1861 "Springfield" Rifle-Musket made by Miroku

[Benedict]

Has anybody tried fitting an original / authentic reproduction lock plate to their Miroku 1861?

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: 1861 "Springfield" Rifle-Musket made by Miroku

Hallo!

Yes.

Speaking of only one Miroku and assuming they are are the same...

Original locks (or the repro original Rich Cross plates) locks fit:

1. Except for roughly about 1/64th of an inch on the top. The Miroku plate is taller, so when the original is inserted there is the roughly 1/64 of an inch gap between wood and metal.

IMHO, that is a minor "quickie" cosmetic "invisible repair" wood working job. (I use A & B Epoxy Putty to fill the gap, then wet shape, allow to dry, sand, and cosmetically paint the grayish tan A & B to match the color of the stock.)

A more professional job would entail a walnut shim being epoxied in place, and the lock plate properly fitted.

2. The top of the Miroku trigger catches the original lockplate's sear, requiring some minor fitting.

I have a Miroku sitting here I had intended to retrovert an 1862 dated Cross M1861 plate to, or an original 1862 dated Bridesburg, or a Cross 1862 dated Bridesburg or some other contractor but eithr lost interest or have not gotten "around to it" yet.
(I have a reworked Armi Sport with a Cross 1862 dated lock already.)

:)

Curt

[Craig L Barry]

Re: 1861 "Springfield" Rifle-Musket made by Miroku

I fit an original "SN & WTC for Massachusetts" contractor lock assembly dated 1863 into one of these kits a few years ago. As Curt said, it only took some minor fitting. It sounds worse than it is. These type adjustments are nothing compared to what you get into fitting handmade P53 commercial contractor lock parts into a repro or even another original Enfield. The easiest Enfield to fit parts (I have found) are the machine made LACo lock parts going into an older Birmingham made Parker-Hale repro. They fit like a glove. My son has an original LACo lock in his ancient Parker Hale, and it is the smoothest functioning lock I have ever seen. All the small parts except the springs are marked LAC...and what great rifle-muskets those older P-Hs were.

As far as 1861s, the Euroarms is the closest to the original US 1861 rifle-musket in terms of the lock assembly fit. Usually, an original lock will just drop right in the lock mortise of a repro Euroarms US 1861. The Miroku US 1861 takes some fitting and the Armi Sport US 1861 is not even worth trying to bother with. One other thing worth mentioning is that a few of the earlier Miroku barrels have a slightly deeper bolster depth than the original barrel has, and the lock geometry does not always work out perfectly. By that I mean a dead center strike on the percussion cone. Again, some fitting may be required or a switch back to the Miroku repro hammer. This all goes with the territory.

[ndnchf]

Re: 1861 "Springfield" Rifle-Musket made by Miroku

FWIW, I've tried it with a Miroku 1863 and found the same thing Herr Schmidt described. BTW - Craig Berry's book covers these msukets in great detail. Its one fo my favorite references.

Steve Blancard
13th Va Co. A

[Craig L Barry]

Re: 1861 "Springfield" Rifle-Musket made by Miroku

Thank you for the kind words, Steve. When The Civil War Musket came out there were still a handful of those Dixie/Miroku US 1861 kits available from DGW. I built about six or more of them. I think a great deal of those. Oh that reminds me...I also had a repro Miroku lock plate re-stamped. James River Armory did it for me. I think the contractor on that one was Parkers', Snow & Son. That is another possible alternative for you. It came out nicely.

Those Dixie/Miroku US 1861s were mostly very good pieces, especially compared to the Italian versions. Light, rugged and good looking. Easier to defarb them as you are building the rifle rather undoing what the factory did and re-doing it correctly. Those kits are getting tough to find now, but well worth having.

[J.H.Berger]

Re: 1861 "Springfield" Rifle-Musket made by Miroku

Craig, I have one of the very first with serial number 948 and I have the problem that the hammer hits too far right if looking along the barrel. It works to ignite the cap but is not really perfect. Do you have any receommendations how to take care of this? I was wondering if I can heat it in the forge and bend it a little bit.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: 1861 "Springfield" Rifle-Musket made by Miroku

Hallo!

Trying not to steal a question asked of Herr Craig, but just to add my IMHO...

Yes, you can heat the hammer nose and "tweak" it a bit to strike center.
(It may require repolishing bright after the heating.)

And for those thinking about this, do NOT try to cold bend steel as you run the risk of snapping the hammer nose off.

Curt