doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Alex Henry with detachable front target sight?

In the meantime, here's a couple pics of my purchase at the CGCA show. That's a 6x Stevens-Ideal 32" scope, perfect optics, and also from the same show.



I believe it's LD Nimscke engraved.

Not discounting the overall appeal of Vall's rifle, the engraving is about as nice as you will see. Suspect it can be traced to a name engraver.
Chuck

Sorry, but I'm in a tent right now on a grousing expedition. I'll try for some internet service to upload theses asap, but I haven't found a beaver lodge with wifi yet.

Dang beavers! No sweat, Brent. It's not going anywhere. I'm already designing a slip-on pinned base with a 3/8 dovetail for a MVA or maybe Pedersoli windgauge sight with a level. I was trying to determine at what point the bullet I'm considering for a starter (a light 462 grain Steve Brooks) would be if seated to touch the rifling. Surprised me how far out it was. I did a Cerrosafe cast and discovered a long freebore with a diameter very nearly that of the chamber neck. Looks like it was designed to shoot a really long (heavy) bullet while seated out to give maximum powder space. I decided to play with the idea. My beautiful set of dies had arrived from Dave at CH4D and a box full of 50-90 Starline had arrived from Midway. I had cut one 50-90 to the length of the 450 #2 (2.36) and run the case into the sizer. I was wondering if the sizing would increase or decrease the length but it came out the same 2.36 and dropped right into the chamber. I put just enough flare into the case mouth to have a slip start on the bullet and this gave me a friction fit on the case into the chamber but would be taken out by the seater. So all go there. Well, what would happen if I ran an uncut 50-90 into the sizer? Answer, I got a 2.51 inch case that dropped into the chamber. The flared mouth was a bit tighter since the freebore is a very bit smaller than the case neck but again the seater would take care of that. This length case would allow me to seat the 462 grain bullet to the rifling and have the two base bands in the neck and probably up the powder capacity to at least 85 grains. A nice place to start. I'm going to load a few and fire form the brass and see what happens. That would make it a 450 #2 XL;-)

Sounds like a conventional (in the day) chamber. Probably shot paper patched bullets made to be land diameter after patching. Paper patching is what I would do with it. It's what I do with nearly all my centerfire rifles.

Chuck, I had Bob Evans examine this Rigby this morning at our OAC collectors show. Bob was the historian for the Engraver's Guild, and he felt the work on my Rigby appeared to be that of LD Nimschke.

I've been off the grid for almost 2 weeks roaming around the North Country looking for a new place to live and grouse, especially grouse. Found a lot of birds. But without a decent internet connection, or even any connection much of the time, I was not able to get around to uploading these for HalfaDouble, until now.

Posted 8:21 20211002

Thanks, Brent. In the meanwhile, I have received CH4D dies (they were in stock!), formed 100 50-90 Starline brass, and loaded them for fireforming. Soon, boom! By the way, I have heard from Richard Brown (Henry's great, great, grandson) that my rifle is in the shop book as "an express and long range rifle". Thank you again, Richard. The tang sight is a typical Henry long range sight and the front sight would have been something special with windage so would have been attached to the atypical express sight base, both front and rear long range sights being quick detachable. Unfortunately, the front was quick enough to detach that it did so and has wandered off in the last 147 years. Oh, that's the other info from Richard - it was purchased by a John Boyden on 19 May, 1874.

Brass was fire formed and trimmed to true up the necks. Preliminary ladder tests with smokeless and a 430 grain were accomplished and will be proofed soon. A special mold was ordered which casts 480 and 535 grain bullets so black powder testing will start soon. A wind gauge front sight with level has been acquired and drafting for the front sight adapter for it is underway. A joy to shoot.