doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What caliber is 11.15x65?

The "latest" is that I have shot the early Sauer driller with the donated loaded ammunition at 50 yards and got a three shot 2" group at center with one forth shot flyer attributed to a 15 pound or more right barrel trigger, which I will try to correct. I cleaned the rifle barrel and came out with a very shiny, heavily rifled 11 MM barrel, after 120 years of shooting and apparently no abuse. A friend refinished and recheckered the wood wit astounding results. A great $250 investment thanks to a friend.

eightbore,
The right shotbarrel trigger that also fires the rifle barrel is likely a single set trigger. To "set" it, push it forward until it "clicks" and then it will have a very light pull weight, some would call it a "hair trigger". If you try this, be sure the drilling is unloaded first, to try the trigger it doesn't need to be cocked. If it doesn't "click" and "hold" forward, it is likely out of adjustment. There should be a small screw behind the trigger. If the trigger won't "hold" when you push it forward(with some force), the screw has likely been turned in too far, sometime in the past trying to adjust the "unset" pull weight. This screw only affects the engagement of the sear in the trigger, itself, and will not adjust the unset pull weight. To adjust the "set" pull, back the screw out, until it will "hold" when pushed forward. Next turn it in, until it "trips" the trigger. Then turn it out 1/2 turn and it is adjusted. Additional fine adjustments can be made , either way, to suit the shooter. Once finally adjusted, you can put a drop of stock finish on the screw, to keep it from moving. This screw is very small, so do not use Loctite or epoxy. If the screw is missing, you will have some trouble buying a new one. If it is broken, you should send it to someone familiar with drillings. As Steve Meyer said earlier, you can make cases from 9.3x74R, but 7x65R will also work. The rim thickness may need to be adjusted. The correct bullet to use, should be determined by "slugging" the barrel.
Mike

Der Ami, it's amazing how much one can learn by listening often enough or long enough. I knew my Sauer probably had a set trigger, but pushing very hard on the back of the trigger without results, produced no click or any other results. I figured that there was not a set trigger, or it was broken. Today, after reading your post again, I tried again, pushed extra hard on the back of the trigger, and it clicked. I guess you're not supposed to use those set triggers in the field. I will head for the range again and will expect about one inch or less at 50 yards with no flyers. The heavy trigger and the fogged glasses from the "mask" has to be good for one inch on the target. When I was a teenager, in the sixties, I took care of a collection that contained a Franz Sodia exposed hammer cape gun with a 9.3x72 barrel and a set trigger. I had very little ammo for that gun and never tried the set trigger. It was a wonderful gun and I shot a bunch of PA pheasants with the shot barrel and never felt handicapped with the single 16 gauge shot barrel. The person who allowed me access to the collection let it be returned to the estate that owned it without my input. I would love to have that gun today. However, my Sauer driller is a much more versatile gun. I will report back.

eightbore,
The set triggers are made to be used in the field, yours may be out of adjustment. You can try turning the screw in a 1/2 turn and see if it helps. This time, you know where you are and can back track, if you have to. I always use a set trigger in the field( if the rifle has one), just don't set it until you are ready to shoot. When set, I don't put my finger on the trigger( I put it on the trigger guard), and when I shoot, I just touch the trigger; after a while, the movement almost becomes automatic. My friend Walter Grass, I often write about him, always said to never set the trigger until ready to shoot, and if you don't shoot, unset it right away. He said it is better to hunt with the safety off and the trigger unset than with the safety on, but the trigger set( of course best is safety on and trigger unset). I don't blame you about the Franz Sodia.
Mike

Recently, during the cleanout of an old gunsmith's estate, the folks doing it found a small bottle of mercury.

Talking to other friends who do a lot of gunsmithing it turns out mercury was the cure for removing jammed bullets. The prescription is to pour a couple drops down the bore to where it will contact the bullet, cover the open end (fumes), place the barrel vertically in a quiet corner such that the mercury is atop the bullet and come back in a week or two. The mercury should dissolve into the lead and soften it sufficiently so the wooden dowel from the other end will be able to push the bullet out.

Good luck finding mercury to use, though.

remember that when the spanish colonized the new world, they focused on finding gold (seven cities of gold in the southwest, etc.) when gold was located, the most efficient means of refining it from the gold containing ore was a method called amalgamation. it consisted of combining the ore with mercury which would leach the gold out of the matrix of the ore by combining and semi-liquifying the gold. then the mercury could be separated from the gold in a second step. the spanish sent ships heavily laden with mercury which was mined in portugal, and got back ships heavily laden with gold. lead is another "heavy metal" which will amalgamate with mercury.

Mercury was often reclaimed from old dismounted thermostats. It would take a lot of them to get much mercury.
Mike