Hey Everyone,
There seems to be a lot of people blowin' smoke on some of the forum's threads.
I was at a 1812 re-enactment this month and a group of us did a comparison of 3rd Model Brown Bess Muskets. Guess what?
The muskets offered by Middlesex Village Trading and Discriminating General ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. No diff. Identical.
Someone had a Loyalist bess and it was clunky and completely different from MV and DG.
I am surprised no one has figured this out on the forum. So I phoned a guy at the Discriminating General and he confirmed Middlesex Village Trading uses the SAME manufacturer. Some of muskets are exclusive to MV and some to DG ... and some they share. Go figure.
At the re-enactment there was a gunsmith Les(?) from a company called Lion's Den Arms and Antiques who sold both DG and Loyalist muskets. We got to chatting and I ask him which is better? He said DG hands down...or should I say DG/MV.
So now when I am reading a review for MV or DG I now treat them as the same. I got a DG bess and it has been good to me so far after 4-500 rounds. Sure Pedersoli seems better, but who has 1500.00 to drop on a musket? At the event I would say over half the re-enactors had DG/MV besses.
Maybe someone could call MV to see if they will admit they use the same manufacture as the Discriminating General? My phone bill is gettin brutal.
Jake in the Lake.