What kind of discussion are you going to have about muskets? I mean, seriously, muskets are what my great-grandfather used to kill the indians! Does anyone still own a musket?
It's not as much that people have muskets, but it's more a collectors/antique item. I hear that some are WORTH A LOT of money. I wish I had your great-grandfathers musket, worth a ton.
My husband actually owns a musket. It's above our fireplace. We don't use it, but I bet it is worth a lot. However, it's heirloom for the family now.
let's kick it off!! what do you want to know? what about muskets do you want to know about? what time period? smooth bore or rifled? what kind of lock? match,wheel,dog,snap,flint,or percussion? military or hunting?
I guess Back powder or Muzzle loader would have been better. I can say I have a plain Jane, Hawkins .50 caliber, 1 in 48 twist that I shoot patched round-ball out of. It has Primitive buckhorn rear and front blade sights. It is deadly at 150 yards. That is the furthest I have shot it. 90 grains of Pyrodex and it is good to go. I get about 35 fps more using 110 grains, so 90 it is. Great rifles and lots of fun. I also shoot a 1858 Colt new Army cap and ball revolver. Very accurate also. Jim
A lot of people own and shoot various old-fashioned weapons, and it is quite an art to get the best reliability and performance out of them. Aside from reenactors, and other people who happen to think they're cool (which they are) most if not all states have hunting seasons set aside for such weapons, including special "primative" seasons. Here in Idaho the hunting regs. are turning to primative only, i.e. no in-line actions or sabot projectiles. Hence, more people are getting traditional design side-locks (caplock or flintlock).
Sorry bout the late post I dont get out much 69 cal Charleyville with 1 oz #6 and 70gr FF I use a 16guage wading to hold it all together
Trying to find someone who can help identify a Flintlock musket (or rifle). It appears to be Arabic. Camel rifle? Lots of Mother Of Pearl on entire stock. Originally owned by comedian Red Skelton. Possibly 17th Century origin? Tried to post image, but don't have URL. Thanks for any help. SierraDon
SierraDon, you should start a thread on that for more looks. You shot a squirrel with a 69 caliber? Something tells me he went down quickly.
I have several muskets: 2nd Model Brown Bess .75 Cal flintlock by Pedersoli 1766 Charleville .69 cal flintlock by Pedersoli 1861 Colt rifled musket .58 cal
Muskets or Muskets I have A Brown Bess Repro (Pedersoli) and a Charleville Repro (Navy Arms) smooth bores. Never shot either but are preparing to shoot the Bess very soon. Also have a Parker Hale made in England Model 1858 Naval Musket (rifled barrel) I used to shoot with the NSSA. It shoots VERY well at up to 100 yds - the most distance I ever shot it. I understand the smooth bores aren't that accurate as they have no rear sight, a smooth bore and technically no front sight just a bayonet lug. But I will try and see what I can do with the Bess with a patched round ball at 50 yds.
In a word.....beautifully! The Bess and Charleville are both wonderful to hold. With a small amount of priming, They don't have much of the whoosh-bang often associated with bigger flintlocks. Also, they are both very gentle on the flints. At an event last year, the Charleville fired over 50 shots before I even had to knap the flint. I used the same flint the whole two days.....I was impressed. The Colt is also a very nice gun. The fit & finish on it is very good, and is what you would expect on a quality firearm, not just a military musket. Since Colt quit making them, I haven't fired it much....I also got more into the F&I and RevWar period, so the Civil War musket kind of gets left out. The Bess & Colt I bought new. The Charleville I picked up used (barely) on a Yahoo French & Indian War talkgroup...the guy had just posted it for sale, and I called him. He had pictures and everything. He said he was planning on going elk hunting, and thought he needed a gun with more range. My only complaint is the price....when I bought the Bess & Colt, they were $600 each...prices have skyrocketed to the point today where, for a few hundred dollars more, you could have a custom musket instead of a production Pedersoli. However, I understand that the world today isn't the world of 1995, and prices are continuing to rise. They do make a wonderful gun, and you wouldn't be disappointed in it. You'd definitely get your 1100-1300 dollars worth. Overall, the Pedersoli muskets are absolutely top notch firearms, and the price isn't enough to turn me against them even remotely. I just wish I would have bought some more way back when so I could sell them now at a tidy profit. n fact, if Pedersoli were to make a Long Land Bess and a 1728 or so St. Etienne musket, I'd probably buy both since the muskets I have are more of a Rev War impression, and I'm getting into the F&I war stuff now.
