Canucks with muskets

[davidMcL]

Hello all, I was wondering if there are any Canadians out there in this hobby that has found a source for muskets? I know of Loyalist Arms in the east and Marstar in the west but neither have what I am looking for. I would like to get an Armisport Enfield. Does anybody out there know where to find one in Canada or even a second hand one that they are willing to part with? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance

[Charles Heath]

Re: Canucks with muskets

David,

You might email any or all of these three fellows from over in Ontario Province.

Greg Renault
gregrenault@sympatico.ca

Mike Peterson
graceanglican1@bellnet.ca

Brian Luscombe
brian.luscombe@sympatico.ca

Good luck.

[Brian Luscombe]

Re: Canucks with muskets

Try Marstar.

They sell Armi sport.

And are Canadian.

Here is a link: http://www.marstar.ca/gf-armisport/A...US-rifles.shtm

Oooops I see that you already mentioned Marstar. They are in Ontario near Ottawa not in the west. Unless you defarb your musket yourself, I personally know of nobody up here that can do it.

Good Luck

[davidMcL]

Re: Canucks with muskets

Thx for the contacts Charles, I will email them shortly.


Brian, thx for responding. For some reason I thought Marstar was in Vancouver,, don't know why but you are right they are in Ontario. They don't have any 1853 Enfields in stock and when I talked to them about getting one ordered they said because of long order times they weren't going to get any more in. So I'm still SOL

What have you done for firearms? Do you travel to the States and participate in any events that require a defarbed musket? I would love to know if any other Canadians go down and just what they do concerning the firearms laws..especially pertaining to our laws. I have even contacted the Canadian firearms centre regarding defarbing the muskets and have not been able to get a response from them or my local firearms officer.

Anyway it is good to hear from a fellow Canadian Brian, thx again and I hope to hear from you soon!

David McLean

[Brian Luscombe]

Re: Canucks with muskets

Hi David,

I purchased a used Euro Arms enfield off a friend no longer in the hobby and did some filing myself and took the shiny factory finish off the stock, stained it and oiled it myself. I also replaced some bands and the lockplate. Its not perfect but it looks a lot better than it did. I also purchased an excellent springfield sling for it.

I attend events with the Potomac Legion and Columbia Rifles and the rifle musket has passed muster every time. Having a "defarbed" musket is not a requirement to attend most events as defarbing a musket for a lot of reenactors is an ongoing process.

It is possible to purchase a defarbed musket in the States and bring it across legally, you just have to contact a reputable dealer and then contact Customs to get it across properly as a friend of mine in Ottawa did it last year with minimum fuss. PM me and I will see if I can get you in contact with him for the process.

Brian

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Canucks with muskets

You can actually do a fair amount of the necessary accuracy modifications to a reproduction Enfield yourself if you have a little time and patience. As Brian says, you can strip and oil the stock which is a great first step. Staining is a step you can usually skip, and it would not be recommended until you know how the stock is going to look once you strip, shape and sand it and apply the boiled linseed oil. The mistake to avoid is going too dark. You want to duplicate the way the commercial P-53 looked back in the early-to-mid 1860s, not 145 years later.

The hardware ie: sling swivels, lock plate washers, etc is easy to install yourself. One other consideration is the barrel bands if you select a Euroarms reproduction. The Armi Sport bands are not exactly perfect, but are considered acceptable (much better). The Euroarm bands would probably need to be replaced at some additional expense.

A good source for someone doing a project like this on their own, or without access to the various US domestic service providers and gunsmiths who perform "de-farbing" is Authenticizing Your Reproduction Enfield by G. Walden. While the monograph has been updated several times, when he wrote this back in the mid-1980s you were pretty much on your own to de-farb your Enfield, much like the hobbyists in the Great White North are now. He recommends professional engraving by a jeweler or engraver for the proof marks and lock plate work, which is not as good as hand stamping but can still look good, depending on the skill of the engraver and it is likely to be your best option. The Watchdog also has back issues (including articles by Geoff Walden) on de-farbing the Enfield and a full length book on musket de-farbing, which goes quite a bit beyond that in scope and might be more than you need here.

That leaves the stock stamping. Larry Stevens does the necessary stock stamping for about $10 if you can arrange to be stateside at an event or gunshow where Lodgewood Mfg is in attendance. He has copies of just about all the major Birmingham and London commerical gun-maker stock stamps. The only caution here is to take care not to inadvertendly "mix" Birmingham and London marks. The stock stamps make a great finishing touch if you like the way they look, and most of us do.

[davidMcL]

Re: Canucks with muskets

Hello Craig, I might have to do the work myself (scarey!) but I have read over some of the article you mentioned and it may not be too bad of an undertaking. Having said that, I read one of your posts regarding the defarded enfields by Todd Watts ( I think that was his name) from The Blockade Runner. That is the musket I would like to get, and I'm still working on that possibility.

Thankyou for your comments

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Canucks with muskets

Is that an option? You can get one here and bring it back to Canada? If you can get one already done then Todd Watts is a very good choice and that is probably the way to go. If for no other reason than the hand stamping of the various barrel and stock marks are so much more authentic than engraving. I don't know how he does it, but Todd Watts gets extremely clean, uniformly deep proof marks. Steady hands, I guess. Consider the challenges...hard round barrel, flat surfaced proof mark, big hammer...very easy to get the mark deep in the middle and light on the outside edges. It is always a good decision leave this part to the pros, or go the engraving route.

Todd does a lot of things the others don't...ie: barrel makers name under the barrel, stock re-contouring, marks inside the lock plate, ramrod channel stamp, and so on. One caveat...Todd does BIRMINGHAM only at this time, and be sure to specify that he omit the CS inspection marks. Most Federal contract arms would not be found with the JS Anchor (he copied this particular mark off an original that is now at the Stones River NPS). He copied the JOSEPH WILSON makers mark off an original belonging to Tim Prince (College Hill Arsenal). He will probably recommend an Armi Sport because of the barrel band issue.

Doing it yourself can be a good long term project and a great learning experience, especially if you are thrust into it out of necessity, but there are parts of the job that are best handled by those who do this professionally and have the right tools.