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Pakistan and Indian made replicas

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coltshooter1

32 Cal
Joined
Jan 25, 2023
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Location
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I have heard the horror stories over the years of these weapon having issues during reenacting. Is there any truth to the rumors or are they useable for reenacting? Hope some of you folks actually do use or have used them and can contribute info
 
Short answer, yes you can reenact, safely, with India origin muskets.


So my experience is with India origin flintlocks, not percussion guns. I own four, consisting of two sejeant's carbines, a trade gun, and a 1st Model Bess. I also own two Pedersoli Bess, a Miroku Charleville, and a caplock Pedersoli SxS. I mention the latter as I did not want to give the impression that I was strictly the owner of India origin muskets.

Fit and finish on an India origin musket are not as good as Pedersoli nor Miroku. Miroku no longer produces muskets but they were the makers of the "Jap Bess" and the "Jap Charleville". Are they worth less than half the price of a Pedersoli, absolutely, but it is my opinion that you need to pay attention to which company that you buy from. All of mine are from Loyalist Arms LLC in Canada.

To date, only one India origin Bess has been documented as having had a barrel failure a far as I know, and that was found to be user error, not a flaw in the product. That failure happened when shooting blanks.

This distinction is important, for the pressure curve is quite different in a caplock, rifled bore, compared to a smoothbore, flintlock, wheellock, or matchlock ignition, when shooting live ammo.

Can one shoot live ammunition from the smooth bores, yes if the seller sells them as such. I shoot live with mine, all are smoothbore, and I hunt with my India made trade gun.

Folks with India origin muskets in most European nations as well as in the UK, when the gun is made to fire instead of being a wall decoration, are required by law to submit that piece to a certified proofing house. So far the members of this forum that have done this have not had a failure that has been reported to the members here. There is no proof house here in the United States, nor in Canada, and while a person may test any black powder barrel, from India, Spain, Japan, or America, by firing it in a certain manner, they cannot "proof" the barrel. "Proofing" of a barrel is a very specific term with legal impact, and must be done at a certified proof-house. (Even American modern firearms have not been proofed.)

I have heard lots of horror stories. I've always asked for documentation of the rumors. So far only one was documented. In fact MORE Spanish barrels that were actually proofed have had documented failures, than Indian barrels. More American made muzzleloader barrel have been documented as failing than Indian barrels, but those were all user error in the numerous cases that I have reviewed.

LD
 
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