Finding the maker of a de-farbed rifle

[Third Mainer]

Re: Finding the maker of a de-farbed rifle

Dixie still lists Miroku parts, but I don't believe that they still have any tumblers. I am still constantly amazed at how different the same guns, from the same manufacturers can be. Those internals sure look different from mine.
Mike Pearson

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Finding the maker of a de-farbed rifle

Hallo!

Perhaps not so surprisingly, the same can be said of Euroarms and Armi Sport over the years-.
Currently, I am having trouble finding mainsprings for mid 1980's Euroarms' Enfields.
And I just noticed on a "James River Armory Enfield" that the mainspring bolster was just a screw head.
At any rate, while I have never counted these "production changes" over the past three decades, I might guess there are three or four (or more) "versions" of EA and AS Enfields and Springfields.
A few years ago I did some work on what I thought was an AS M1861 Springfield.. that had a thin stamped sheet metal butt plate, and sheet metal barrel bands bent to shape and welded to make a closed "loop."

Curt

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Finding the maker of a de-farbed rifle

Curt

If you have a chance, pull the lock on that US 1861 Miroku you have and compare the lock internals to the pictures posted here. Do you see what I mean about the overall appearance and the tumbler link, etc? It is almost like the outside of the lock plate is from a different gun than the inside (internal parts)...weird. It may take some fitting, but this lock should be fixable with parts that are "close" to the same. I once fit an original SN & WTC contract lock into a Miroku US 1861 for the fun of it. It took only minor fitting and worked well. I did this so I could use the gun while I had the Miroku lock plate re-stamped. This is another possibility of course, refitting the gun with a new lock. After twenty years the other internals are probably in need of replacement as well. Just a thought.

As far as the 80s vintage Euroarms Enfields (didn't those have brass barrel bands?) wouldn't the mainspring be the same as the P-H from which EoA copied their lock?

[Third Mainer]

Re: Finding the maker of a de-farbed rifle

Looking at the internals here, some are color case, some plated (?!) and the mainspring looks hand forged. The othe really distinctive characteristic of the Mirokus are the teeny tiny sear and sear spring screws. Curt, that Armi Sport sounds a lot like my old one, ended up cutting the bands and silver soldering them, they were WAY oversize.
Mike Pearson

[Rear Guard]

Re: Finding the maker of a de-farbed rifle

On my older 1863 Dixie Miroku, I replaced the lock and hammer with an original and it fit right on with only a minor amount of wood shaving and is a perfect fit to the bolster. Hammer is just slightly off center when it strikes the cone, but this doesn't seem to effect it's performance one bit. So you might consider an original lock.

[MLovejoy]

Re: Finding the maker of a de-farbed rifle

Gentlemen I thank all of you for your help with this. I do want to agree that this is a Miroku based on the descriptions Craig gave about clean out screw, rammer, etc. It also just hit me that the original owner's son also used a Miroku back in the day, which makes me think that this is the same. I wouldn't be surprised that some parts in there now are of different manufacturers because this rifle was a rusty POS when I first got it. I will try to contact Dixie about any Miroku parts. If they do not happen to have them, would contacting Lodgewood or S&S Firearms be the next logical step? I know they have many different parts, but would theirs fit in here?

[Rear Guard]

Re: Finding the maker of a de-farbed rifle

I replaced the cone on my 1863 Miruko with one for an Armisport and it fit. I also replaced a screw inside the mechanism with a metric allen head for a temporary fix and that worked fine too. I can't speak for the parts being the same as the italian repros, but hey might be able to work. I recommend you send the entire lock to Lodgewood and I am pretty sure they will be able to repair it with something they have on hand.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Finding the maker of a de-farbed rifle

Yes, the threads on the cone are the same 8 x 1 mm, but you can not presume the other Armi Sport parts will interchange. The metal A-S uses is mild steel and too soft for lock parts in my opinion. If you have to fit Springfield parts the order of preference would be original parts then Euroarms repro parts.