Hey - thought you boys would like to know - I just had a really great conversation with Jason from Rice barrels this morning (afternoon for him) concerning their making of the .62 cal Jaeger and English Barrels along the Forsyth principal - shallow rifling, with slow twists.

They're getting underway on these right away and to also inculde some up to 16 or perhaps a tight 15 bore at .670" bore dimension. I am most interested in personally re-barreling my 14 bore from a straight 1 1/8" X 32" bl. to a 32" in 1 1/8" tapered to 1" at the muzzle in a true Forsyth-type barrel of .670" cal. Althoguht exceptionally accurate, my .69 has ratehr deep rifling at .012" with a faster than I want, 66" twist. This barrel demands a tighter ball and patch combination than many people are willing or perhaps capable of loading - the ball being only .006" smaller than the bore and with a .030" patch. You have to want to make it go down is the only way to describe it.

Jason's 'new' barrel promises to be much more shooter friendly as the slower twist allows shallower rifling which is more easily filled in comparrison. That most important fit is in Forsyth's works, humored, rather than forced as in my barrel.

The gun weight lost from the taper will be overcome by the smaller bore size, I'm fairly certain. I want it to remain 9 to 9 1/2 pounds. This makes for a pleasant shooting rifle for hunting as well as for rendezvous competition, although don't expect a lot of guys trying to pry it out of your hands for their 'second' shot at a mere target. For the larger, big game, these bore rifles are amazingly effective tools.

Simply wearing a PAST shoulder protector under the shirt or jacket takes literally ALL the sting out of shooting these marvelous hunting rifles with their healthy loads. The wide butts and perfect geometry of stock also helps reduce the recoil of shooting up to 7 drams of powder with an ounce or more of lead.

Dropping one of these loads into a 12 bore plastic hull and touching it off from your 9 pound duck gun will give you an idea of what to expect. The English rifle kicks a bit less, but then, has a steel butt plate, albeit a full 2" wide.