Hege Siber info

[Flint.54]

Just got a Hege Siber pistol to go with my Hege Manton. The gun is 33 cal and the mould that came with it is a .330. The fella I got it from says that it shouldn't load as hard as it does and that I should find something different. BUT, the guy who bought it new, shot that combination well enough to win a silver at the mlaic worlds. SO, do I go searching for a smaller ball or do I resign myself to pounding the ball down the barrel? I'm open to suggestions.

[waksupi]

I've never even heard of them. Got pics?

Welcome aboard.

[Flint.54]

Hege pistols are German made target pistols. They make a smoothbore flint (manton), rifled caplock (siber) and a Remington copy (army match). The workmanship in them is absolutley second to none. and I will get some pics

[mooman76]

So does it shoot ball or bullet? A ball mould shouldn't be a problem. Lee makes a .319 ball mould and mine drops like 320/1.

[northmn]

Found a little info about them. They do have a good reputation as a target pistol. Often the lube makes some difference in ease of loading. Some like liquid stuff like Lehigh Valley Mink Oil. Also target shooters often use Teflon patching. Try buying ball from TOW or some other supplier for your use. What a target shooter may call hard loading and what a casual shooter calls hard loading may be two different things. One target shooter I know uses a very persuading short starter.

Northmn

[Flint.54]

just got back from a weekend muzzle loader shoot. Placed 1st but there was only a dozen of us so there aren't many bragging rights. Still figuring out my Isaac Haines .54 flint. It has a colerain barrel that I am not fond of but dealing with. The hege caplock is a ball gun but .319 rb is too small. The ball needs to be .323-.325 I think since the bore is .330. Can't use teflon patching international rules say patch material must be of natural fibres and the lube can't be petroleum products either.

[northmn]

I do not think that there is any petroleum in LHV or Mink Oil, as petroleum and BP do not mix. However, liquid lubes can be concocted. If you are not shooting in international competition you can use LHV or any commercial lube. Some use teflon at Friendship, but I am not neccessarily recommending it just mentioning it. The 2 lubes I have mentioned are those used by more than a few BP shooters on another site and they swear by them. They have an advantage of somewhat cleaning while you reload. I would suggest that you are correct about the ball size. As to your Colerain barrel, they have very deep rifling and as such would require a very thick patch.

Northmn

[Flint.54]

yeah I am using a 20 thou patch and only a moderate powder charge of 56 grs of 2f. My personal opinion is that the twist rate of 1 in 56 is too fast for a 54 cal.

[northmn]

there has been debate over the effect of twist rate in rifles. Real extremes such as the faast twists for slugs can affect accuracy somewhat, such as a 1-30. From about 1-48 or slower, many have not found a great deal of difference in accuracy due to twist rate. 56 grains of 2f is a very light charge for a 54. I have used 70 grs. of 3f for general plinking in mine and go up to about 90-100of 2f for a deer load. Colerain barrels are round bottom rifled and very deep such that the ball/patch combination may be critical where a 535 or 530 ball can make a difference as well as thick patching. They should out shoot the shooter however.

Northmn

[Flint.54]

I am a target shooter mostly so the light powder charge is ok. I found that .535 rb was more accurate than .530. and that my favorite powder charge of 70gr of 3f didn't impress me either. I have to remind myself that the guy who had the gun built could not shoot it well at all so he sold it to me because he thought I could figure it out. I guess my TC flinter with 1 in 66 twist in 50 cal spoiled me because it liked every load I ever tried.

[northmn]

While we got off of the pistol topic a bit, my issue with Colerain barrels is not the rate of twist as much as the depth of rifling. I had seen old TC Renegades shoot very well with moderate charges and they were 1-48 but shallower rifled. A Colerain has a depth of 016 as compared to the 010 of your drop in 1-66 for th TC. The deep rifling is supposed to handle fouling better, but as a 015 patch seals the 010 rifled barrels, a 020 would be minimum for the 016. To get target accuracy you generally have to have a tighter load requiring a short starter. I had one rifle that liked the canvas used to make shot bags when they used canvas for shot bags. Not to knock your gun but I feel that sometimes things get a little carried away. If 010 -012 riling idepth is good then 014-016 had to be better? Another thing that can hurt accuracy slightly is the coned crown designed to thumb load ball. Some claim that that will open groups. A poorly crowned rifle will also not shoot. I had a Green River 58 barrel that just never shot as well as I cared for until you started getting up to about 140 grains of powder. It liked that load I did not so I sold it. Another 58 liked 70 grains of 3f and nothing else until you started getting up to about 110 grains or so. Other rifles I had did not seem to be fussy. Good luck

Northmn

[Flint.54]

A friend of mine has a .62 cal with a colerain barrel that seems to like 105 grs but a day of shooting with that is not fun. I did wonder about the coned muzzle however another friend of mine has a poor boy with a douglas barrel that someone coned after the fact and it shoots REALLY well. I think it is important to have the ball in the middle of the patch when using precut patching so that things don't get out of wompus when travelling out through that long "crown". I have become opposed to cutting patches on the barrel when I can buy precut prelubed patches from Track of the wolf.

[Yankee Bill]

Flint.54

I've had a Hege Siber about 25 years. I only use Hornady 00 buckshot in it. Also, I use .005" patching. Use moderate to light powder charges, it doesn't take much, even to 50 yards.

I've used it to shoot possibles in Grants Pass, Oregon and throughout California. It is very,very accurate.

The Siber is made in two styles, English and French. English has only a little scroll work, and the French much more. Mine is neither. It has none at all.

Yankee Bill,

Arizona Territory

[Flintlockrecord]

I've had a Hege Siber for many years, shooting in MLAIC competition. I use a .330 ball and a .010" wonderlube patch over 8gr SwissFFF. Very accurate, almost no recoil. Worked up loads using a home made machine rest and would group well under 1" at 25 metres.
Only use hot water for cleaning and wonderlube to oil and preserve.

Cheers
Ian

[Spedini]

The Hege Siber pistol shall be used with round balls .330 and linen patch .The powder charge should be 8 grain Swiss powder no1.This was a very expensive pistol when it came out about 1981.I bought mine 1982.With this loading combination it holds a dime at 25 meters.It`s a wonderful pistol,beautifully made by German craftsmen.I was attending the world championship in Madrid Spain at a place called Canto Blanco in 1985 and came 7 with 94 points.The Hege Manton is another option if you want a Flintpistol.The Hege Siber could also be bought with a .44 barrel.

Kind regards
Peter

[Plastikosmd]

Based on this thread from years ago, I picked one of these pistols up. I shot it for the first time today after owning it for several months.
I shot it at 50 yards, hands rested but pistol not. I first tried 10g fffg but that was a bit too low, upped it to 20, not bad. Backed it off to 15 and shot 5 into just over 2". I felt that was a good start. 0.010 spit patch and some 00 buckshot. I'm sure I can tighten it up a bit esp with working with the sights a bit more. All in all, very pleased and it should serve me well over the years

[Marvin S]

Congrats on a fine pistol, I always wanted one but timeing has not been right when one presented itself.

[Plastikosmd]

frankly, I got it and wasnt that interested in it. I almost put it up for sale or trade. This was the first I shot it and was pretty pleased

[Spedini]

I`ve got mine many years ago.10grain Swiss no1 behind wonderlube patched ball produce one inch groups at 30yds.

[Spedini]

Here is one more pic.Enjoy