1861 Springfield repro?

[Craig L Barry]

Re: 1861 Springfield repro?

That tidbit is in The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy (2006). It's out of print, but plenty of copies floating around on Amazon. Pedersoli bought two copies. They opted to use American walnut...it's the key to keeping the weight of a reproduction any where close to the originals.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: 1861 Springfield repro?

My right arm is now 2" longer than my left due to the Euroarms M'61 that I used to carry. Really well made musket, and a great reproduction... but DANG! It was like walking around with a railroad tie!

You can forget Lunge Out, during bayonet drill!

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: 1861 Springfield repro?

Hallo!

THE "best" M1861 was made by Mike Yeck circa early 1980's out of Dundee, Michigan.

However, they are the elusive Holy Grails and most lads these daze have never heard of one or seen one.

But, "quality control" issues came to plague later production, and basically ended the business (M1861 and M1863 Springfield, and an "1862" Richmond).

When I was building CW longarms, I used left-over Mike Yeck M1861 parts for my M1855's and Richmonds. They were original/reproduction and would drop in originals unlike odd shaped or overly large Italian repro parts. And several barrel makers used Yeck breech sections to make barrels. I believe his barrel making machinery is still being used, but it has changed hands/businesses several times.

Their main competition were the Dixie and Navy Arms imported Miroku M1861 and mixed model M1863/1864 which sold for $185 when the Yecks were $250 and $265. :)

Curt