A German Jaeger Rifle by Jack Brooks

Sometimes a fine piece of wood defines the rifle to be built. This incredible piece of curly maple did just that. The figure makes the statement and I must give credit to God for making such a beautiful piece of wood. The curl is so tight and bold that only a modest amount of decorative carving seemed appropriate. I didn’t want the visual effect of the carving to be like looking at a large floral arrangement through the bars of a prison cell window.

The colors of a rifle are important and to my eye, yellow brass mounts look better with the reds and yellows of curly maple than the bright, blue, or brown of iron mounts. This is why I chose brass for the mounts and lock plate. The barrel is bright temper blue which gives a nice contrast with the yellow brass sights.

The breech of the barrel has two sunken, gold cartouches. One is a running stag and the other a name stamp. The stamps were made from old cold chisels which were annealed, cut off, engraved with the designs in reverse, and re-hardened. I chose to use 24 carat gold rather than silver because of the color.

The barrel tang was finished bright rather than color case hardened. Engraving seems to get lost in the mottled colors of case hardening.

The brass mounts were engraved with designs that accented their respective shapes. The lock and screw heads where engraved to show that attention was paid to detail in the making of the rifle.

The barrel was made by the Getz brothers, Dick and Don, many years ago. The lock was made from RE Davis jaeger and colonial lock parts. The wood was made by God.

Copy and photos supplied by Jack Brooks.