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Double Rifles, Single Shots & Combinations >> Paradox and Bore Guns

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Heelerau
.300 member


Reged: 31/01/17
Posts: 101
Loc: Australia
Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle
      #294662 - 02/02/17 02:56 PM

Gentlemen, I was given this rifle by a mate for my last birthday. It was acquired from a local collector who is selling off a lot of his stuff. The bore has cleaned up quite well, still the odd small patch of rust. I am hoping to condition the bore using leather patches, have to anyway as I only have a .697 diameter ball mould to hand at the moment. I put 5 shots through it yesterday using 3 drams of FFg, shot it off the back veranda into a gum tree about 25 paces away. grouped well enough inspite of a heavy but crisp trigger (offhand). Recoil pleasant, suspect I may go to a max load of 4 1/2 drams in time. The rifle has been well used and has had some rough work done on the sights, looks like a replacement front sight, leaving the original dovetail open. I have since filled it with a piece of copper. Rear sight only 1 folding leave and no standing rear sight at all, seems a little odd. I have made up a new ram rod and tightened the hammer nicely. The rifle does not have a lot of corrosion from the corrosive caps of the day, and as it has a hooked breech has probable been well cleaned. Looks like Forsyth type rifling and is for ball. Have not seen much information about shooting these rifles, I do expect it to be a rifle for hunting. Small powder charge and large ball for moggys and larger antelope, translate at kangas and deer if I am lucky .
I have been a black powder hunter and target shooter since the early 1970's. If any of you chaps have any information regarding these classic English hunting rifles I will be much obliged. [/URL[URL=http://s1012.photobucket.com/user/heelerau/media/P1020517.jpg.html]

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Keep your horse well shod and your powder dry !


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Sarg
.400 member


Reged: 20/01/07
Posts: 1365
Loc: Nil
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Heelerau]
      #294685 - 03/02/17 06:36 AM

Nice, good pick up, I have one similar just waiting to get it home !

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Heelerau
.300 member


Reged: 31/01/17
Posts: 101
Loc: Australia
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Sarg]
      #294690 - 03/02/17 09:59 AM

Sarge, look forward to some pictures and a range report. Yesterday I fired off about 6 or 8 rounds off hand at a gum tree in the paddock at about 25 paces. All leather patches survive intact, last shot was a flyer. The mould is .678 diameter so well under size, hence the thick leather patch, using old riggers gloves lubricated with spit. most of the shots within a handspan. the last well away, I have found the mould a little tricky as the ball is large, a lot of shrinkage on cooling occurs and you can get quite a large void which will throw the shot. Not so fussed at this stage as I am just banging shots downrange to slick up the bore and get rid of the remaining small rust spots. I will likely send to Track of the Wolf for a .7185 ball mould and use a linen patch, most likely stay with the 3 drams as boy it does tear up the hard wood trees I have been using. I gather they were often referred to as ounce rifles or deer rifles, Imagine you will have a bunch of fun with yours going after NZ deer.

Cheers

Gordon

Edited by Heelerau (03/02/17 08:53 PM)


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Watson577
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Reged: 05/03/09
Posts: 132
Loc: Fredericksburg, Virginia USA
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Sarg]
      #294691 - 03/02/17 10:28 AM

Heelerau,

Nice rifle! I would sure love to have one like that some day myself. Thank you for sharing those photos with us!

regards,

Jim


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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26414
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Watson577]
      #294703 - 03/02/17 01:42 PM

Hi Gordon - welcome to Nitroexpress.com forum.

For that ball, I would go to Jeff Tanner in the UK for a mould.
I now have a bunch of his moulds, from .595" to .740" and every one is very nice.

A .790" is .016" larger than 10 bore, btw. A true 12 is .729" to .730".

I personally would slug or measure the bore and groove diameter best I could and get a mould about .010" to .015" smaller than the land to land measurement.

http://www.jt-bullet-moulds.co.uk/

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Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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Heelerau
.300 member


Reged: 31/01/17
Posts: 101
Loc: Australia
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: DarylS]
      #294714 - 03/02/17 08:57 PM

I made a mistake in the quote re ball size ! I meant .015 smaller than the stated bore size, I am a bit challenged with measurments. I normally use .015 to .018 thickness patches in my long rifles, ( all my round ball rifles) I just had a look at the UK outfit, looks like a good thing. I will slug the bore and see what it comes out at.
thank
Gordon

--------------------
Keep your horse well shod and your powder dry !

