1803 Harpers Ferry rifle

[Rebel]

Anyone have any experience with this rifle? I am thinking of getting one that was made by Euroarms. It is .54 cal. Do the locks work ok on them? Do they spark well? Any pros and cons would be appreciated before i commit to buying it. Thanks.

 

[Ohio Joe]

Rebel,,, I'm probably not much help, but I did have a chance to look one over at Rendezvous, last year... I couldn't even tell you the guy's name who had it, but I felt it lacked something??? I think it was the trigger guard and nose ring that looked rather,,, well, cheap... The overall appearence didn't strike me as a, seven or eight hundred dollar rifle... Sorry I can't be of more help...

 

[Rebel]

Thanks Joe. The one i am bidding on i wouldn't go more than $300-$325 for. I am also looking at an Antonio Zoli Zouave.. Don't know anything about them either. Thanks again. Take care.

 

The Zoli Zouave I had back in the 70's was a well made, mass produced military arm. It appeared to be as good as any of them & shot well indeed with patched ball. With them, it was very accurate, shooting much tighter groups than with minnies.

 

[Rebel]

Thanks Daryl. I want to get a .58 for elk. Not sure which one i want to go with though. Have heard both good and bad about the Harpers Ferry. Seems i heard they had lock or frizzen problems. I have enough problems with flinters without getting one that has problems to begin with. Thanks again. Take care.

 

[mark starr]

I just picked up an 1803 Harpers ferry rifle journey of discovery Lewis and Clark Comm. Ido not know if euroarms puts more work into thesemodels or not But I am more than satasified.The rifle is as well built as the custom gun I have the frizzen sparks well after 30 rounds theflint is in good shape And I will get some more shots out of it. All in all it is a good solidwell built rifle with smooth lines and a nice finish it will go elk hunting wiht me this fall.cya Many Holes

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

I had one - nice gun but the trigger guard seemed just not quite the right shape to me. Never even fired it but sold it to get other gun I wanted. Lock seemed to spark OK though...

 

[Rebel]

Thanks for the info Many Holes. I have never handled one, so don't know what to expect from them. Take care.

 

[Rebel]

Thanks LEJ. Right now i am trying to decide between it and the .58 Zouave for an elk gun. Take care.

 

[connerm]

I have one of the brazilian replicas. It was like new when I got it last year. I've shot it at least 200 times. I'm not happy with the lock performance. Doesn't have a set trigger either. Seems this design lacks the internal "fly" that has been discussed here previously. Double throated cock design means jaw geometry cannot be tweaked. Properly fitting flints are impossible to find. I prefer the look of a full stock. The 1803 is half stock. The ramrod as supplied is practically useless. My ramrod was not even drilled and tapped. After having some work done, it does ignite reliably and is pretty accurate. I think dealers/suppliers are asking three times what they're actually worth. Knowing what I know now about mine, I wouldn't buy another at any price. That being said, I wouldn't sell mine off either...I don't know if I dislike anyone that much. If I had it to do over, I'd take a pass on the 1803 and buy one of the major brand name flinters.

 

[Rebel]

Thank you for the info Luddite. It seems i hear more cons than pros about them. Thanks again. Take care.

 

I had a San Paolo or something 1803 HF in .54. It was my first flintlock and it shot great! I wish I still had it. I replaced the awful sights with Kentucky style which helped a lot. I sold/traded it to some guys who always set up their sutlers tent at most of the events around here ( Fort deChartres, Ft. Massac etc.) That was a year ago and they still have it for sale. They're asking too much for it, I think about 600 bucks or so. The Octogon to round barrel and the pushbutton patchbox were cool features. The brass strap around the end of the forestock looked a bit flimsy though. I thought it would be a good mountain man rifle but I gained more interest in the F&I period now.

 

1803 Harper's Ferry or a .58 Zoavue? Mixing apples and oranges today arn't we? Either should be good for elk if you do your part. All replicas are not created equil, as you have seen from the posts. You'll have to learn enough to know what you are looking at before you buy either of them. Only part of that can be done on the computer. The rest will involve handling several examples for comparison before making a decision. Then the work begins, load development and practice. Almost every gun has to be tweeked for best performance. Neither of your selections is a target rifle, but should be adiquite for hunting.
Do not expect to buy the gun based on computer advice, get load data from one of the shooters on line, load the gun up on the first morning of hunting season and get flawless functioning and accuracy. Normally it dosen't work that way.

 

[connerm]

Yeah, I also had to replace the rear sight.

 

[Rebel]

Yea, i know they are worlds apart in fuction. And i do know a bit about this sport, been at it since '72, so i have learned a few things. I know all about load development and such. Just that i have no hands on experience with either model and was looking for some USEFUL input. I also know about tweeking them to get the best performance. Seems that guns aren't the only things that need a little tweek now and then. Thank ya kindly for your Words of Wisdom. By the way, the ones i am thinking about are on Auctions, so hands on testing is out of the question until after it is bought.

 

[tg]

I have heard everything from the highest praise to the worst cussin' about the 1803 from a range of makers, I would suggest to proceed with caution.... ya don't figure ya can get close enough with that Early English smoothie...

 

[Rebel]

Don't have the Early English anymore. Had to sell it. I got a mould today for my double .72 smoothbore. Going to see if i can get both barrels on it shooting good enough to use for elk if i can't get anything else before the next season.

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

Rebel,

I don't have a clue about your Oregon game regs but in Washington you can only have one barrel loaded at a time...

 

[Rebel]

LEJ, same here during the special ML'er season, but i plan to use it during the general rifle season, so it don't matter then.

 

Whitworth fluid steel 12 bore with balls,(.725 bore) I found 150gr. 2F GOEX with shot-cup bases to hold the ball centred in the barrel, with overshot wad, put them side by side at 100yds. and into 6" with regularity. This type of accuracy from a smoothbored double is better then many double rifles of the same period and earlier. Don't cut load prep early - keep experimenting & you may luck into an execptional load. I tried undersized balls as in .684" but they were much inferior to the .715's, spraying all over the 14" square target with no hint as to where the next would print. By that I mean it crossed, diverged, shot low and high- nothing regular. The 150gr. load as described was trustworhty enough for deer at 100yds. I installed express-type sights on the rib- Cool!