Veterans Arms, LLC

Kyle Kalasnik

First Sergeant
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Location
Potter County, PA
Has anyone or do they know anyone who has purchased firearms from this company. And what are your opinions of their products. These firearms are reproductions. There prices are cheaper then other sites and dealers, but many times “you get what you pay for”.



My brother in law is looking into buying a historical looking muzzleloader, and stumbled upon this site.

Thank you in advance.

Respectfully,
Kyle Kalasnik
 
My brother in law is looking into buying a historical looking muzzleloader, and stumbled upon this site.

What does he want to do with it?

Burn powder/reenact?
Target shooting?
Being's as you're in Potter County, hunt white tail?
 
You get what you pay for. Their offerings come out of India and are not proofed. They are hand made and unless things have changed the place that manufactures them makes them as decorative wall hangers not as firearms. That is the reason they are so cheap.

Quite a lot can be found online in reference to Indian made muskets. For live fire or hunting I would never recommend them. Far superior arms can be purchased at places like Lofgewood.
 
Yea
You get what you pay for. Their offerings come out of India and are not proofed. They are hand made and unless things have changed the place that manufactures them makes them as decorative wall hangers not as firearms. That is the reason they are so cheap.

Quite a lot can be found online in reference to Indian made muskets. For live fire or hunting I would never recommend them. Far superior arms can be purchased at places like Lofgewood.
I appreciate the helpful response.

I told him about Lodgewood, I bought my 1842 Smoothbore from there and am about to order a flintlock (just working on the details ) and I am very pleased.

I also told him “you get what you pay for”.

Another thing is, during the musket and rifle discussions I have never heard anyone mention Veteran Arms.

Thanks again.
 
For what it's worth, I've examined a number of these India made guns. Now I am not going to slam Veteran Arms or any other dealer. It's up to YOU the customer/user to follow instructions and safety procedures. This is just my observation. I removed the breech plug from one of the Brown Bess muskets and the threaded portion was short by several threads. NOT GOOD. This can trap a spark and fouling as well. A Scottish pistol had the vent drilled partway into the breech plug. This can hold a spark after firing as well as being difficult to clean and trapped fouling can allow rust to form in a critical area. Again, NOT GOOD. This same Scottish pistol was test fired (Not by me) and the frizzen FELL OFF. A repro Baker rifle came my way to have the vent drilled. The plug was so LONG that drilling the vent in the correct location would drill INTO the plug and the piece would NOT FIRE. I told the owner to return the gun. Now, I've talked to some owners of India guns and they seem quite happy with them. They had them proofed and fire live rounds. Even if you replaced the barrel, you have a lock that is hand made and its difficult to replace broken parts since the parts don't necessarily interchange. You could buy a complete lock assembly and if something breaks, pop out the old and replace with the new but that can get expensive!!! I won't comment on the wood; others have. Some groups have bought a few India muskets as "training pieces" that is; the recruit learns the manual of arms with a NON FIRING piece. This allows others to OBSERVE the recruit for unsafe firearm handling and bad habits without worrying about accidental discharge. This is how some of the reenactment groups in England do it. When the new recruit has "passed" the safety criteria with a "NON" firearm then he is allowed to participate with a functioning gun. The India made pieces will always cause controversy and like others have said: BUYER BEWARE! (AN OVERLOAD CAN BURST A CANNON)
 
I have weighed in on this topic many, many times...most of the important discussion points have already been raised by others. The main point has always been that if the only thing "better" about something is the price, that is a pretty good reason to consider your other options. In a nutshell, as far as historical feature accuracy, none of the reproductions are all that great. Some are obviously better made than others. They cost a bit more. I think you get the most satisfaction and the best results from a high quality piece. I would suggest that you get the best quality piece that you can afford.
 
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For what it's worth, I've examined a number of these India made guns. Now I am not going to slam Veteran Arms or any other dealer. It's up to YOU the customer/user to follow instructions and safety procedures. This is just my observation. I removed the breech plug from one of the Brown Bess muskets and the threaded portion was short by several threads. NOT GOOD. This can trap a spark and fouling as well. A Scottish pistol had the vent drilled partway into the breech plug. This can hold a spark after firing as well as being difficult to clean and trapped fouling can allow rust to form in a critical area. Again, NOT GOOD. This same Scottish pistol was test fired (Not by me) and the frizzen FELL OFF. A repro Baker rifle came my way to have the vent drilled. The plug was so LONG that drilling the vent in the correct location would drill INTO the plug and the piece would NOT FIRE. I told the owner to return the gun. Now, I've talked to some owners of India guns and they seem quite happy with them. They had them proofed and fire live rounds. Even if you replaced the barrel, you have a lock that is hand made and its difficult to replace broken parts since the parts don't necessarily interchange. You could buy a complete lock assembly and if something breaks, pop out the old and replace with the new but that can get expensive!!! I won't comment on the wood; others have. Some groups have bought a few India muskets as "training pieces" that is; the recruit learns the manual of arms with a NON FIRING piece. This allows others to OBSERVE the recruit for unsafe firearm handling and bad habits without worrying about accidental discharge. This is how some of the reenactment groups in England do it. When the new recruit has "passed" the safety criteria with a "NON" firearm then he is allowed to participate with a functioning gun. The India made pieces will always cause controversy and like others have said: BUYER BEWARE! (AN OVERLOAD CAN BURST A CANNON)
Thanks for telling about your experiences. Very worthwhile information to pass along.
 
