Clicking on any of the photos will enlarge them for better viewing. Clicking the White X in the upper right corner will return you to the text.
It all began with the Zephyr
In 1996 I started making underhammer rifles for the market as Pacific Rifle Company and the first production rifles to ever offer Genuine Forsyth Rifling™. Thus, the Zephyr was born. In 2006 I sold Pacific Rifle Company and embarked on a new design, the Faeton. Here, then is a photo of the second model Zephyr. Zephyr rifles are still available from Pacific Rifle Company.
Faeton Variants
Reducing all of the Faeton's dimensions by 20% resulted in the Baby Faeton. It was designed for smaller calibres such as .45 and .50. The weight is about 5 pounds making it a perfect boy's or lady's rifle.
A pistol-gripped Faeton with a longer barrel and shotgun buttplate is another optional route that some of our clients have chosen. This example wears Sharps sights and is stocked in quilted Oregon madrone as requested by the client
Featon's simple design allows myriad artful variations as seen below in this artist's conception of the Germanic inspired Nouveau Jaeger. The result is a finely-balanced, short-barreled, large bore stalking rifle.
New Century Rifle
Our New Century Rifle is a very unique underhammer system which provided a more "traditional" one-piece stock. It featured a hooked Nock's Patent Breech system for very fast and sure ignition while providing greater protection to the shooter from cap shrapnel and to the hammer from inclement weather.
The New Century's design lends itself well to artistic variations as seen below in this Germanic-inspired version on the drawing board. The tassel ahead of the trigger guard is a hammer fob which makes cocking the hammer effortless as well as adding a certain decorative, yet functional, feature not found in typical muzzleloading rifles.
Another unique feature of the New Century Rifle is the removable hammer/trigger unit as seen below. In addition to the hooked breech system, the removable hammer and trigger make cleaning the New Century Rifle much easier than conventional systems.
A-1 Sporting Rifle
This rifle combines design concepts of the Faeton philosophy in a rugged, yet finely finished side-hammer action that might have been typical of the late percussion period.
This rifle combines design concepts of the Faeton philosophy in a rugged, yet finely finished side-hammer action that might have been typical of the late percussion period.
The A-1 barrel is part octagon with the remainder being round with a quick taper to the muzzle which provides perfect snap-to-your-shoulder balance for this 8 pound rifle.
Sling swivels, as seen above, are standard equipment on the A-1 Sporting Rifle. Sights include a revised version of our exclusive Adjustable Peephorn™ rear sight and a fine silver-blade at the front. Also available is an optional tang sight for long range work.
The A-1 Sporting Rifle was designed to shoot elongated bullets for hunting big game. Below are the various bullet weights and styles available for use with the A-1 Sporting Rifle.
Faeton Dispatching Pistol
Some of our customers have requested a matching dispatching pistol of the same calibre as their Faeton rifle. Below is one example of our Dispatching Pistol in .62 calibre.
Black Forest Jäger Buchse™
One of the most captivating features of the Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ is its trigger. Each trigger is hand-forged, filed to final shape, polished, then heat-treated and fire-blued. As a result of this pains-taking process each trigger takes approximately five hours to make and finish and no two are exactly alike. Below are sketches of designs now available. Clicking on the photo will enlarge it for easier viewing of the detail of these unique triggers. Clicking the White X in the upper right corner of the screen will return you to the text.
_______________________________________________________
Our Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ is sleek, powerful, accurate, lightning-quick
and imminently deadly. It is without doubt...
Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ Specifications*
Price: Basic Jäger $4,500
*Specifications subject to change
____________________________________________
African Faeton™
Seen
above are the dual nipples of the Dual-Cap Ignition™ system which is a
standard feature of
the African Faeton™. All Faeton rifles are designed to fire musket caps for sure-fire ignition.
Our African Faeton™ features our exclusive Wide Body Barrel™, a design in which the barrel is wider than it is tall. The profile tapers all the way to the muzzle providing perfect balance.
Shooting the 8-bore African
If any of these designs of the past are of interest, feel free to inquire by our e-mail below:
Having Germanic ancestors who inhabited the regions of the Black Forest and Alsace Lorraine during the reign of the Habsburgs, I honor my heritage by offering my own translation of the traditional 1700s German hunting rifle of my forebears.
The Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ is that tribute.
The Black Forest was a dark and foreboding area having a particularly rich mythology and is said to have been haunted by werewolves, sorcerers, witches, the devil and various other creatures of the dark side. It is the setting for many of the familiar fairy tales from our innocent youth.
The Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ departs from the familiar stocky jäger form and offers a slender gracefulness that is not typical of many Germanic arms of the period. Like some of the Germanic gunmakers of old, we have included features in our Jäger Buchse suggestive of the creatures of the Black Forest which impart a mysterious, almost menacing underlying character - that of the deadly predator that it is. However, the original intent of depicting such creatures within the form of the rifle was to ward off the evil that lurked in the Black Forest. These features empower each Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ with a rather unique "personality" that is unlike any other rifle you will ever own.
Click any of the photos to enlarge them. Click the White X in the upper right corner to return to the text.
Each Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ is hand-crafted of the finest materials according to the customer's order. That, combined with the artists sense of whimsy, results in no two rifles ever being identical. Each is an original work of art. However, standard features include our exclusive Damascus finishing of the barrel, traditional Jäger sights, a sliding wooden patch box, a tapered loading rod of black-streaked ebony, modest carving, and a traditional leather Jäger sling. Optionally we offer an extra fully-tuned and finished spare lock, and a handsome, period-appropriate, German powderhorn from renown engraver and horn artist, Mark Thomas.
