Recommendations on a 1861 Springfield kit.

[JakeM]

First off I would like to say hello again from Kansas. It has been awhile since I have been on here and been a few years since I was into black powder.
Having done mountain man rendevoues years ago and using flintlocks I am now interested in building a 1861 Springfield. My question is what kit do you guys recommend, manufacturer, sellers of the kit. Any help would be appreciated and thank you for looking.

Jake

 

[Bearkiller]

1. About the only kit I'm aware of is imported by Traditions https://www.traditionsfirearms.com/...sket-.58-caliber-rifled-build-it-yourself-kit They're fairly new to the market so can't say what the quality is yet. As far as where to buy whoever has the lowest price I guess.

 

[JakeM]

1. About the only kit I'm aware of is imported by Traditions https://www.traditionsfirearms.com/...sket-.58-caliber-rifled-build-it-yourself-kit They're fairly new to the market so can't say what the quality is yet. As far as where to buy whoever has the lowest price I guess.

Bearkiller thank you for the link. I spent sometime on Gunbroker today and comparing this kit and ones offered on broker the price is about the same. This leads me to think that purchasing a complete rifle maybe the way to go. Do you have any opinions on the Traditions kit over a complete rifle like a Armi Sport or Pedersolli?

 

[Bearkiller]

I would say Pedersoli is the better quality.

 

[JakeM]

I would say Pedersoli is the better quality.

Much appreciated information, thank you sir. It has been quite sometime since I looked or been around black powder. I swayed away for awhile and got caught up in Krags and 1903's. My old group I participated with broke up so weekend rendevoues quit.

 

[Trot]

The Traditions kit is made by Armisport. Pedersoli is probably a little more authentic but more costly than the Armisport. The Armisport is a decent enough gun, so it is a question of if you want to go the extra money.

 

[Cowboy]

Bearkiller thank you for the link. I spent sometime on Gunbroker today and comparing this kit and ones offered on broker the price is about the same. This leads me to think that purchasing a complete rifle maybe the way to go. Do you have any opinions on the Traditions kit over a complete rifle like a Armi Sport or Pedersolli?

There is one in the classified’s here on the forum. Priced to sell for $500.

Don’t know if it’s still available? Couple of other members seemed to be very interested.

Might want to contact seller to see if it’s still available my friend?

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[hawkeye2]

The Navy Arms in the classified is a '63. If it's still avaliable buy it now DO NOT HESITATE!

 

[Melnic]

HOLD OFF ON a TRADITIONS I say.

I say this cause I ordered an 1853 Enfield kit from muzzle-loaders.com It came in about a week. They shipped the barrel set into the stock instead of being seperate. When I saw it I thought "that is stupid", Well, it was. The barrel banged around while being shipped and chipped a part of the stock to the side of the tang. Any high spot on the top of that wood will make it easily chip. They should have at least inserted a foam pad or something. I had contacted Traditions on Dec 7 after muzzle-loaders.com told me that is where I needed to go. I was VERY patient even though I lost precious build time over the holidays. I called again today and got one guy, but refered me to the girl I was talking to. He thought that the delay might be because they have no spare stocks yet. Well I"m getting rather upset to say the least that other people are getting new guns shipped but I have to wait for a stock? Come next week, I"ll be issuing a charge back from my credit card company.

 

[8 BORE]

To many BAD reports on Traditions.
Best to stay away. Look around you can what you want either kit or finished

 

[Poboy]

To many BAD reports on Traditions.
Best to stay away. Look around you can what you want either kit or finished

Gosh, I hope not. Just bought a .50 cal Hawken percussion rifle kit of theirs from Midway last night.

I bought a .50 cal Kentucky percussion long rifle from Cabelas a couple of weeks ago and other than just taking it out of the package and playing around test fitting the inletting to see how much fitting would be required, I haven't messed with it, but it seems to be O.K.

 

[JakeM]

Gosh, I hope not. Just bought a .50 cal Hawken percussion rifle kit of theirs from Midway last night.

I bought a .50 cal Kentucky percussion long rifle from Cabelas a couple of weeks ago and other than just taking it out of the package and playing around test fitting the inletting to see how much fitting would be required, I haven't messed with it, but it seems to be O.K.

I have been researching on my spare time this past week about the Traditions kit. The kit seems to be fine but for about the same price maybe a little more I can purchase a complete rifle off of Gunbroker. This is the route I chose to go as there are many to choose from and I believe a few were Pedersolis.

