| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 19/12/12 01:24 PM |
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Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Happy to have gotten this off the shipper's truck yesterday...
This photo will have to do for now, busy on the ranch -- and busy burning coal in this cool new addition to the rack!
It's slick and handy, and a honey to shoot.
Big thanks to you Steve for the holiday season boost
Cheeers
Tinker
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 19/12/12 02:56 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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John - congratulations. Thanks for the picture. Steve does wonderful work.
I'll be sharing it on ALR (if OK with you guys) and with my bro - You've got me fired up, maybe my next English gun will be a flinter.
He used a nice board for the stock, too.
Need some stats when you are able - make of barrel, round or square rifling, depth? Between Taylor and I, we've a bit of experience with .62's as to what works & doesn't.
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 19/12/12 03:39 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Daryl-
I chose flint for the easygoing reliability of ignition via stone.
On the wood, I asked for generally understated elegance and overall darkness. I think he nailed it.
Go ahead and share the rifle info wherever you wish.
33" (~32.5 to the flash hole) 8-groove Rayl barrel, full octagon.
.632" grooves, wide and square.
.619" bore, with narrow lands.
Looks like a turn in 90"
1" across the muzzle, 1-1/4" across the breech.
Today I ran .600 ball and .018 patch, will run .023 patch tomorrow which I think will be better.
Was lucky to find my bag of English black flints while digging for the patch denim!
I think the lube in my patch jar is murphy's oil soap and castor oil.
I'll pitch 130-160gr FFg with that ball at the 100yd backer and see how I do.
Cheers
Tinker
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 20/12/12 01:54 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Nice - .065" rifling. I didn't know Ed was making "Forsyth"-type barrels, but then, he is capable of cutting any twist, any depth.
The powder charges seem in order for the rate of twist. You might find for plinking, that 120 shoots OK, to 100yards, but longer range shooting needs more to group.
I agree, the thicker patch will be better. The shallow rifling might allow a .610" pure ball and your .018" patch for even better accuracy. The .600" might be good in a WW ball with 12ounce denim. 12 ounce is .025" as my mic, makes it, and .030" average in the 2 sets of dial calipers I have.
In my .69, I find a .675" WW ball and the 12 ounce shoots virtually the same as a .684" and a 10 ounce patch. Our bore/ball sizes ie: your .600" vs. my .675" have similar ratios to the bore size.
New rifles are fun - lots of testing to do. Have fun and make her work.
| mehulkamdar |
| (.416 member) |
| 20/12/12 03:01 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Congratulations, Tinker, my friend! This is a beautiful gun, and, whenever you find time to post more pictures, they will be most welcome.
Your choice of design and specs and Steve's artistry have made for a true masterpiece!Great hunting!
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 30/12/12 10:40 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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I'd gotten a PM asking for images of the rear sight.
Here's a few photos of the rifle from today, great day out in the snow!
Cheers
Tinker
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 30/12/12 12:23 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Thanks for the pictures, Tom. Looks as if the sight hasn't been filed.
NitroX
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| (.700 member) |
| 30/12/12 01:32 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Steve Zihn does nice work.
| kamilaroi |
| (.400 member) |
| 30/12/12 04:11 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Having seen quite a number of best quality English, Scottish and Irish makers work of that era this one is right up there.
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 02/01/13 09:21 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Been out making the rifle mine -- in the snow
Also finally got my Pact Professional chronograph running (note to self: stock lots of fresh 9v batteries...) and got to see how this rifle is doing with some different powder charges.
.600 roundball, .020" patch lubed with Lehigh Valley Lube (didn't really feel like running back inside to get the thicker patches once the chrono got back on line) and Goex FFg
130gr ~1525fps
160gr ~1580fps
180gr ~1825fps (Thor's Hammer..?)
All readings taken at 15' from the muzzle.
I'll put these through a roundball trajectory calculator later on, but for now I'm happy to just have gotten it going in front of a chronograph! I have a sense that the readings will be somewhat different with the thicker patch, and I'm not entirely sure what's up with the slight difference between the 130 and the 160 grain charge - could have been a glitch maybe not. I don't think this is the ideal patch too and I'll do this again with the thicker patches another day and I'll be shooting for groups at the bench.
Cheers
Tinker
| Chasseur |
| (.375 member) |
| 09/01/13 12:43 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Tinker that is one nice rifle!
I've been toying with getting Steve to do me one like that but in percussion (more of the 1850s stalking rifle). You are tempting me...
| szihn |
| (.400 member) |
| 09/01/13 03:50 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Chasseur, e-mail me and we'll talk.
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 09/01/13 04:07 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Chasseur-
Do not hesitate!
