military heritage guns...

[txjon]

Anyone ever seen one of the guns sold by Military Heritage... or veteranarms ??

Wondering what the quality is like... the prices are that of my 3 band enfield I bought in the late 80's

 

[Ranger1759]

Stay away from MH....very low on the India scale....soft metal lock part, touch hole not drilled....if you need a decent India made gun, look at Loyalist Arms....prices are roughly about the same, and the quality is much, much better.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I stay away from any gun where the touch hole is not drilled, even if made with an American barrel. For when you convert a gun from a non-firing condition to firing condition, even if it's sold with the intent that you should fire it..., you assume all liability. That's my opinion based on a couple of decades dealing with the law and lawyers... of course every state is different.

When the gun comes pre-drilled by the maker/importer, and they sell it to be fired, they have some of the liability, regardless of the origins of the parts. The user too has some liability for user-error accounts for most of the accidents with ML firearms.

LD

 

[yakimaman]

see this thread on Indian made guns
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/274978/

 

[okawbow]

Veteran Arms sends the guns ready to shoot. Mine came with the touch hole correctly drilled, and a good flint installed. The frizzen was hardened, and the lock sparked great. The owner gives an inspection period with a refund if you don't like the gun. The shipping cost is also reasonable.

All the India guns will have less than perfect fit or finish. I reworked the stock on my 1728 French infantry musket I bought from him in January. It was ok when It came, but I wanted the stock to look a little more PC. My gun shoots reliably and accurately. I took a nice deer in the late January season, and have a turkey load worked out for next week.

 

[KABAR2]

I have a friend who just purchased two from Vetern arms I have been building black powder guns since the 70's and collecting originals about as long..... he purchased a doglock blunderbuss very well made barrel and lock the quality of the stock is o.k. .... we are not talking CNC machined wood here..... the other is one of the grenade launchers the fit of the sear to tumbler was off a little I was able to make things better with the dremmel and a file.... after seeing these I wouldn't be afraid to purchase These are probably the closest you will get to how a gun was made in the 18th Century for the price....go to their web site see what they say about proofing....
http://veteranarms.com/ReproductionMuzzleloadersandFlintlocks/Veteran-Arms-LLC.html

 

[Alden]

Military Heritage (The Discriminating General), I have said, seems to sell India "seconds"* and have no idea what they are doing by and large even when they escalate an issue. Dangerous and embarassing. The guy who runs it is a seamstress, OK?

Veterans? NP, and one of us.

*Think about how bad that is for a moment -- it should take, well, a second to make up your mind.

 

[claidemore]

I bought a Short Land Brown Bess musket from Military Heritage. Here's my story: I faxed the order as per suggestion on the website and waited. After 5 weeks, several emails and numerous failed attempts to contact them by phone, I faxed them a second time, cancelling my order. The order was filled that very day, I got a phone call confirming it had shipped, and it got here 3 days later!
"the fear of loss is more powerful than the desire for gain!"
I'm happy with the musket. I expected to have to tinker with the lock,(in fact I was looking forward to it, figured this was the least expensive way to learn how to tune a lock). Took a bunch of steel off the mainspring to get it down to about 12 lbs, and took a LOT of steel off the frizzen spring to get it down to about 4 lbs. Took some roughness off the sear and tumbler, and drilled the touch hole 1/16 of an inch.
Measured the barrel in several spots with a vernier caliper, proof fired it, and there was no change in measurements. I have since put 70 rounds through it.
I also have a Pedersoli trade musket. Comparing the two, the Pedersoli is better fitted, the lock parts are much nicer and better finished, the lock required no tuning, but I did have to put a wee bend in the barrel as it was shooting about 10 inches right at 25 yards. It's spot on now.
On the MH Bess the stock pins actually are fitted better than on the Pedersoli, and it is a more reliable shooter. It sparks better and of course doesn't have that ridiculous patent breech.
The deciding factor when I ordered my Bess was price, and if you check the MH website you will see that they have recently made their prices very competitive. It was my first flinter, I bought it to see if I would like it, and now I'm hooked!
I have no experience with the other India musket retailers, but I intend to order a 1728 French musket from Loyalist someday soon, and will be interested to see if there is a big difference in quality, because there is certainly a big difference in price.
Cheers.

 

[Matt85]

i would recomend Veteran arms, i have spoken with the owner on several occasions (via email) and he runs an honest outfit. in fact i intend to buy a matchlock from him as soon as he gets them back in stock. ive also heard good things about flintlockrepair.com but i havent dealt with them personally.

i would not recomend loyalist arms due to the trouble i had with them and the musket i bought from them. however, they are still better then military heritage. steer clear of any company that does not sell guns with predrilled touch holes!

-matt