Middlesex Village Trading

[cjbrown_2000]

:thumbsup: +3

 

[MacRob46]

Gregg...

That is a loaded question. The Pedersoli Bess, I have one by the way, is a good buy in the $1000 range. It is not completely authentic but it looks good and from my experience they shoot well. Aside from that you do not have a lot of good production stuff to pick from. If you are going to do nothing but re-enact and fire blanks then one of the Indian-made muskets will do just understand that they are worth what they cost and many have some problems that have to be resolved to make them useful at all.

On the other end of the spectrum, you can find custom made Besses at places like Track of the Wolf. The best are assembled from parts provided by The Rifle Shoppe but they are REALLY expensive - talking $2000 and up! If you can check out Track's archives you will see what I am talking about.

Your other alternative is Gun Broker or some other site which sells used guns, including Besses. I don't visit them often so do not know what is available or prices but you might find a bargain by looking there.

Good luck.

 

[tiger13]

I have had two of their India pattern Besses, one was stolen, one I still have. I have not had any problems with either one of them. They are reliable, and I find them well made for the price. You cannot call then historically accurate, as they are clunky, but for a good reasonably priced musket, they are good. Pete stands by the locks, should something go wrong, as long as you have maintained it, like kept it clean, and oiled, he will repair it for free. There are several importers of Indian muskets out there, but MVTC uses a proprietary builder, so they have a good quality musket. I recommend them

 

[greggholmes]

Thats a good question, I was mainly looking for a used one, but im a Geo Metro guy not a Rolls Royce.

 

[RICK54]

I picked up my MVT brown bess used but never fired for under 400.00 that to me was a very good price but back to your question the 650.00 range for me but to each there own.

 

[spudnut]

Enjoy it I have a 1717 and the cookson fowler.Both had to be tuned a bit AND harden the sear and tumbler but they spark and shoot well.I double loaded the 1717 while on a woodswalk(pay attention while loading)and it handled it fine and still shoots great.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

The lock is held in place by a WOOD SCREW???? Please post a picture of that. I have never seen such a thing on a Pedersoli gun of any kind. Did it come from the factory that way or did someone mess with it?

Both the Pedersoli trade gun and the frontier rifle, aka the Cabela's Blue Ridge Hunter come from the factory using a single bolt to hold the lock, AND a small wood screw in front of the frizzen spring, to retain the lock. This has been the case for at least 18 years.

The problem is that when one goes to service the interior of the lock, one must be very careful not to strip out the wood for this tiny screw, otherwise it would be lost, and then you'd have a hole allowing moisture to enter the lock mortise. Completely unnecessary to boot, not to mention the case coloring on either lock is also incorrect and unnecessary.

LD

 

[Ike Godsey]

here is a pic from Pedersolis "Frontier" rifle.
notice the little screw right side of the frizzen spring.

ike

 

[spudnut]

I had two frontier rifles in my history.The first didn't have this screw and to my surprise the first time I cleaned the second had it :youcrazy: screwy

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Thanks for the pic Ike! Here is a photo of the trade gun lock on the Pedersoli in an unfinished kit. You can see the screw in front of the frizzen spring.

LD

 

[Ike Godsey]

LD,

it is strange anyway. today i stumbled across a pic from the Pedersoli "Lott" rocklock. it was offered as a spare part for custom builder here in germany.

the lock does not have the front screw:

plus the fact, that a friend of mine owns that Pedersoli Trade Gun and it has two screws entering from the left - the gun is right out of the box and not altered in any way...

ike