"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Thomas Jefferson, 1776
Heavenly, simply heavenly. Were any featured in John Dutcher's Ballard book? I'm embarking on a Ballard #5 build (with an orphan action and a .32-40 Ron Long barrel I have salted away), and aspire to that quality but if I attain it is anybody's guess.
My only Pope barreled rifle is this .32-40 High Wall. His barrel #53, on the action it was originally fitted to in 1896, but with new wood in Winchester's Special target flavor by Steve Durren. (The original stock was swapped out for a poor facsimile by someone in the distant dark past.) It has been a real bugger to suss out the combination of bullet/powder it sings with (breach seated and/or muzzle/breach loaded, not uncommon with a Pope barrel).
Last edited by gnoahhh; 09/12/22.
"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz "Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty
Wow, thats a very, very nice high wall. How's it shoot? Thanks for the kind words on my Ballards. Both of the Pope barrels are Hartford, can't remember the numbers. The bottom one in your picture is in Rowe's Hartford book. The top one is a muzzle loader like your high wall but I don't think the false muzzle is original since it isn't rifled. Phil
It'll slop ten into around 1 1/4-1 1/2" at 200, if the gods are smiling and the creek don't rise. Not offhand, for sure, rather the bench, with the barrel supported in a sled, using a 20x Targetspot. "Sniper" guys with state of the art gear kind of sneer at that - until I show them I'm doing it with a soft lead alloy plain base bullet, and a 125 year old barrel.
Last edited by gnoahhh; 09/12/22.
"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz "Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty
I love it when that happens. I haven't shot either of my Pope's, I guess I should but I've got plenty of others to shoot. Probably the best shooting falling block I have is a high wall in 33-47 that Al Seigrest rebored for me. Phil
I love it when that happens. I haven't shot either of my Pope's, I guess I should but I've got plenty of others to shoot. Probably the best shooting falling block I have is a high wall in 33-47 that Al Seigrest rebored for me. Phil
Pope advertised that he guaranteed his barrels to shoot into 3" at 200 yards, when using fixed ammunition, 2 1/2" when breech seated (bullet inserted straight into the rifling ahead of a charged case), and 2" if muzzle-breech loaded (bullet pushed down the barrel from the muzzle and charged case inserted last). Again remember this was with plain base cast bullets and black powder. He was modest in some respects and headstrong in others, but in this instance I think he was being modest or at least hedging his bets as it was quite common -almost universal - that his barrels performed quite a bit better than his guarantee. The trick was in figuring out the load and shooting technique that worked. He would provide a mould that made a bullet that perfectly matched the bore of the barrel he sold you, and if the mould became separated from the rifle you had your work cut out for you - and dammit if 95% of Pope rifles that have survived no longer have their dedicated Pope moulds with them anymore. Kind of like selling a wildcat rifle today that shoots a truly unique one-off cartridge, and keeping the dies for it and selling them on eBay for a couple bucks. Why do people do that kind of nonsense?
I obviously don't have the original mould for my Pope 32-40. I had to go through four custom jobs from Accurate Molds before I hit upon the right combination of shape, weight/length, diameter, taper, and then I had to futz with different lead alloys and powder charges before I struck it rich.
Last edited by gnoahhh; 09/13/22.
"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz "Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty