used vs new rifle

Hi I saw this on the web. is this a good rifle vs a new rifle from an unknown or established company (traditions, Lyman etc...). Thanks

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Longrifle,
.50 caliber 42" barrel,
Chambers' flintlock, curly maple, brass,
used, signed by Clay SmithThis fine trade rifle by contemporary maker Clay Smith is styled after the Lancaster County Pennsylvania rifles made for the Indian fur trade in the 1810-1840 period. You can find examples of the antique rifles showcased in the book For Trade and Treaty. Not a copy of a specific rifle, similarly styled rifles were made by a number of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania makers for the American Fur Company, private fur traders and the commercial market. This .50 caliber longrifle would make a great hunting rifle and is appropriate for many frontier and native historical portrayals. Trigger reach is 13" to fit today's average size shooter. Weight is 8 pounds.

The heart of the rifle is a 42" by 7/8" straight octagon .50 caliber Long Hammock barrel. The cut rifled barrel has six lands and grooves with a slow twist for a tightly patched round ball. The bore is bright and has been well maintained. We recommend our .490" pure lead round ball, patched with .018" Ox-Yoke ticking, lubricated with our Mink Oil patch grease, or other animal fat lubricant, if you require best accuracy. The barrel is finished to a charcoal blue, a period bluing technique. The straight 7/8" octagon barrel gives the rifle a modest weight without being overly muzzle heavy. The barrel is fitted with a flat top rear sight dovetailed 11-1/4" ahead of the breech and a silver blade front sight with brass base dovetailed 2" behind the muzzle. The top flat is signed by the maker between the breech and rear sight.

The curly maple stock has been stained to a dark brown, the stock has narrowly spaced bands of iridescent figure that are visible as the rifle is turned in bright daylight. The stock is finished to a satin sheen and displays only a few minor marks from use. The comb of the brass butt plate is filed with five flats and a has a wedding band transition to the comb of the stock. The buttplate has a well aged patina as well as some dark streaks from water with black powder residue wetting it. The stock finish also has a matching, streak that is very faint along the comb up to the breech. The cheek is angled to the rear, to recoil away from your face, an ingenious feature found on better rifles. The rifle's brass work is neatly filed with crisp flats, burnished, then aged to a dark patina. The 3/8" diameter ramrod is tapered to a 5/16" diameter ramrod and fitted with a brass tip with 8-32 threads for loading and cleaning accessories. The side panel is fitted with a square tail brass sideplate in Lancaster County , Pennsylvania fashion.

Ignition for the rifle is provided by this Jim Chamber's Deluxe Siler flint lock. Notice the tall cock, top jaw and jaw screw, which sweep the frizzen from a higher point with more velocity, for better sparking. This lock has a good strong mainspring and should send a shower of sparks flying when the flint and frizzen connect. We recommend our 3/4" knapped English flints for best performance in this smoothbore. The lock is finished to a charcoal blue. The single trigger is pinned high to provide good leverage against the sear and crisp release.

A stainless steel vent liner is drilled in the side flat of the barrel. The vent is well positioned both horizontally and vertically on the pan. If your flint longrifle suffers from that infamous slow whoosh-bang ignition delay, study the work of today's best gun makers, and position your vent well centered on the pan, high above the bottom, to serve as a window on the center of the flash.

That expertly detailed description shouts "TOW". Which is a good thing. They are honestly telling you about the rifle. Sounds good if price fits your budget. I would rather own that than a factory made piece. hotoSmile:

You're right Rifleman. I recognized that writing style right away.

I kinda figured the OP is trying to keep the sale "secret" in order to prevent others from sniping a good deal out from under him.

That said, I have faith in that outfit for their used guns. They do price "fair", so you're not going to get a screamin' deal. But the older I get the less impressed I am when someone brags about a screamin' deal (often there is someone on the other end that got the shaft). It helps to know how that outfit will call out blemishes and problems. They are biased for the seller (of course), but will not hide problems.

Chambers lock, longhammock barrel, Clay Smith builder, yeah, I'd say it is in a league far above anything you'll buy factory made.

my main concern is that TOW drops a lot of names(so and so built the gun etc). I'm new to Muzzleloading and I don't know the makers names. So that's why I ask the question about the makers and the specs.

I would go for the custom built used rifle if it is well built and in good condition before buying a new production rifle such as a Pedersoli if the price is similar in most cases.

As others have stated, if it's within your budget go with the Clay Smith built rifle over any of the others! You will not be disappointed!! TOW gives you a full refund minus shipping if you do not like the rifle, but I can not imagine you would not!!!

The lock and barrel alone, are worth more than any over the counter rifle made today.
Throw in the fact that is made by Clay Smith, guaranteed a quality rifle.

Well it is marked "sale pending" on the Track website. Hope you got it Cotcrab as it is a really nice one. :thumbsup:

Dave

Thanks I bought it!

Let's look at it economically. A "new" factory gun is going to lose about 1/3 of its' value the first time it's shot. That said, there will ALWAYS be a broad and ready market for it, because it's a known maker and commodity. A custom gun should be worth about what you pay for it down the road, and maybe more (assuming you don't beat it up too badly), but the market will be a lot thinner, and selling it will take more effort.

That said, hands down the custom gun is going to be a much nicer gun, (better components, better wood, better grain direction, better architecture--the whole thing) and will turn a lot more heads at the range than "just another Lyman". Good guns, but there are a lot of them out there. Accuracy will probably be about the same, but the Lyman may have more user friendly sights on it.

Hope that helps give it a different perspective too.

I don't know what the asking price for the gun in question is, but it seems that no matter what, if you have custom gun parts, it's worth $999.

Everytime I see a semi-custom something-or-other on that website asking anything less than $1000 it goes in a matter of days.

It's when the artwork raises the price to several thousand that the market narrows rapidly.

The fact that American-made guns have readily available parts is worth a lot to me. Pedersoli replacement anything gets spendy real fast.

Yeah they had a Cabin Creek "PA Mountain Rifle", used, with a 38" swamped, Colerain barrel in .54 caliber about ten years ago. Was priced just under $1000 and it went in less than 24 hours.

It now resides at my house. :grin:

LD

You! YOU! You were the one!

:hatsoff: