Ordered Doglock Musket from MH

[scroggwe]

Rather than hijack another post, I decided to start another thread here.

I just ordered the British military doglock musket from Military Heritage. The lady I talked to was very pleasant and helpful. She told me if they have the musket in stock, it will be a shipping time of 5 to 7 days. I've got my fingers crossed that they have it in stock. If not, I will instead order their 1746-style Long Land Pattern Brown Bess. I will eventually order a 1756-style Long Land Pattern and a India Pattern Brown Bess from them or MVTC.

She said if I don't hear back from her, then they have them in stock and she will send out the musket to me.

My goal is to have all versions of the Brown Bess. Love those Brown Bess muskets!!

Can someone tell me how hard it is to drill the vent hole in these muskets and what size drill to use? Does the barrel have to be unbreeched to drill it?

My problem now is a local source of black powder. I just used up the last of my FFg Goex powder. I don't really want to order a minimum of 25 pounds of powder!

 

[scroggwe]

Well, the lady from Military Heritage just called me back and the Military Doglock muskets and the 1742 Long Land Pattern Brown Besses are on backorder. They will be in at the end of February. I told her to keep me on backorder and I will wait for the doglock to come in. I don't mind waiting for a little while, as long as it doesn't turn into several months wait. It's gonna be a long month! In the mean time, I'll just keep shooting my Pedersoli Short Land Pattern and my M1842 Springfield, as long as I can find a source of black powder. My local source of black powder (Rebel Arms in Pasadena, Texas) went out of business last year.

 

[musketman]

Can someone tell me how hard it is to drill the vent hole in these muskets and what size drill to use? Does the barrel have to be unbreeched to drill it?

I would use a 1/32 bit thereabouts, you can always drill larger if needed, it's harder to replace metal than it is to remove it... :winking:

Things to think about when drilling, once through the barrel, care must be taken not to start drilling on the far side of the breech, you can set the drill bit further into the chuck so it won't reach the other side of the barrel, this will help...

You don't need to remove the barrel/breech to do this, just remove the lock so you can get a straight shot at the side of the barrel...

 

[scroggwe]

Thanks for the reply, Musketman. I will take your advice. It looks like I've got a month to wait before I will be drilling the vent hole anyway! It's good to hear that I don't have to remove the breech plug to do it.

 

[musketman]

Now, if you wanted to "cone" the inside of the vent, some would remove the plug to do this...

There may even be a coning tool that you can use from the outside that is stuck through the vent and rotated...

Anywho, we got a month to ponder that...

I'm not sure, but I think I remember someone saying they were indented where the hole needs to be drilled, I will have to search old threads and find out...

 

[Russianblood]

Instead of waiting on a backorder, you may want to call these people and see if they have one in stock:[url] http://www.middlesexvillagetrading.com/NEWmuskets.shtml[/url]

 

[scroggwe]

Thanks Russianblood, but I think I will give MH a chance to get the military doglock in. MVTC has a doglock, but it is not a military version, but a New England fowler.

Are you the same Russianblood that frequents[url] milsurp.com[/url]? I am a member of that forum too. Over there my forum name is Scroggwe. I am also a collector of Mausers, Enfields and Springfields.

Musketman, is coning the vent hole necessary? Does it improve ignition? Oh. the lady from MH told me that they are indeed indented where the vent hole is supposed to be drilled.

 

[musketman]

Musketman, is coning the vent hole necessary? Does it improve ignition?

Some say yes, others say no...

Try it without coning, if it preforms well, let it be, if not, coning may be an option for you to concider...

My bess is not coned and it shoots just fine...

 

[scroggwe]

I have a Pedersoli Short Land Pattern Brown Bess, but I don't know if they have a coned vent hole or not. Mine shoots very well and the accuracy at 50 yards is surprising to me for a smoothie. My lock time seems a little slow, but I think that is because I use FFg for priming.

 

[scroggwe]

Russianblood, I decided to call MVTC and see if they had the doglock New England fowler in stock. They don't! They won't have any for 5 weeks. So I guess I'll just have to wait for my military doglock from Military Heritage. Dadgummit!!

 

[Legionair]

Question, if you don't mind......

What is your experience with Military Heritage.

I've seen their muskets but know nothing of the quality, fit, finish or proofing.

Any opinions you'd like to share???

Legion

 

[Swampman]

If you are interested in best quality, try...
[url] http://www.loyalistarms.freeservers.com/flintlockmatchlocketcmuskets.html[/url]

 

[scroggwe]

I have no experience with Military Heritage, except what I have read here on this forum. They seem to have a good reputation. LA has the same musket that I ordered from MH, but they are $100.00 higher and don't take a credit card.

 

[Rebel]

You might check here. This guy is in the U.S. and is selling the 3rd Model India pattern for $325.
[url] http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976678377.htm[/url]

 

[rschissler]

I have the 2nd model Brown Bess from MH and am pretty happy with it. I think the quality is good except for the bolt threads holding the lock to the stock. I worry that someday the threads are going to become totally stripped, but so far it is holding together okay. The metal parts were highly polished so I dulled them down some. Shipping to CA took twice as long as they said and the packaging was poor. It arrived with the top of the lock sticking out of a hole in the box. Fortunately it wasn't damaged. I think it should have been double boxed.

 

[David Teague]

Question, if you don't mind......

What is your experience with Military Heritage.

I've seen their muskets but know nothing of the quality, fit, finish or proofing.

Any opinions you'd like to share???

Legion

Hello Legion,

So far, members of my history group have bought from both MH and LA... I have found both companies good to deal with, however LA doen't take credit cards, and MH doesn't stock parts... I've heard only good things about Middlesex Village, they take credit cards, ship military muskets with sling,bayonet, and a few other items the other guys don't.

From now on, I'm going to try to steer any of my crew to Middlesex Village as the 1st choice to deal with for all the reasons listed above and their well known customer service & follow up repairs on their products.

:hatsoff:

I will point out that MH, LA, and MVTC all have differant companies making their firearms. They look the same at a glance, but they aren't.

Cheers,

David Teague

 

[weirdjack]

Shipping to CA took twice as long as they said and the packaging was poor. It arrived with the top of the lock sticking out of a hole in the box. Fortunately it wasn't damaged. I think it should have been double boxed.

My Fowler from MVTC was shipped BUBBLE WRAPPED and DOUBLE BOXED! It was packed so well that even the man in Brown could not damage it (I'm sure he tried). And we are talking about a loooooong box (68" length gun).
Jack