Mississippi rifle questions

[kh54]

Greetings All. I have a Replica Arms import of a V. Bernardelli reproduction Mississippi rifle manufactured/proofed in 1985. I’m wondering about how authentic the metal finishes are. The hammer and lock plate both have a nice case hardened finish and the barrel is a bronze color. I’ve finished one gun with an “antique brown” color but the bronze isn’t like that at all. It looks a lot like anodized aluminum.

This also has a funky ramrod. The brass end isn’t solid, it’s just a hollow cone, and will grab round balls when trying to seat them with a little force. I thought I could easily fix that by filling the cone with lead, but I’m open to other ideas.

So, can y’all enlighten me a bit? How would the originals have been finished? Anything else about the ramrod I should know? Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[poker]

Im not sure which company made yours, but Ive had some pedersolis through the years with off-coloring on them. Purplish hues mostly, but some copper brown types also. It never really bothered me though.

 

[necchi]

If you "sniff" the barrel, does it smell like a penny?

 

[kh54]

@poker, it was made by Vincenzo Bernardelli: Vincenzo Bernardelli S.p.A. (firearms) - Wikipedia. I knew that they made nice handguns when I lived in Italy in the 70s but I knew nothing about reproductions.

@necchi, it smells like Ballistol now.

It doesn’t bother me much but I think I would just like the finish to look authentic. So if it was blued, brown, or white originally that’s what I’m curious about.

Thanks fellers!

 

[hawkenhunter50]

Maybe this will be of help or interest.

https://www.lodgewood.com/M1841-Mississippi-Rifle_c_294.html

 

[MarkTK36thIL]

There's others whom are better versed in barrel finish- and my copy of Moller's isn't handy at the moment. The Italian version of browning I guess. I can tell you the ramrod head screws onto the shaft. I would get a replacement from Butch's Antique Gun Parts. They're a solid one-piece ramrod.

If that's the barrel with the eagle proof mark and Replica Arms stamp on the barrel, be careful about shooting it. Later versions had a welded on bolster, and were marked W on them. The first versions had instances of blowing the bolster off, and are not N-SSA approved- but the W stamped ones are.

 

[kh54]

@MarkTK36thIL, thanks for that information! I’ll see if I can get a correct ramrod.

I noticed the “W” on the bolster and wondered what that’s about. I’m glad to know my Mississippi rifle is a shooter. I only buy guns that I can shoot so this is a big deal to me. If there’s anything else I need to know don't be shy!

 

[Notchy Bob]

Regarding the barrel finish, I had always heard that the original M1841 rifles had the barrels coated with brown laquer. I’m unable to post a link with the device I’m using at the moment, but if you would look up the “I Have This Old Gun” series on the NRA website, they have a very good short article about the Mississippi rifle, and they reiterate that point regarding the laquer finish on the barrel. However, I mentioned this on another forum a while back and was roundly corrected by a collector of some renown, who stated emphatically that the original Mississippi barrels were rust-browned in the conventional way. Whatever… I think we can agree that they were brown in color.

The link in post #5 (above) will take you to a complete and well-illustrated review of the defarbing options offered by Lodgewood Mfg. Thanks to @hawkenhunter50 for providing that! The Lodgewood page states the Mississippi rifle barrels should be “armory bright,” meaning bare metal with no finish. That’s a new one to me. However, we do know a number of these rifles were bored out to .577 caliber and fitted with long range sights and a bayonet lug for service in the War Between The States, and the good folks at Lodgewood are WBTS specialists. Maybe the armory renovation included polishing the barrel… I don’t know.

Anyway, based on the somewhat conflicting information we have, it sounds as if you could brown, laquer, or polish your barrel and find someone to support your choice. Personally, I would go with a rust brown. I can’t explain the bronze color of your rifle as it is, but I would think refinishing would be a fairly straightforward project.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[kh54]

Thank you @Notchy Bob and everyone else for your very helpful information!

 

[hanshi]

This is all new and interesting information to me. I'm a fan of the M1841 and have one ordered through Euroarms around 20 years ago. It took me a good while to finally receive it because it had to be "special ordered". I wanted it in .54 and that's what was delivered. It had a dark (very) walnut stock without even a hint of any shiny finish. The rifle was fitted with the precision normally seen in custom rifles. The price was a screaming deal at about half the cost of rifles from other companies.

Superbly accurate and it could drop deer DRT. It is a bit heavy at approx. 10-1/2 lbs. At one time I might have considered the stock work and defarb modifications, but all that work would have come too close to the original price of the rifle.