I have weighed in on this topic many, many times...most of the important discussion points have already been raised by others. The main point has always been that if the only thing "better" about something is the price, that is a pretty good reason to consider your other options. In a nutshell, as far as historical feature accuracy, none of the reproductions are all that great. Some are obviously better made than others. They cost a bit more. I think you get the most satisfaction and the best results from a quality piece. I would suggest that you get the best quality piece that you can afford.
Thanks for the advice.
 
I just went to the Veterans Arms website, which in fairness I have not visited in many years. Based on their offerings, it appears they are mostly marketing to Rev War/War of 1812 reeanctors more so than US Civil War. And along those same lines, all the percussion Civil War-era muskets that they offer are "special order only." If you did go that route, I wonder how long it would take to receive your musket?
 
I'm not real impressed with the Rev War & 1812/Napoleonic Wars offerings in the India made guns. Some of the French carbines look okay but some of the British guns don't. See my comments posted earlier. I examined one of the British cavalry pistols and it was horrible. The wood must have been shaped and inlet with a dull brick! The lock would have needed major overhauling to work properly! That one was sold by one of the Canadian sources. A lot of this stuff was made for the SHARPE series of films and the makers jumped on the band wagon.
 
Like I said earlier, in my experience you are usually going to be happier in the long haul with a better made reproduction especially if you are going to be firing it. I know some Rev period and War of 1812 guys swear by the India made flintlocks and so on, but there is a reason the price is so much lower. It's not because they are higher in quality.
 
Like I said earlier, in my experience you are usually going to be happier in the long haul with a better made reproduction especially if you are going to be firing it. I know some Rev period and War of 1812 guys swear by the India made flintlocks and so on, but there is a reason the price is so much lower. It's not because they are higher in quality.
It seems to me, that there is not as many reputable gunsmiths / dealers when dealing with reproduction flintlocks, especially in comparison to the Civil War era, which were generally percussions.

Would this be because of the amount of reenactors involved in the Civil War dwarfs the American Revolution / War of 1812 / Mexican - American War eras?

Or maybe people prefer to collect Civil War firearms more so then the previous war eras?

Maybe I’m way out in left field, and I understand original firearms from the 1700s and early 1800s are much harder to come by, but it seems like most of the gunsmiths / dealers offer very little in comparison to the Civil War, especially reproductions. Any thoughts or opinions please.

Respectfully,
Kyle Kalasnik
 
It seems to me, that there is not as many reputable gunsmiths / dealers when dealing with reproduction flintlocks, especially in comparison to the Civil War era, which were generally percussions.

Would this be because of the amount of reenactors involved in the Civil War dwarfs the American Revolution / War of 1812 / Mexican - American War eras?

Or maybe people prefer to collect Civil War firearms more so then the previous war eras?

Maybe I’m way out in left field, and I understand original firearms from the 1700s and early 1800s are much harder to come by, but it seems like most of the gunsmiths / dealers offer very little in comparison to the Civil War, especially reproductions. Any thoughts or opinions please.

Respectfully,
Kyle Kalasnik
I think you're right in there's more interest in the CW period than in others, so that drives the market, as far as buying something "off the shelf."
If you're interested in a historical period prior to the CW, and want to shoot flintlocks, you're pretty limited in what's available in terms of a finished gun. Most of the people that I know involved in reenacting periods prior to the CW either purchased a kit gun suitable to the period they wanted to emilate, and either put it together themselves, or had someone else assemble it for them. There are plenty of kit guns available, just check out Track of the Wolf's website, for example.
 
I think you're right in there's more interest in the CW period than in others, so that drives the market, as far as buying something "off the shelf."
If you're interested in a historical period prior to the CW, and want to shoot flintlocks, you're pretty limited in what's available in terms of a finished gun. Most of the people that I know involved in reenacting periods prior to the CW either purchased a kit gun suitable to the period they wanted to emilate, and either put it together themselves, or had someone else assemble it for them. There are plenty of kit guns available, just check out Track of the Wolf's website, for example.
Appreciate the advice, I haven’t moved up to flintlocks yet, still on percussions. Maybe one day though.
 
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