M1816 Front Band Replacement
Original double-loop front bands for the M1816 musket are far more common than you may think, and while you could expect to pay between $100 to $300 depending on condition, replacing a missing front band with a reproduction while making the musket look more complete, if there are any alterations required to modify the original stock contours so to fit the repro band and the original musket is still in "serviceable" condition (or is capable of being returned to serviceable condition) this would only detract from the value of the original musket. Even if the musket were a mere relic, such alterations would only be appropriate provided you could not find a suitable original replacement or replaced it with an exact museum-quality duplicate replica part. Some years back I bought a set of new investment cast bands from S&S Firearms that you have to finish but which would be a closer pattern to the original than one of the Italian-made repros since the investment cast parts appears to have been cast from an original specimen. S&S lists their investment cast front band (16S34) for $38 in the current 2009 catalog. Unfortunately, the repro parts made in Italy are not of such high quality; many of the Italian makers use zinc-die casting for their parts which are re-modeled in 3D by computer. To determine whether it is even feasible to install a repro front band, it doesn't cost all that much to find out for sure whether it would fit?
Or you can buy an original front band like this one:
http://www.gundersonmilitaria.com/pictu ... 1816fronta
First Cousin (7 times removed) to Brigadier General Stand Watie (1806-1871), CSA
1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles | Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation 1862-66
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