semi military Whitworth with an Alex Henry 451 barrel. I used that rifle for 11 years after working up different loads for it based on DuPont 3fg.I  tried the paper patched bullets with only ho-hum results. I settled on the old Lyman 451112 flat point grease groove bullet and 75 grains of 3fg and ot made a real match rifle out of it. I had no opportunity to use it at 1000 yards but on distant targets like a discolored area on the face of a cliff said to be about 900 yards or a bit more I got good results.
That bullet number is long out of production but Lyman has a number 451114 of 450 grains available. The other was 485 grains and was supposedly made for the 44 Remington Special,a rolling block also called the 44-105.
Your 1"  group at 100 yards is consistent with my tests from over 50 years ago and you have found what makes the rifle work and work as it was made to.

Bob Roller

[Mike Brooks]

I assume you mean paper patched bullets?

A couple of years ago I bought a PP mold and tried the bullet on the right in my first Don Brown Alex Henry.  I have for several years shot the grease groove bullet in the middle.  The GG bullet does very well in that rifle.  I have won several match with it and set 3 national records.  I can get a 1" group with it at 100 yards.

I wanted to try the PP to see if I could get the rifle shooting even better.  Shot it a couple of years ago at Oak Ridge TN and it worked OK, but at 1,000 yards I could not keep it on the paper, during the match I switched back to my GG and finished I think in 3rd place.

Last year shooting my Rigby I got it shooting 1.25" groups at 100 yards with the PP bullet.  With the paper patch bullet last year in the World long range match I won 2 bronze medals and 2 golds, including setting a new world record at 900 yard, I shot a 67 3-V out of 75.  The old record was I think 62 or 63.

A couple of weeks ago at Oak Ridge I won the 1,000 yard match with the PP, and placed 2nd overal.

I will certainly give the PP a try with this rifle and will see what shoots the best.

Fleener

Nice. How much powder? You're spankin' my BPS sharps and Rolling block with that thing.