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If you don’t need to keep the bluing then save money and just cover the rusty parts in household vinegar for a few days and scrub off the soft black residue. All the brand names are just fancy ways of packaging acids. Vinegar (acetic acid) will do fine if you can wait a few days.

The Rifle Shoppe lists the Enfield Pattern 1851 in their catalogue.

From the son of the original, who does first class moulds, has a suite of past designs and will consider new ones. I recommend his work. Glenn can be contacted through his regular eBay postings and the British Militaria Forum.

Also flagellating a deceased equine, American Loyalists were patriots too. Fighting for their King and Country as they saw it.

I bought mine from plumbers supplies. Sold for sealing threads with tow and putty.

Teak, like Rosewood, is an impromptu trade name for local tropical hardwoods which vaguely resemble the original. Indian reproduction arms are marketed on price (without compromising safety) and so use economical hardwoods available in the local market. Usually the same as available to the...

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Ah yes. Richard Jeffries ‘Beavis, The Story of a Boy’ Which is available as a free ebook. A hardback copy of this gave me my first interest in matchlocks. I have my doubts about the heat shrunk breech though. I must read it again to remind me if it was peened over as well. White hot in a...

Just a brief reminder to non USA readers that these stamping include the Spanish proof marks and removal in some countries render the arm illegal or require reproofing before resale at least.

The ‘Minnie’ was designed to work right out to 900 odd yards and all points between. For practical hunting ranges James Forsyth (free download of his book ‘The Sporting Rifle and it’sProjectiles’ at archive.org) advocated the slow twist patched round ball to allow a flat trajectory up to...

I suspect that your previous owner has filled the patent breech with assorted rust and muck by not cleaning it out. It is a chamber set into the breech of about 1/4” diameter. This would need something like a .22” cleaning rod to enter the patent breech chamber and clean it out. A bore size...

Woollen cloth cartridge bags (particularly shalloon) were used as wool will char rather than burn so there is less of a chance that an ember will be left behind to ignite the next charge. Silk was also used for the same reason. When I used raw wool in unmentionable guns as a filler it would...

The Pritchett is an industrial product as a complete ammunition system, not just a bullet. Home hand making requires much care and the originals were industrially made to fine tolerances and close quality control. They were factory made by the many, many millions for military service, despite...

The iron plug was in the Minie used for the British Pattern 1851 rifle. The Pattern 1853 used boxwood plugs, which were later replaced by clay plugs for economy. The 'Minie' (Burton) used in America was never intended for a plug and anything in the cavity reduces it's accuracy. Claude Minie's...

These were sintered dry clay fired at a low (earthernware) temperature, produced by the many millions for the British army' service 'Pritchett' cartridges in which it made an initial expansion to seal the rear whilst the rest of the bullet set up and obturated the bore. They were soaked in...

The traditional gun flints for these differ from the northern european spall and worked gun flints (and tinder light flints) as detailed in 'On the Flint-Knapper's Art in Albania'. By Evans, Arthur J. which can be viewed and downloaded from On the Flint-Knapper's Art in Albania. It is likely...

Jabberwocky was an excellent Terry Gilliam film with a marvellous comedy performance by Harry H. Corbett with Michael Palin playing the central role of Dennis, the apprentice cooper plus the first class interaction of Max Wall and John Le Mesurier as King Bruno the Questionable and Passelewe his...

The issue with sprue is not the aerodynamic blemish, but that the cast will, inevitably, have a small void near the top from differential cooling of the cast. This gives an inbuilt error of balance of the ball mass centre from the geometric centre. Hence the British Ordnance invested a very...

Is one preserving the history of firearms or the history of the individual gun? I have a Baker Rifle which is percussioned with a drum and nipple. The Baker Rifle history is famous as a flintlock infantry rifle. Should I reconvert it back to the original flintlock to preserve the history of the...

Happy thought.........