Underhammer Hopkin& Allen 36 cal

[GunneyE7]

I got this rifle from a friend who picked it up at a farm sale ,he was going to use it as a wall hanger. A bunch of his friends gave him grief about it because of the way it looks. He got tired of hearing about and sold it to me for what he paid for it $25.
When I got it the thing looked like it had been rode hard and put up wet on more that 1 occasion, it was rusty, dirty and someone had sanded the stock put gym seal on it.I stripped the stock and hand rubbed boiled linseed oil  every Sunday during football season that was a few years . Now I hit it with a fresh rub down before I put it away for the season
The barrel was a whole different  deal all together,I tried using naval jelly but that caused a new set of problems. I used a fine buffing wheel and cleaned the barrel down to in the white and rust browned it,replaced the front sight the rear sight was salvageable .Put a New nipple on it ,got a new trigger spring installed and I was in business. 25 grains of  powder some patches and round balls from Dixie gun works and any Squirrel with in 40 yards becomes Dinner

[ridjrunr]

Welcome to the forum,
Sounds nice, pictures wouldn’t hurt.
I’ve got the same in .45 and it’s very accurate as well.

[rollingb]

I've "heard" those under hammer Hopkins&Allen rifles were pretty darn accurate. 
Weren't they also called Buggy Rifles at one time?

[Butler Ford 40]

I wanna see, I wanna see! PLEASE! I wanna see!   

[Winter Hawk]

My first ML rifle was a H&A underhammer, the Heritage model in .45.  It accounted for many a snowshoe rabbit!

Numrich made several versions.  The regular had the long barrel and open sights. 

The Heritage was the same but also had a brass piece behind the trigger guard/main spring which helped to increase the spring tension.  It also had the neatest peep sight, a lollipop on the tang which was adjustable for windage by loosening the aperture and sliding it left or right, for windage by turning it to screw it up or down, and the neatest feature was that it had a piece of spring steel with three aperture holes, large, medium and small.  you could rotate the hole you wanted into place and it indexed into a small notch to hold it in place.  It also came with an open rear and target front sight.

The Buggy Rifle was the regular piece but with a short barrel, to be carried conveniently in a sheath beside a buggy seat.

I still have a tattoo on my left forearm from powder coming out the nipple.  I learned real quick to wear a long sleeved shirt!

Sure wish I hadn't sold it....

Maybe Hanshi will be so kind as to post photos of his.

~Kees~

[GunneyE7]

I'll  try to cover all I can here  This H&R is also a Numrich. As I said it was a barn find and was really rough. I have at least 150  hours getting it to shooting condition.The thing that gave me hope was that the hammer was on the nipple and a mud daubber had plugged the barrel with its nest  The bore was like new no rust, It was a matter of start and do the next thing and the next and so on until the day I shot it. I have gotten a couple of primer fragments in the back of my right hand but a glove fixed that  The sights on my rifle are basic  open sights but after a few shots at 50 yards they will almost print on top of each other. I will try to get some pictures up so you all can have a look at my handy work

                        Gunny

[PetahW]

.

Once upon a time, I had a .36 Heritage that would shoot lights out on Squills.

It was a nice/lightweight rifle - I made it lighter via removing the forend and epoxying an empty CF brass (.30 Carbine) to the underside of the rear of the barrel to act as a RR thimble.

It looked like an old-timey U/H target rifle.

I only sold it (with the forend re-installed) because I tripped over a hen's tooth (a .36 T/C Seneca) that I liked better.

.

[Winter Hawk]

I'll  try to cover all I can here  This H&R is also a Numrich....  I will try to get some pictures up so you all can have a look at my handy work.

The original Hopkins & Allen company never made an underhammer rifle.  I don't remember how Numrich got the name, but they used it for their muzzle loaders.  For a relatively cheap rifle they were/are excellent shooters.  And yes, pictures are required! 

~Kees~

[Hanshi]

I'll post a photo of mine, in that case.  A .45 X 33" X 15/16" barrel X gain twist rifling.  It accounted for deer, bobcats and a squirrel or two.  Powder charge should be carefully watched however.  Generally about 60 to 65 grains of 3F is not only great in these accurate rifles but has all the power one needs for deer/bear.  Often one can get away with loading 70 to 75 grains but not routinely.  A too heavy charge overcomes spring tension and slams the hammer back to half or full cock.  But worse is the jet of hot, burning powder shooting out of the nipple. 

I was at the range with mine a few years back and it was in the summer.  The trigger/hammer spring was already about dead.  With short sleeve on and a cotton towel over my arm and lap I fired at a downrange target.  The hammer slammed back even with the 65 grain charge.  It took a few moments for me to realize that the towel in my lap was blazing; my bare arm would not have liked that one.  Now it's a wall hanger at least until I figure a way to get the trigger to return.  Spring's pretty dead, but fixed it would shoot fine with modest powder charges.

This isn't even the best target it has fired, but it's good; just one flyer.

The tang peep got lost long ago.

[GunneyE7]

I have never put that much powder in mine, but I only use it for squirrels  In Iowa the smallest cal for deer is .45 although .357 mag pistols and lever guns is legal also .44 mag. Its a shame that a sweet little rifle like that has to hang on a wall I hope it gets out in the woods soon


                                Gunny

[Winter Hawk]

Hanshi, you might give Pecatonica River a try for a new mainspring.  They sell an underhammer kit which looks very much like it might match the old H&A.  http://www.longrifles-pr.com/underhammer.shtml

~Kees~

[Hanshi]

Hanshi, you might give Pecatonica River a try for a new mainspring.  They sell an underhammer kit which looks very much like it might match the old H&A.  http://www.longrifles-pr.com/underhammer.shtml
~Kees~

That spring sure looks like mine but doesn't seem to be offered separately.  $150 is a lot to just need the spring.  Thanks, though.

[Semisane]

Flat springs aren't hard to temper. Search "tempering a spring" on YouTube.

Here's one example.

 

And another.