Edited by Heelerau (05/02/17 10:53 AM)


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Heelerau
.300 member


Reged: 31/01/17
Posts: 101
Loc: Australia
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Heelerau]
      #297863 - 26/03/17 11:27 PM

Gents banged a few ill fitting balls down range today. Ball is cast from a simple bag mould, .678 diameter, used 3 drams of Fg Goex black, greased felt wad and leather from old riggers gloves for patching. Interestingly once the rifle started to foul the remaining bullets all fell into the black. Range was 50 m off the bench. Not a very good target, but no real surprise. There are still a few small patches of rust in the bore but they are gradually shooting out.

--------------------
Keep your horse well shod and your powder dry !


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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26414
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Heelerau]
      #297875 - 27/03/17 03:05 AM

If you can find "Scotch Brite" material, a patch of this over a jag, lubed with a fine oil and run up and down the bore a dozen times, will smooth it up considerably.

Once you get the right size balls, I'm sure the shooting will improve. Seems to want to shoot.

I use 15 bore balls (.677") with hard alloys, or .682" pure lead balls in my 14 bore (.69) rifle. It shoots very well indeed.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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Heelerau
.300 member


Reged: 31/01/17
Posts: 101
Loc: Australia
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: DarylS]
      #298178 - 30/03/17 09:38 PM

Daryl, I will give the scotchbrite and oil a go, it does not need much more to finish off the bore. I did not want to remove the breech plug and lap it in case I screwed the plug off ! The biggest issue will be getting hold of a new nipple with a shorter screw section as this rifle has a slightly shallower snail than the military rifles, even though it takes a musket type nipple. I need to find some reverse cone original type nipples so I can modify them, the modern ones have the orifice in the bottom of the nipple instead of the top as in the originals.

Cheers

Gordon

--------------------
Keep your horse well shod and your powder dry !


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Heelerau
.300 member


Reged: 31/01/17
Posts: 101
Loc: Australia
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Heelerau]
      #303144 - 19/07/17 09:18 PM

Gents gave the scotchbright and oil a go and it sure helped. I got a .71 bag mould from Track of the Wolf, and cut a long story short, worked up to 4 drams of Fg goex a heavy denim lubed patch and lo, no shooting to point of aim at 50 m off the bench, 5 inch group.
The bore is really starting to slick up nicely , recoil with the big charge was actually quite pleasant off the bench. I may go to a thicker patch when I can find the material. All the denim patches after being shot shewed no sign of tearing or burning through. I just need to shift the rear sight to the rhs a little and the rifle will be bang on. It is a bit like hurling anvils down range !! I reckon with a little more tinkering the group will still come in smaller. I do not expect target accuracy from this old girl but it should be good enough to hunt with. I prefer to use a slightly smaller ball in my long rifles and thicker patch as I can load without a short starter. I guess it will be a short starter for this rifle. I did wipe the bore after about 6 shots or so before continuing.

--------------------
Keep your horse well shod and your powder dry !


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Ash
.400 member


Reged: 10/05/11
Posts: 1652
Loc: Australia
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Heelerau]
      #317175 - 09/06/18 09:34 AM

Nice rifle, how’s this coming along?

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.


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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26414
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Ash]
      #317177 - 09/06/18 10:08 AM

Yes - Gordon - how is it coming along? - any further testing?

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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Heelerau
.300 member


Reged: 31/01/17
Posts: 101
Loc: Australia
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: DarylS]
      #322892 - 31/12/18 08:22 AM

Gentlemen, did work the load up to 41/2 Drams of Fg but found the first shot was always about 6 to 8 inches low. Tried 4 Drams of FFg and low , first shot poa! . Groups a little tighter and the recoil is a bit livelier !. I am using a thin card over powder followed by a hard greased felt wad, this makes loading with the rifles own rod much easier and keeps the bore clean. It is still grouping a bit larger than I would really like, but it is not a target rifle and suspect it was set up for no more than 50 yards as shooting large moggys in heavy cover was probably done at hair raising shorter distances. I will have to resolder the under rib, I have wondered about docking the muzzle but am not sure if it has not been deliberately coned as ramrod wear tends to be in one spot. I could certainly take it out after pigs or roos now with confidence at short ranges.

Cheers

Gordon

--------------------
Keep your horse well shod and your powder dry !

Edited by Heelerau (31/12/18 08:24 AM)


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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26414
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: Heelerau]
      #322907 - 01/01/19 05:29 AM

That sounds promising, Gordon. Glad you at the point of trusting it Nd yourself with it.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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tinkerModerator
.416 member


Reged: 12/03/05
Posts: 4835
Loc: Nevada
Re: Isaac Hollis and Son 12 bore percussion rifle [Re: DarylS]
      #322910 - 01/01/19 07:45 AM

Keep at it.
It sounds like you are on to something!

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--Self-Appointed Colonel, DRSS--



"It IS a dangerous game, and so named for a reason, and you can't play from the keyboard. " --Some Old Texan...


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