Re: Reproduction Rifle Muskets, Out of the Box
Originally Posted by
Bob Riley
Thanks for the replies. I expect I will try to get one "gunsmithed" at the time it is ordered.
So, are the Euroarms and Armi Sport versions pretty much equivalent in quality?
I own both a Euroarms 1863 C.S. Richmond and Armisport 1862 C.S. Richmond (as well as one of the Armisport Model 1855 (Type I) rifle muskets), and the difference in quality is not all cut and dry. Both products have evolved since they were first imported with the most notable changes being done by the Armisport product, namely some changes intended to prevent counterfeiting (i.e. artificially aging a replica to pass off as an original CW era musket). Certainly to the uninitiated or novice, either replica might be passed off for an original with very little changes, and some unscrupulous individuals have antiqued such replicas and succeeded in passing them off to unsuspecting buyers. So you have to be careful.
I bought one of the first Armisport C.S. Richmond muskets to be imported, and being unhappy with the thin lock plate, I bought one of the custom reproduction locks by Nick Brevoort, along with one of his iron patchboxes and then inletted the new parts into the production Armisport musket. Among the changes implemented by Armisport over the years, was to offer a “real” brass buttplate and nosecap in lieu of their earlier “brass-plated” steel hardware like was featured on my musket, which I promptly removed when I converted the musket into a iron-mounted Model 1855 (Type III) rifle musket. Only latterly did I change the lock out to convert it into a 1862 C.S. Richmond (Type I) before submitting it for inspection and obtaining a SAC card for it.
As one custom maker Blair Taylor can attest, the conversion I executed is not possible today because of the many changes in the product intended to prevent this from being done. Such a conversion is still possible with the Euroarms product, though the production lock plate by Euroarms is noticeably thicker than the Armisport, and is also of a correct shape whereas the Armisport lock plate is a poor attempt at authenticity. The barrel bands on the Euroarms Richmond are very much the same as their replica Model 1861, but these are also noticeably a heavier gauge metal thickness than the Armisport, which are almost three-quarters the same thickness and are the same used on their earlier Model 1861 Springfield. Really, all Armisport and Euroarms did in producing their versions of the C.S. Richmond was to "doctor up" their Model 1861 Springfield replicas. Both have Model 1861 Springfield barrels with cone shield, a feature not found on original Model 1855 or C.S. Richmond muskets.
Although the Armisport is touted by some to have the more accurate rifling, the rate of twist of the Armisport is 1:66 (or in metric 1:1660-mm) whereas the Euroarms Richmond is 1:72, the same twist as the original Model 1855 rifle musket. When S&S decided to convert some of the replica Richmond rifle muskets into 1863 C.S. Richmond carbines, it wasn’t the Armisport product they chose to use, but it was the Euroarms product, and I bought one of those carbines which I now shoot in preference to my Smith Carbine breechloader because it is the more accurate of the two. While some prefer the faster twist of the Armisport, a faster twist rifling requires a heavier projectile to keep it from “tripping over the rifling,” whereas with a slower twist, like the 1:72, lighter design projectiles tend to perform best.
Stock-wise, both have oversized stocks, and if you want one with the correct contours and weight, you should either buy an original musket or buy one of the production muskets that has been modified by having the stocks recountoured to their original contours, such as like Blair and others sell as well as offer as part of their customization services. Or you can buy the "off-the-shelf" standard production guns and do all the modifications yourself and save a few bob in the license (as they say).
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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