Looking to buy a reproduction musket

Keep in mind original rifle muskets like the Enfields and Springfields have “progressive depth” rifling that will allow you to shoot undersized minie balls with accuracy, just like the originals. All the currently made repros have modern rifling and you are forced to use a minie ball sized no smaller than .001”/.002” below bore diameter if you expect any kind of accuracy. This completely defeats the purpose of the entire minie ball concept, as the guns will foul within a few shots if not wiped often.

Again, AVOID THE REPRODUCTIONS. ALL OF THEM. There are some decent quality ones like Pedersoli, but they will not shoot or function like the real deal. Good shootable originals can be had for even less than many repros as well, yet another reason to get the genuine article and leave the repros to the weekend warrior reenactors who rarely put a live round on paper.
 
The old Parker Hale reproduction Enfields are just the same as the originals and were made with an actual set of Enfield period gauges. Progressive depth rifling and everything. The only slight shortfall was the woodwork but that is quite acceptable.
 
The old Parker Hale reproduction Enfields are just the same as the originals and were made with an actual set of Enfield period gauges. Progressive depth rifling and everything. The only slight shortfall was the woodwork but that is quite acceptable.

Yes you are correct. But, no NEW muskets use them.
 
Keep in mind original rifle muskets like the Enfields and Springfields have “progressive depth” rifling that will allow you to shoot undersized minie balls with accuracy, just like the originals. All the currently made repros have modern rifling and you are forced to use a minie ball sized no smaller than .001”/.002” below bore diameter if you expect any kind of accuracy. This completely defeats the purpose of the entire minie ball concept, as the guns will foul within a few shots if not wiped often.

Not true. Fouling is a function of lube and type of powder used. Use the wrong lube, you might get a couple shots but the gun will foul out completely. Use the right lube, and you can keep shooting. Just come to a North South Skirmish and you'll see that in action. Don't even try Pyrodex or a substitute, fouling is harder and abrasive. Wiping isn't being done on our firing line. Wiping is often done when target shooting even with progressive rifling to obtain the absolute best accuracy a gun is capable of. If you really do some deep diving on the difference between US mfg and English mfg ammo during the war and you'll find there were essentially no real "standards". Ammo varied in size, lube varied, powder lots varied. QC on guns was also sometimes quite suspect, especially on Sharps. Actual barrel caliber varied, hence the "Christmas Tree" bullets. Some of the best shooting Enfields shot paper patched "Pritchett" bullets. So how was fouling controlled in that case? And to the issue of bullets sized to .001 of bore, shoot any original with a bullet .004 under and you'll see some keyholing on target, not very accurate. How would that happen? well, get an original Enfield with .577 bore, shoot some US mfg minies through it sized to .574 for a Springfield. Best accuracy? Ain't happening here.

Again, AVOID THE REPRODUCTIONS. ALL OF THEM. There are some decent quality ones like Pedersoli, but they will not shoot or function like the real deal. Good shootable originals can be had for even less than many repros as well, yet another reason to get the genuine article and leave the repros to the weekend warrior reenactors who rarely put a live round on paper.

We shoot both originals and repros in competition. Accuracy and speed are the name of the game. If your gun fouls out, you are screwed and have let your team down. In a speed competition, you don't have time to wipe. Another facet of our competition is individual target. Instead of a team speed/accuracy match, it's all about score on paper. Yes, wiping does occur in this phase of competition again for the best possible accuracy.

Please spend some time learning how these guns shoot and were shot both in combat and competition before spreading misinformation.
 
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The old Parker Hale reproduction Enfields are just the same as the originals and were made with an actual set of Enfield period gauges. Progressive depth rifling and everything. The only slight shortfall was the woodwork but that is quite acceptable.

Not so. I've handled several of the Enfields mfg in Birmingham. Barrels are all stamped .577 and were generally close to that figure but I personally worked with one that was .581. It was in almost new condition and had been fired only a few times by the original owner using .575-6 minies and he wasn't getting the accuracy these guns are supposed to be capable of. We measured the bore and confirmed .580-.581. Yes they were made with original guages and are quite nice. In the case of the oddball I worked with, changing to a .579 minie had the Enfield delivering the expected accuracy. Same thing held true back in the day.
 
PSA for those getting into shooting these guns-

Want accuracy?-

You WILL have to learn to cast pure lead minies AND size them to fit your bore. Back in the day they were swaged but that's a very expensive proposition for an individual today.

You WILL have to learn about lubes. Black powder fouling isn't that much of an issue with natural based lubes like beeswax, crisco, olive oil, lard, tallow concoctions. Petroleum based make the fouling harder.

You WILL have to experiment with powder charges for accuracy. BP substitutes have harder fouling, burn hotter, are a bit abrasive, and are harder to ignite. You will also have to have a quality musket cap. CCI reenactor caps are garbage for accuracy. Not all black powders are the same. Some of the best- Swiss and Old Eynsford. Worst- Goex reenactor powder followed by every substitute.

The lock WILL have to be worked a bit for best function (happened then, still does, nothing changed).

You MAY have to do some bedding work on barrel to stock (happened back then, still does, look up "barrel bedding using paper")

You WILL almost certainly have to do something about the issue sights (they were made for combat and to be soldier proof, nothing changed from then to the present).
 
Some of the best shooting Enfields shot paper patched "Pritchett" bullets. So how was fouling controlled in that case?
I have shot with proper 'Pritchett' type cartridges and found fouling to not be an issue at all. Well made (and not all period ones used were well made or had suffered in transit) will shoot all day. However the Burton ball is more accurate but does suffer from fouling. The relevance of the base plug in the 'Prichett' (the true Pritchett had none nor a significant cavity) is still being debated after more than 150 years but I found it to allow coarser powder.

But I digress form the OP and wish him luck in finding a suitable reproduction rifle musket.
 
We measured the bore and confirmed .580-.581. Yes they were made with original guages and are quite nice. In the case of the oddball I worked with, changing to a .579 minie had the Enfield delivering the expected accuracy. Same thing held true back in the day.
Just from curiosity was the .580-.581 groove or bore diameter? I saw the barrels being made and the gauge (IIRC) they had to accept a .577 gauge plug but not a .580 plug. That was (mumble, mumble) years ago so I can be corrected on the upper size but they were made to accept or reject a finished bore of the same sizes as the originals as they used original gauge plugs.
 
That was bore size. Grooves would be larger. Regardless, switching to a .579 minie had the gun shooting quite well. Bullets sized .575-76 gave marginal accuracy and some tumbled and keyholed.

In NSSA competition, we shoot a number of bullet designs but in muskets, they have to be minie design and no paper patching. Two designs I've found to be very accurate in my muskets are the Rapine trash can and RCBS Hogdon. Not every design shoots well in every gun. My PH really likes the Hogdon and my 3 band Colt Contract likes the Rapine and Lyman 580213. Lube can also dramatically affect accuracy. My PH likes lard based lube, Colt likes Lens. Go figure.
 
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