Cooke and Brother rifle repop

[mobluegraysoldier]

Re: Cooke and Brother rifle repop

Mike,
While I am not all that familiar with the Cooke & Brother rifle being offered by Bear Claws, I am sure that a good knock off could be done with a good gun to start from. My biggest question is "does the P53 Enfield resembele the Cooke & Brother close enough to enable a competent smith to convert it?" From what some of the other posters have said, it appears that it can be done, but the question is "does the shop have enough skill and knowledge to do the job?" Just about the only way to know for sure would be to get one, and compare it, in the flesh, to an original. Again, like many repro's, the big problem is are they trying to copy a gun that they have, and is it representational of the majority of the production or did they go off a rifle which has seen modifications/damage or was a unique variation from the majority. The other possibility is that they combined various aspects of the production run and made a "generic" version of the original.

Good luck in "the big sand box"! My nephew got back from Tikrit a couple of years ago, and is glad he was allowed out of there.

Kevin Baker; aka, mobluegraysoldier

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Cooke and Brother rifle repop

Hallo!

"...I am sure that a good knock off could be done with a good gun to start from. My biggest question is "does the P53 Enfield resembele the Cooke & Brother close enough to enable a competent smith to convert it?" "

"I am sure that a good knock off could be done with a good gun to start from."

1. Rarely, if never. One needs a "good copy" so as not to simply transfer the weaknesses, flaws, and short-comings of the reproduction to another reproduction. If one starts out with an Italian repro Enfield (P1858) Naval Rifle and not an original Cooke & Brother Rifle... well...
And that quickly gets us into the discussion of our Civil War Community accepting less in our firearms than we do in our clothing and gear.

My biggest question is "does the P53 Enfield resembele the Cooke & Brother close enough to enable a competent smith to convert it?"

2. Short answer, see No. 1 above... ;) In brief and to over-generalize, the "salient" feaures of the "Cook design" is brass bands, an elongated trigger plate, and a brass swivel and stud below the trigger plate on the underside of the stock. So, those features plus the remarking of the lockplate can stand to "make" a Cook & Brother Rifle from an P1858 Naval rifle based upon the degree of acceptance we hold for reproduction firearms (but still carrying the so-called "de-farbable" or "not de-farbable" features...)

3. Even shorter answer still... custom-build an "authentic' Cook & Brother from an original... ;) :)

Curt