1853 Enfield...Which One?

[mtmeredith]

Which of the 1853 Enfields is the best Quality? I was at a civil war encampment last weekend and liked the looks of the rifle. All of the ones I observed were Armi Sport. Is that the best one for the money?

 

[Zonie]

IMO, the very best 1853 Enfield (3 band) recreation was made by Parker-Hale in England in the 1980's.

When Parker-Hale went out of business, they sold their machinery to the Gibbs Rifle company in Italy where the guns are still being made.

I've heard that the quality isn't as good as the original PH guns but I haven't seen one first hand so that may just be a rumor.

Navy Arms imports these guns and Dixie Gunworks offers them for sale.

Dixie Gunworks also shows a 1853 Enfield made by Euro Arms in Italy and this gun is substantially less costly than the Navy Arms PH gun.

As for its quality I don't have a clue but perhaps one of our members owns one?

If you check with some of the Civil War reenactment places you can often find these guns for sale used.
A word of caution about some of these guns.
Because they were used by reenactors who don't necessarily follow good gun care rules many of them have been fired but not promptly cleaned so 'buyer beware'.

 

[Big Iron]

I would stay away from Euro Arms guns. The quality is middle of the road at best. I have a Euro Arms 1858 Remington pistol. The quality isn't near as good as my Uberti 1858.

BI

 

[torn moc]

the fit an finish on my Euroarms is Fine...
shoots great...I have no problem with it.

 

[swquiro]

You can find a wealth of info on Civil War arms, plus many items for sale at www.n-ssa.org.

 

[poordevil]

Dixie Gunworks also shows a 1853 Enfield made by Euro Arms in Italy and this gun is substantially less costly than the Navy Arms PH gun.

Dixie also states that the Parker-Hale gun made in Italy is the same gun as the Euro arms, but sans the markings, and the price.

P

 

[Jason Lewis]

Dixie Gunworks also shows a 1853 Enfield made by Euro Arms in Italy and this gun is substantially less costly than the Navy Arms PH gun.

Dixie also states that the Parker-Hale gun made in Italy is the same gun as the Euro arms, but sans the markings, and the price.

P

it is the same gun, you're just paying extra for the PH stamp.

 

[jeep44]

I have a Euroarms Enfield. The quality is excellent, with a fine fit and finish. Reenactors are primarily concerned with how closely their rifle is to an original, and unfortunately, the Armisport is closer in configuration to the type of Enfield imported by the North and South during the CW. The barrel bands on the Euroarms are a later type,and must be changed to have a correctly "de-farbed" Enfield. I put Armisport ones on my Euroarms to make it more correct for the time period and place I try to depict.I also changed out the lockplate to have one with proper CW maker names stamped on it (Potts and Hunt). One the Authentic Campaigner website, there is a long thread on all the many things to do to one of these Italian guns to make it as close as possible to a CW-era Enfield. I would say there is no real difference in overall quality between Armisport and Euroarms,though.

edit: It must not have been too "hard-core" a group of reenactors you saw-the guys who sweat all the details make sure all the Italian maker's marks are ground off their rifles.

 

[canman]

I also have a Euroarms Enfield 3 band and it has never given me any problems for more than 15 years. Very accurate also