Kirtland from middlesex village arms

[tenngun]

Toss one treat to several chickens, enjoy the show. Same thing happens if you ask about short ranger muskets amoung a buch of dyed in the capote front stuffers.
Middlesex village offers a kirtland short custom officers fusil. It looks like a scaled down 2ed model bess. They have the original a .56 cal short bess sans bayonet lug fitted with a brass sight that they used as a guide. The side plate is a fancy,not trade gun style, dragon a tad bigger then the origial. The wrist is fitted with the acorn, as was the original. The familar swell found onthe forarm. I have heard a lot of good things about MSV and no complaints. I understand them to rework indian guns before selling. This post isnt about good or bad arms makers, though I think the 2ed model bess to be the best looking military arm ever made,I have no use for one. This is about the non-existent but seeming to exist in at least one case ranger musket???
Any way the gun is easy on the eyes, a out of the ordinary fusil, a round peg in our squre hole reinactments.

 

[sooter76]

I've looked at it. I like it... I've considered picking one up as I want a cheap Brown Bess to play with at the range, but I think I've gonna go with the full size model.

 

[AZbpBurner]

If you mean the Ketland .62 cal "Officer's Fusil", I have one and it's now my favorite musket. Short, light weight, accurate and points easily.

But the journey to favorite was long and torturous. India-made guns should be considered kit guns, and the wood needs stripping, a little shaping and finishing to make it look nicer. I used Laurel Mountain Forge American walnut & it comes out a nice, dark reddish brown. The brass needed a little fit & finish, but it's a beauty now. That's the good news.

The bad is that I've been unable to get Pete or his wife Wendy to respond to any communications, ever since I returned the lock for work - it froze up after firing about a dozen rounds. The sear was bent, and the tumbler was also soft, unhardened metal - took several months for Pete to "fix" it, and the metal was still soft. After I simply surface hardened the sear & tumbler myself, it is now smooth & reliable. The Frizzen sparks better than any of my rifles, and now that I have all the defects worked out, it's reliable & great fun to shoot.

Before you consider ordering one, see if you can get the Middlesex folks to actually communicate with you. I've the impression from their continued silence that they may be ready to fold, or there are other health issues or whatever that are impeding their business. I even offered to surface harden sear & tumbler sets for him, but never heard a peep for reply. Also, questions about a Baker Rifle (for another purchase from them) went unanswered.

Be sure to pay via Credit Card, so you have leverage if they take payment & there are unforseen problems. Also, be aware that they are apparently clueless about hardening internal lock parts.

 

[nightwolf1974]

he seems to get a bit testy. and takes forever to respond to emails. going there myself next day off I get.

 

[AZbpBurner]

he seems to get a bit testy. and takes forever to respond to emails. going there myself next day off I get.

Testy and also appears, according to my experience, inept. He claims to always be oh-so-busy working on locks continually returned to him by re-enactors. If all his locks have internals as soft as mine, you'd think an intelligent person would quickly come to develop the expertise (simple task) to remedy the problem, if for no other reason than to cut down on his work load a lot. I even volunteered to help, so apparently he's too stubborn, or obtuse to admit there's a product problem, or maybe he just likes to complain about how busy he is. Either way, he's lost my confidence, & the only way I'd consider another purchase from him would be on an as-is basis, knowing I'm on my own to get it fixed correctly and in a timely manner. IMO,he's got no business sense, and is doing little to promote positive aspects of India-made guns. His "lifetime warranty" is just empty mumbo jumbo without substance.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Actually, I think his entire staff left, and so he's flying solo these days, so compared to 24 months ago, he IS rather busy.

LD

 

[nwtradegun]

well I wont be sendin my bess lock to him

 

[Donny]

Well, I can see how a small business can sour on customers, if they send in a box of locks every year for "tuning". Some probably needed it, but many did not? ? ?

 

[azmntman]

If they didnt need it simply quick check, re-pack wait about a week and return. The guy thinks it took only a week to tune and is happy and has a "tuned" lock :idunno: Business is not that hard to run, been self employed 30 years w/o advertising (though the economy these days has crimped my style pretty hard

One thing I learned when yer as slammed as can be and behind....most important thing is to return calls and e-mails. DONT ignore yer clientele!

 

[AZbpBurner]

Well, I can see how a small business can sour on customers, if they send in a box of locks every year for "tuning". Some probably needed it, but many did not? ? ?

If he "tunes" locks like he did mine, then he's creating unnecessary work for himself by not doing it correctly. No reason he should have such a high work load if he would do it right the first time.

No sympathy for him & not likely any repeat business from me, either.

 

[Mickc01]

If you mean the Ketland .62 cal "Officer's Fusil", I have one and it's now my favorite musket. Short, light weight, accurate and points easily.

But the journey to favorite was long and torturous. India-made guns should be considered kit guns, and the wood needs stripping, a little shaping and finishing to make it look nicer. I used Laurel Mountain Forge American walnut & it comes out a nice, dark reddish brown. The brass needed a little fit & finish, but it's a beauty now. That's the good news.

hotoSmile: Would love to see your re-worked, re-finished fusil. Thanks!!

 

[spudnut]

That's too bad I bought several guns from him when he was starting out, flintlockrepair.com does great work on India locks

 

[Grenadier]

I tried no less than six times over the course of a month to purchase a flintlock from MSVT last spring. Emails and voicemails were ignored for weeks, never received a response. I have stopped sending people to them for purchases and now send them to Veteran Arms or Loyalist.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Look to a vendor who sells American made guns. I'll betcha the response will be much better.

 

[daoliver924]

Earl use to work for Pete at MSV

 

[AZbpBurner]

I tried no less than six times over the course of a month to purchase a flintlock from MSVT last spring. Emails and voicemails were ignored for weeks, never received a response. I have stopped sending people to them for purchases and now send them to Veteran Arms or Loyalist.

I did business with Loyalist and was impressed with their communication skills and sense of timeliness. Their Fusil de Chasse is a good preassembled kit gun, needing a lot of fitting & finishing, but the lock is much better quality than MVT's. Longer& heavier, the ugly club butt is extremely comfortable to shoot. Comfort over beauty is the winner here. Nevertheless, for an easy to carry field musket, I prefer the Ketland Fusil. I would do business with Loyalist again in a heartbeat & recommend them highly.