Additionally, snap-to-your-shoulder perfect balance is achieved with our extremely swamped barrel and large-calibre bores. The combination of our traditional Jäger rifling, our use of the most advanced lock design of the mid-1700s, and our own version of Nock's Patent Breech, when combined with our advanced fast-fire vent system, results in a very accurate rifle of quick and positive response. The Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ is a rare combination of these highly desirable features in one high-quality rifle.
The Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ is presently available in 20-bore (.62 calibre) with Jäger rifling. For those with greater flintlock hunting prowess we also offer our smooth (no-rifling) 16-bore (.66 calibre) barrel. In German tradition such a rifle-sighted, large-calibre smooth-bore is classified as a "boar gun" as it could produce the highest velocities to the large round ball which is needed to kill, with one perfectly-aimed shot, the large, tough, and terrifying boars that inhabited the Black Forest.
Many assume that the smooth bore cannot deliver acceptable accuracy for normal hunting situations. We believe this myth is based upon performance of smooth-bore muskets or fowling pieces which generally have only a crude front sight and no rear sight. Our 16-bore, however, wears the same Jäger sights, front and rear, as our rifled 20-bore. The combination provides amazing accuracy that pleasantly surprises most who are unfamiliar with these types of arms.
Also available is our aged-finish which replicates a well-preserved original arm of the period. Unknown to most, we must first finish the rifle to new and shiny finish before we can age it by patination to a finish that mimics that of a 250-year-old rifle. It is not a simple distressing process which employs striking the surface with chain or other hard objects, but rather a forced aging of the traditional finishes that we utilize. The result is a warm, mellow finish that suggests the arm is a relic of history with history all its own.
One of the most captivating features of the Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ is its trigger. Each trigger is hand-forged, filed to final shape, polished, then heat-treated and fire-blued. As a result of this pains-taking process each trigger takes approximately five hours to make and finish and no two are exactly alike. Below are sketches of designs now available. Clicking on the photo will enlarge it for easier viewing of the detail of these unique triggers. Clicking the White X in the upper right corner of the screen will return you to the text.
Our Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ is sleek, powerful, accurate, lightning-quick
and imminently deadly. It is without doubt...
The Ultimate Predator in Flintlock form.
_______________________________________________________
Black Forest Jäger Buchse™ Specifications*
Action: Finely-tuned advanced flintlock with Nock's-type Patent Breech system
Weight: 8 1/2 lbs.
Length: overall 44 inches
Barrel length: 28 inches
Calibres: .62 (20-bore); our .66 (16-bore) "boar rifle" is now available.
Rate of Twist: 1: 99 inches with traditional Jäger rifling
Sights: Traditional Jäger front and rear sights .
Stocks: Basic bastogne walnut with higher grades available
Finish, barrel: Damascus with slow-rust brown, beeswax finished
Finish, stocks: Hand-rubbed oil and beeswax
Accessories: bullet moulde and instructions
Options: Options vary in price and can include an extra lock, upgrades in wood, sights, engraving, extra carving, or special metal finishes as the customer prescribes, and the Mark Thomas German powder horn.
Price: Basic Jäger $4,500
*Specifications subject to change
____________________________________________
African Faeton™
This unique Faeton joins our
advanced underhammer designs with a 12 or 8-bore, 26-inch Wide Body Barrel for
perfect balance and quick handling. This is a Dangerous Game Rifle and
incorporates not only our Genuine Forsyth Rifling™
but also our unique and exclusive Dual-Cap Ignition™ system. Our
Dual-Cap Ignition™ fires two percussion caps simultaneously. This unique
combination of calibers and features provides the utmost in power and
reliability for hunting the toughest game under the most severe field
conditions.
Hand-crafted
of the finest materials, the African Faeton™ provides the luxury
and sophistication of classic Old World lines with subtle application of
modern engineering principles for a rifle of unsurpassed strength,
performance and reliability. Also a standard feature of the African
Faeton™ is a recoil reduction system that is built into the buttstock
which effectively moderates the recoil of this very powerful rifle.
Additionally, the Dual Cap Ignition™ hammer
of the African Faeton™ features a graceful scroll design which will
accommodate a hammer fob for quick and sure cocking of the hammer under
tense and adverse field conditions.
the African Faeton™. All Faeton rifles are designed to fire musket caps for sure-fire ignition.
Our African Faeton™ features our exclusive Wide Body Barrel™, a design in which the barrel is wider than it is tall. The profile tapers all the way to the muzzle providing perfect balance.
Shooting the 8-bore African
Below is an
interesting and telling rapid-fired sequence of photos showing the
8-bore African Faeton™ being fired by Phil Peterson. The load was 300 grains of ffg
blackpowder behind the patched 830-grain round ball. Contrary to what
one might imagine, the recoil, while being a good solid shove, is not a
hammering punch like that of many big-bore centerfire rifles.
.72 Calibre- 12 bore
When it comes to
situations where hunter becomes the hunted, our 12-bore African Faeton™
can drive the 525-grain round ball to about 1600 fps from its 26-inch
barrel. The 12-bore provides bone-smahing knockdown power and is
suitable for dangerous game from 1500 - 2000 pounds in weight. The
Taylor Value is 84 at the muzzle.
.82 Calibre - 8-bore
Our
8-bore African Faeton™ possesses a certain mystique which has made it
legendary among those fortunate few who possess one. Very simply, our
8-bore can drive the 830-grain round ball to 1600 fps with power to
spare for any dangerous game on Earth.
The Taylor Knockdown Value for our 8-bore African Faeton™ is an amazing 151 at the muzzle!
To
appreciate the real power of our Faeton™ rifles, one must consider that
the tried and true .30-06 Springfield firing the 180 grain bullet
generates a Taylor Value of 21 and the justly impressive .460 Weatherby
generates a Taylor Value of 88.
If any of these designs of the past are of interest, feel free to inquire by our e-mail below:
rjrenner@protonmail.com
