which bess

[old hop]

I'm looking to buy a bess to add to my colection. I've not had any pedorselli's or any india guns. I was looking at Middlesex longland bess mainly for price. I'm on a fixed income and money is tight. I hunt twice a week for small game and deer when season allows. What kind of feed back is out there on the guns re: frizzens and and springs.

 

[Rebel]

From what i have heard the India guns have strong springs, in fact Pete at Middlesex guarantees them for i think a year. The frizzens are good sparkers, a friend of mine has one of the Loyalist Arms 1740's .20 ga guns, and it sparks real well. From what i hear also, Pete kind of does his own inspection of the guns he gets, and only takes those that are pretty nice. You can e-mail him or Wendy by going to their sight and they are real good about answering your questions. Another thing about the Middlesex guns is that they come as a package with a bayonet, hammerstall, and flashguard. I was just i touch with them about one of their new Doglock Fowlers. Good luck finding the gun you want. Take care.

 

[LFord]

My Bess from MVTC just came in on over the weekend. So far everything looks good on it, I haven't got a chance to shoot it yet and will post once I do. The lock sparks well and the trigger pull is smooth. I am brand new to flintlocks so I don't lnow how much my opinion is worth but the one seems to measure up to the other replica muskets that I have fired. Here is a link to a little review I wrote on it.


http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/ubbthr...;page=0#119997k

 

[musketman]

The Pedorselli will cost more, but the wood is finished better than the India made muskets...

Both guns will shoot, how well depends on the individual shooter's abilities...

 

[LFord]

One thing about the Brown Bess is that you are not talking about one particular gun, you are looking at a whole series covering almost 100 years. There are three different major designs and each of these changed over the years. There are also several different carbine versions out there that are based on officers models. With all of these models you have calibers ranging from.62 to .75 and barrel lengths from 39 to 46 inches.

Here is a link to an article by Neumann that covers the Long Land and Short Land Patterns.
www.11thpa.org/Bess.html

Both Middlesex and Loyalist Arms sell different versions for right around the same price and Pedersoli has a Short Land and a carbine. The Pedersoli is more expensive but the finish is better than the Indian muskets and the stock is walnut instead of teak or rosewood.

 

[old hop]

Very good info. I'm looking at the Disc. Gen's 1742 model.