The effect of the "Indian Guns" on your Trade

[gof]

I am/was in a discussion on another forum about the effect that influx of Indian guns has had on our domestic producers.

Of course, there are a lot of assumptions being made (by both sides)but I thought I would come to "the source" to find out.

Now, I am pretty sure that they "average guy" that buys an Indian doglock musket to run around the woods and play guns (also called "reenacting") is not the kind of guy that would spend $3000 on a custom made musket.

But,

There are plenty of guys that finish kits or sell semi-custom guns in the sub $1000 that are affected.

While I would like to hear input from all builders, I would especially like to hear from those whose sole (or at least 50%) of their annual income comes from building guns.

Greg aka GoF

 

[Many Klatch]

First off, I am not a gun builder, so I do apologize. However I do reenacting so maybe my opinion is worth something. Most of the "Indian" guns that I have looked at seriously were copies of old British military weapons, that no custom gun builder here in the US seems to be interested in.

The reenactors that just want something to shoot blanks in, also want something that is accurate in appearance. They don't really care whether the barrel is safe to shoot a full charge or not. They also are interested in a gun that is cheap enough that they can afford to outfit themselves. Don't forget, they have to buy tents, clothes and accessories as well as the gun.

I got lucky and found a good shooting Pedersoli Brown Bess for my use, and it puts them in the same hole at 25 yards. I have several other members of my group shooting on a regular basis now. Some of them had owned their Bess's for 10 years and never shot a ball.

Long and Short of it seems to be. Most custom builders in the US seem to concentrate on designs that emulate what was used in the US. The Indians are building British Military.

Many Klatch

 

[Russianblood]

IMHO, the Indian produced arms are a godsend to the reenacting crowd for reasons stated above. I can't even imagine spending a couple thousand dollars for a custom made firelock that will never (or hardly ever) fire a live round.

If anything, once people own an Indian reproduction, they will be motivated to buy a nicer firearm for their personal use.