Recommendations on a 1861 Springfield kit.

[Stantheman86]

I've seen Hoyt barrel 1861's for $1400, I'm like, why buy a Pedersoli then?

 

[hawkeye2]

I've seen Hoyt barrel 1861's for $1400, I'm like, why buy a Pedersoli then?

If you shop around you can buy Hoyt lined or rebarreled 61s for far less and You can find originals for less. An original '61 with a decent bore is an excelent shooter and will appreciate unlike a repro. I'm afraid I wouldn't pay the OTC price for any Italian CW firearm no matter who made it.

 

[Stantheman86]

The Italian stuff priced itself out of the market....

It's like this, in my opinion....the market segment who's looking for original and repro military muzzleloading firearms is shrinking......sure there's still young shooters who like history and muskets, etc but not many.

Reenactment participation is plummeting, again young people don't care and the old heads are getting too old to do it anymore. Case in point the owner of the muzzleloading shop near me does the NSSA stuff but hes 75 ,hes gonna retire at some point and no one is gonna keep that shop open.

The European market (which still has a huge muzzleloading following mainly due to gun laws, like England and Italy) and a few thousand fanatical history buff Americans are what keep Pedersoli making the repros, plus the competition aspect for Buffalo Shoots etc still keeps demand for Sharps rifles up.

Prices go up because fewer people are buying them, and fewer people want originals. The bubble kinda popped for old guns 10 years ago , some people just haven't realized it. I've seen the same 03A3 Springfield sitting at my gun shop for $1500 , no one is paying that.

Ask a tacticool range goer with his AR if he'd like to shoot a musket and he'd probably be like "isn't that stuff for muzzleloader season" those kids dont care about that stuff. I was shooting my P-H musketoon last month and this guy is like , are you zeroing it for deer season? I'm like , no, just trying out these paper cartridges I made and hes like "lol ok , see ya" could care less

 

[hawkeye2]

Sadly that's pretty close to the truth. If they can't do it with 2 thumbs they don't give a darn about it.

 

[Badgerfarm]

Try looking on the North-South Skirmish Assoc. website and maybe post a wanted ad there. I've been a member of the site for years but live too far away from that region to participate plus my disabilities would make it impossible to skirmish on a team. They are a treasure trove of information on that period of weapons and have a great support base. The Italian repros go for reasonable prices sometimes and it is possible to catch an original 61 from time to time that has been made from correct period parts. They are sticklers for authenticity and have a great bunch of guys on there for information.

 

[ikesdad]

Also some listed at civilwartalk. There's also some online gun dealers that have that sort of thing, which is where I found my P-H 1858.

 

[Rat]

I bought my Armi-Sport 1861 for $400, from an online dealer, I don't remember who, and it is absolutely top-notch quality. I think it is just an often repeated rumor that the Armi-Sports are of less quality than any others.

I would certainly not purchase any rifle that was, or that I suspected was, ever used by a re-enactor. They are usually very badly used, abused and neglected.

 

[Artificer]

Admittedly, this info is dated as I had to stop going to NSSA Spring and Fall National Championship shoots in 2005. At that time, Armi-Sport guns were not as good as Euro Arms in both the quality of the lock parts and shooting qualities of the barrels. So I only suggested reenactors buy them, who shot mostly or only blank loads - as a less expensive way to get into UnCivil War period reenacting. If Armi-Sport has improved since then, that's a good thing.

Gus

 

[Rat]

I sure wish I could pass my 1861 around the room. It's probably been around ten to fifteen years since I picked it up, in new/unfired condition. I swear no one could find any fault with this rifle, other than it might not be configured exactly like an original, or being a good candidate for "defarbing". And it is a shooter, with both round ball or a 456 grain REAL over 100 grains of fffg. Workmanship, finish, etc. really is "top notch". Serial number is S106XX if that can tell you when it was produced. ?