Cheers
Tinker
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 09/01/13 04:39 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Oh, and by the way Chasseur-
I did another chrono session, and calculated back to the muzzle on that 180gr load. The .600" ball is crossing the muzzle at 1900fps
Ripper!
Looking at roundball external ballistics though for most hunting especially in any kind of cover where distances are short and the animals are thin soft skinned, much less powder is just fine. I'll be doing some more testing over the chronograph on targets off the bench as soon as I get the time and post targets and chrono data.
Might be a bit before I get there, been busy.
Cheers
Tinker
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 10/01/13 03:49 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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I really enjoy testing my rifles over the screens, Tinker & I wholeheartedly agree the patch might be a bit thin with that ball. Much depends on the actual bore size and groove depth along with the groove shape and width compared to the land width, ie:lands wider, equal width, grooves 1 1/2 times land width, etc. The wider the grooves in comparison, the easier loading with tighter combinations - and the larger diameter the ball and therefore thinner the patch that can be used.
All aspects work in concert with the ball, patch and powder charge.
Going to a larger ball and maintaining that patch is also one answer to the current patch.
With a true .620" bore size that .600" size should work fine in a hardened ball. One merely needs to try them.
My brother shoots a .615" ball in his .62 S. Hawken along with a .021" patch. His match accuracy load for shooting to 200yards is currently at 130gr. Best bench groups so far, are running right at and around 3". This is with open sights. There are no flies on 1 1/2 MAO.
He built that 'late period' S. Hawken rifle soley to compete against my .69 English styled rifle in a round ball, postal position match at 200yards. (He also wanted a cap gun for match shooting) Our rifles are now much closer in accuracy potential - his .50 Virginia rifle could compete.
So, Tinker - your rifle possesses enough bore and ball size to be a really good shooter - learning the rifle, it's wants and yes, it's demands are the most fun of all. Yes - it can be frustrating at times, especially if it's cold or/or miserable out. Oh well, someone's got to do it - might as well be you.
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 10/01/13 04:38 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Daryl
I agree!
I've been using some swaged balls from (I think) buffalo, and I just got a lee .600 dual cavity mould from track. Haven't thrown any ball from it yet.
Might cast some today.
Time is the only thing I'm tight on here with my rifle play time scheduling - I need a personal assistant to handle my other tasks!
:-)
Cheers
Tinker
| N8dawg16 |
| (.224 member) |
| 01/12/20 07:28 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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tinker that is an absolutely beautiful rifle. Thats perfect.
N8
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 01/12/20 08:11 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Thanks
This is right about the time of year that I start getting it out for regular exercise.
It's a great rifle.
Cheers
Tinker
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 01/12/20 11:08 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Cool! Need info, targets, etc.
| Ripp |
| (.577 member) |
| 02/12/20 01:48 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Quote:
Thanks
This is right about the time of year that I start getting it out for regular exercise.
It's a great rifle.
Cheers
Tinker
Man, I have to make my way to your neck of the woods sometime and do a bit of shooting.. for a month or two..
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 02/12/20 02:16 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Quote:
Man, I have to make my way to your neck of the woods sometime and do a bit of shooting.. for a month or two..
You know how to get ahold of me
| szihn |
| (.400 member) |
| 02/12/20 03:23 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Tinker, have you killed anything with it yet?
My own 62 is a 37" flint C. Springs(ish) rifle I made for myself back in 1994. I have killed several deer and antelope with it as well as 3 elk and 1 moose. Works VERY well. The 62 cal ball (.600 in my case) need not be going super fast to kill well. My load is 145 grains of 3F and I use a hard ball cast of WW metal instead of pure lead. At .600" it need not expand to kill. My Chronograph says it's going 1640.
It kills elk and moose very well. (that's not just a theory either)
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 02/12/20 07:50 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Steve I haven't been awarded anytags here in NV, and I've been sacked with responsibilities around home over the past few years, too much to get away for a hunt outside the area.
That's been changing some in the last year or so.
I actually had a hunt planned for earlier this year, and the host ended up dying before the date.
Maybe I'll knock over some coyotes with it this winter.
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 03/12/20 06:17 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Should work on coyotes.
lol
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NitroX
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| (.700 member) |
| 03/12/20 09:14 PM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Another vintage thread, and enjoyable.
I thought Tinker had just received a 2020 Christmas present! Then saw some of the names of members now missing.
That is a lovely rifle. I say this a lot about different makers, but I would like one of Steve's creations one day myself. One day!
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 04/12/20 03:09 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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Quote:
I thought Tinker had just received a 2020 Christmas present!
It's like that every time I pick it up.
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 04/12/20 04:26 AM |
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Re: Zihn .62 Flint British Sporting Rifle...
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