Harrington & Richardson Springfield Stalker

[Confederate rifleman]

Having recently re-aquired one, I've been pulling my few remaining hairs out looking for information on this neat rifle. All i know is they were made in the '70's, mine in 72, in .45 and 58( mine a 58). They use lock that H&R used for their 1873 repops. LONG hammer throw and an extra notch to make things interesting.They are quite well made and finished, but I wish H&R would've used a full length rammer instead of that silly telescoping design... I'd love to get a copy of an owner's manual and some little details like rifling twist, recommended loads etc. At 7 1/2 pounds, she's a tad light for caliber. A joy to carry, but shooting 575213, and 575213os over 60gr of 2f Swiss... Lets just say she introduces herself. Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[cayuga]

This is only a guess mind you. But I base it on the type of bullet you list and the powder charge. If someone was getting good accuracy with a minnie ball and 60 grains of powder (which was a standard rifle musket load in the Civil War for the most part) I am going to guess the twist is very slow. The mold you list is a Lyman Mini Ball mold and they normally ran .575-577 in diameter. That minnie was made to shoot from a slow twist rifle. Some cases as slow as 1-72.

If that shoots the minnie well, you might also want to try a patched ball with the same powder charge. It would be interesting to know the bore diameter on that rifle. It sounds like an exciting rifle. Post some pictures of it if you can. I would love to drool over it. :mrgreen:

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Cayuga,
Near as I can tell her bore is .575/.587. I'm guessing a 1-56 or 60 twist. 8 grooves. She didn't shoot the minies well at all. I did swab between and the lube was very runny ( almost 90). Recoil was ... noticeable. I have a very nice recoil hickey from the color cased steel buttplate. 60 of 2f Swiss gave the OS 1055 fps and the heavier, 505 grain, Ideal 1045 fps. Shot to shot deviations were 10 fps for the Lyman OS and 7 fps for the Ideal. Couldn't get breechloaders and smokeless to shoot that well. I'll try to post a pic. She's a good looking rifle. Just a bit hard on the old body. Will try stiffer lube and no swabbing after my shoulder gets back to normal colors. My daughter was using my PAST pad that day... Will also fling some balls. The rifling is nearly ideal for them too.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

The Stalker is gone. Too many misfires... Accuracy with ball wasn't bad when the patches didn't shred. 70 gr of 2f Swiss gave a surprisingly high speed of 1400 fps in this big bore. I think my Black Diamond XR .50 had something to do with how this turned out. Herself is a jealous thing...