I'm still terribly new to all this, so forgive my ignorance, but two weeks ago I picked up the 1777 Pattern French Musket from MVTC and figured I'd tell others of the experience and my initial impressions of the gun.
Being in Mass and restricted by the idiocy of our gun laws, I arranged to visit Pete and Wendy in NH. This also allowed me to see the gun first and decide what I thought. As they mention on their site, they have no storefront, but they are very friendly folks and welcomed my lady and I into their home. Found the place with little trouble assuming you are used to directions like “turn off the paved road.”
Pete and I talked for a good long time about guns, about what I intended to use mine for, and about the pieces he had. I was very impressed with his knowledge as well as his patience when I had questions. I’m no old hat at this, but Pete has this down pat. He showed me a variety of period pieces, showed me some of their new ones, pointed out where they’d improved things, etc. It never felt like a sales pitch, it honestly seemed like he was letting his guns sell themselves. Instead he was one interested firearm fan talking to another. My lady ended up entertaining his daughter for the whole time, though the tyke is so cute she didn’t mind in the least, a feat for her. I decided I would pick up the 1777 as it fit for the Continental persona I’m working up and it is such a beautiful piece of French engineering.
The gun itself seems, to my limited experience, well made. Heavy, yes, though some of that lies with the weight of Teak, the wood the stock is made from. As has been mentioned elsewhere there is excess in wood though not as much as I had expected and none around the lock. The fittings and the lock sit flush with the stock in almost every spot. The color of the stock is a little off and if people have addressed this before I’d love thoughts on it. I’ll be stripping the gun soon and taking down a little extra wood, I’d love to change the color at that time. Of course, it’s teak, so that could be tough.
Action is a little stiff, though I suspect that will ease with time and use, a little, but it is not problematic at all. If my lady can operate it without difficulty, that’s a good sign. I haven’t yet had a chance to take it out and fire, though I mostly bought it for demonstrations and reenactment so it won’t do a lot of live firing. I will put a few balls through it in the least once I have the opportunity. Once that happens I’ll post my thoughts here. The metal work is impressive. I’m no gunsmith, but I am a blacksmith, and I’ve seen the degrees of work to come out of India. This is certainly among the best. Clean work throughout. The ramrod is a little loose, but that’s nothing new in my experience, and it doesn’t slide free when inverted. The bayonet (included) is of the locking style and decent, though I’ll do a little dressing of it once my forge is back up.
As I’m not the expert that so many here are, I can’t give a much better review of the musket, for which I apologize, but as far as customer service I really liked dealing with MVTC. I will say that it is FAR better to call than e-mail them as they seem to be slow in that regard, but Pete and Wendy both seem genuinely concerned in keeping their customers happy. I have little doubt that they’ll work to address any problems I encounter.
Being in Mass and restricted by the idiocy of our gun laws, I arranged to visit Pete and Wendy in NH. This also allowed me to see the gun first and decide what I thought. As they mention on their site, they have no storefront, but they are very friendly folks and welcomed my lady and I into their home. Found the place with little trouble assuming you are used to directions like “turn off the paved road.”
Pete and I talked for a good long time about guns, about what I intended to use mine for, and about the pieces he had. I was very impressed with his knowledge as well as his patience when I had questions. I’m no old hat at this, but Pete has this down pat. He showed me a variety of period pieces, showed me some of their new ones, pointed out where they’d improved things, etc. It never felt like a sales pitch, it honestly seemed like he was letting his guns sell themselves. Instead he was one interested firearm fan talking to another. My lady ended up entertaining his daughter for the whole time, though the tyke is so cute she didn’t mind in the least, a feat for her. I decided I would pick up the 1777 as it fit for the Continental persona I’m working up and it is such a beautiful piece of French engineering.
The gun itself seems, to my limited experience, well made. Heavy, yes, though some of that lies with the weight of Teak, the wood the stock is made from. As has been mentioned elsewhere there is excess in wood though not as much as I had expected and none around the lock. The fittings and the lock sit flush with the stock in almost every spot. The color of the stock is a little off and if people have addressed this before I’d love thoughts on it. I’ll be stripping the gun soon and taking down a little extra wood, I’d love to change the color at that time. Of course, it’s teak, so that could be tough.
Action is a little stiff, though I suspect that will ease with time and use, a little, but it is not problematic at all. If my lady can operate it without difficulty, that’s a good sign. I haven’t yet had a chance to take it out and fire, though I mostly bought it for demonstrations and reenactment so it won’t do a lot of live firing. I will put a few balls through it in the least once I have the opportunity. Once that happens I’ll post my thoughts here. The metal work is impressive. I’m no gunsmith, but I am a blacksmith, and I’ve seen the degrees of work to come out of India. This is certainly among the best. Clean work throughout. The ramrod is a little loose, but that’s nothing new in my experience, and it doesn’t slide free when inverted. The bayonet (included) is of the locking style and decent, though I’ll do a little dressing of it once my forge is back up.
As I’m not the expert that so many here are, I can’t give a much better review of the musket, for which I apologize, but as far as customer service I really liked dealing with MVTC. I will say that it is FAR better to call than e-mail them as they seem to be slow in that regard, but Pete and Wendy both seem genuinely concerned in keeping their customers happy. I have little doubt that they’ll work to address any problems I encounter.