 

[8 BORE]

Gun Broker sucks

 

[Stantheman86]

The Pedersoli 1861's are pretty much Euroarms......Pedersoli bought Euroarms when they went under and simply used the tooling and leftover parts to make the old Euroarms line.

That said I have an older Euroarms .54 Mississippi that shoots baseball sized groups at 200 with .54 Minie balls.......so definitely look into a Pedersoli.

Chiappa/Armi-Sport is ok, I read that they make their 1842 Springfields top notch, because both the rifled and smooth bore versions are heavily used in competition all over the world......so that know where their bread is buttered, so to speak.

The Armi-Sport 1861's and Enfields are not made to the same standard as the 1842's.

All Pedersoli is not the same either, they make a very high end "Silver Line" and then the old Euroarms rifles......also, I don't believe the molybdenum alloy they use in their cartridge rifles is used in the muzzleloaders. So.....don't be like I almost was, reading about how there's an alloy pioneered by the Germans for the MG42, that's only used by Sako, Pedersoli and some other companies ....but I see that as going into their Sharps barrels, not an 1861 Springfield

 

[toupiny]

The Pedersoli 1861's are pretty much Euroarms......Pedersoli bought Euroarms when they went under and simply used the tooling and leftover parts to make the old Euroarms line.

That said I have an older Euroarms .54 Mississippi that shoots baseball sized groups at 200 with .54 Minie balls.......so definitely look into a Pedersoli.

Chiappa/Armi-Sport is ok, I read that they make their 1842 Springfields top notch, because both the rifled and smooth bore versions are heavily used in competition all over the world......so that know where their bread is buttered, so to speak.

The Armi-Sport 1861's and Enfields are not made to the same standard as the 1842's.

All Pedersoli is not the same either, they make a very high end "Silver Line" and then the old Euroarms rifles......also, I don't believe the molybdenum alloy they use in their cartridge rifles is used in the muzzleloaders. So.....don't be like I almost was, reading about how there's an alloy pioneered by the Germans for the MG42, that's only used by Sako, Pedersoli and some other companies ....but I see that as going into their Sharps barrels, not an 1861 Springfield

I have had a 1861 Springfield from Pedersoli for three years now and I can confirm that it is a well built and good quality product. I prefer the 1861 to the 1863 since the later does not use spring locks for the barrel band but screw tightened bands: it can move. Pretty decent accuracy with 70 gr of FFG and a 530 gr minie ball molded from a Lee mold.

 

[Poboy]

I have been researching on my spare time this past week about the Traditions kit. The kit seems to be fine but for about the same price maybe a little more I can purchase a complete rifle off of Gunbroker. This is the route I chose to go as there are many to choose from and I believe a few were Pedersolis.

You're no fun at all. It does suck that the kits are nearly full gun price and you can buy a complete modern scoped blackpowder sabot shooter for 1/2 that, but I enjoy tinkering with them and the challenge of traditional blackpowder firearms, especially when it comes to hunting with them.

I built a CVA .45 cal percussion Kentucky @ 20 years ago, and shot it in and worked up a load and adjusted the sights, but then raising a daughter got in the way, and I still haven't killed anything with it, but I just don't get to hunt much, especially since I spent my free time over those years catching literally tons of fish.

Soooo, I'm just getting back into BP.

 

[Stantheman86]

People on GunJoker are asking $700 for reenactor thrashed Armi Sport 61 Springfields......what a joke. Everyone who is looking for used 1861 Springfield repros is probably involved in this thread ...the average Joe isn't snapping up used repro military muzzleloaders.

Just get a complete Pedersoli, it's the way to go. You can tweak or defarb it, etc but the kits are like what, $50 less?

 

[Trot]

Boy the price of these has really gone up since I bought any. Looking around a little, the best prices I saw, $798 for a kit, $862 for an Armi sport complete, and $1,095 for a Pedersoli.

 

[Stantheman86]

I'm only 38 and I remember seeing Navy Arms Zouaves for like $350 in the late 90's Shotgun News......I think I paid like $500 for my first muzzleloader , an Armi Sport 1861 in 2003.

I understand inflation but Lord come on now , $1200 for a repro musket??

 

[Trot]

I paid $420 for my Armi sport 1861, and the same for an 1842. You can literally buy an original cheaper now.