Wanting to get a Percussion Rifle cant make a decision

[Greasy_Jesus]

I've been getting the itch to buy a percussion rifle and now I have to scratch it. Im trying to decide between a Whitworth in .451", an Enfield (most likely a 3 Band) .577" (Repro or Orginial), a Brunswick Rifle .704" and a Mississipi Rifle .58 (Repro or Original). Anyone got any personal experience with these rifles ? Or some Pros and Cons about them. I know a lot of the repro 3 Bands are Junk except for Parker Hale. Ive seen good things on the Pedersoli Whitworths and Parker Hales. I guess what I'm trying to say is if anyone has some personal experiences or preferences to help me on the path it'd be greatly appreciated. I thank everyone for their input.

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

I've been getting the itch to buy a percussion rifle and now I have to scratch it. Im trying to decide between a Whitworth in .451", an Enfield (most likely a 3 Band) .577" (Repro or Orginial), a Brunswick Rifle .704" and a Mississipi Rifle .58 (Repro or Original). Anyone got any personal experience with these rifles ? Or some Pros and Cons about them. I know a lot of the repro 3 Bands are Junk except for Parker Hale. Ive seen good things on the Pedersoli Whitworths and Parker Hales. I guess what I'm trying to say is if anyone has some personal experiences or preferences to help me on the path it'd be greatly appreciated. I thank everyone for their input.

A lot of cool choices here most settle for a nice Hawken or Zouave Rifle. I guess for the Whitworth it'll depend. They are expensive looking at about $2k for a Pedersoli and $2,5k-$3k for a Parker Hale and original is $11k+. They are amazing target shooters my good friend has a Parker Hale and a Taylor Volunteer. He likes the Parker Hale so much he only target shoots with it. He has taken two Deer with the Taylor Volunteer .451 Whitworth and his furthest shot was 342 yards which got him a nice 10 point buck and cost me $200 for a lost bet. He has since put a telescopic sight on it. They are very expensive but are definite tack drivers. The Enfield on the other hand is half as good as its Whitworth counterpart. It is a tack driver as well until 300 yards in my opinion on a good bore original or Parker Hale. I would stay away from and Repro bearing the names Armisport, Euroarms and Navy Arms(Older Pedersoli). The newer pedersoli Enfields I hear arent too bad. Id still go for an Original P53 or a Parker Hale. They are rugged deer hunters, I have a P53 made in 1860 and I have a Snider conversion 1857 P53. Great rifle all around and a lot of times can be picked up under $1k. Moving on to the Brunswick Rifle(this is where a list of cons come in). You have about 5choices here. You can buy a Nepalese rifle from IMA, a Russian army copy, build one from the Rifle Shoppe, pray to the good lord for a British one or visit C.S. Arms in Upperville, VA cause he has 4 Confederate Brunswick Rifles for sale. Forget about buying some .690 or .695 roundballs cause the Brunswick doesnt use conventional rifling. It uses a two groove belt the runs the length of the barrel. This means youll need to cast balls that are belted to be loaded into the groove. To do that youll need to get a lead cast of your bore and send it to England where they will make you a round ball mould that'll match your rifle specifically. After all that they are also tack drivers. This whole process will run you out to about $1,500 before round ball casting begins. Lastly the Mississipi rifle, this rifle can be purchased on most gun auction sites as an original or repro and pederoli makes one. Get some .575 Minié Balls and go have fun. They are light to carry and quick to bear on target. Only problem I have is the sights on both the original and Pedersoli. An old man near me in Ridgely, Maryland had a Mississipi made in 1847 and the sights only allowed me to effectively hit targets out to 180 yards and it took me 4 tries to get the 200 yard target. Either way couldve been just me. If it were me in your situation I would be finding myself either and original 3 Band or a nice 1861 .577" Army Short Rifle.

 

[dave951]

I've been getting the itch to buy a percussion rifle and now I have to scratch it. Im trying to decide between a Whitworth in .451",

Whitworths have their quirks but can be very, very accurate when sorted.

an Enfield (most likely a 3 Band) .577" (Repro or Orginial),

We shoot Civil War era arms in competition. Enfield has a different stock design than a Springfield and takes some getting used to. When shooting minies, there is a technique to get them to shoot very accurately. 2/3 band doesn't much matter. 2 bands are a bit more accurate. In general, issue sights on these guns were never designed for target work.

a Mississipi Rifle .58 (Repro or Original)

Again, we shoot these Civil War arms in competition. A Mississippi can be very accurate but are a bit heavy. All techniques regarding shooting minies apply.

Anyone got any personal experience with these rifles ? Or some Pros and Cons about them. I know a lot of the repro 3 Bands are Junk except for Parker Hale. Ive seen good things on the Pedersoli Whitworths and Parker Hales.

We shoot these in competition. All minie guns will take some load development to shoot well. Not all repop 3 bands are garbage and most can be made to shoot fairly well but not quite competition level. Some of the early production ones had issues but know this, Parker Hale is a great choice if you can find a BIRMINGHAM manufacture example. We call those 1st gen. The ones assembled from parts by Euroarms may or may not be a good shooter. You really need to hang out with the North South Skirmish Association if you want to go down the musket rabbit hole.

But what do I know about shooting minie ball guns?

My Parker Hale competition 2 band.

My 1862 Colt Contract repop

 

[ResearchPress]

I've been getting the itch to buy a percussion rifle and now I have to scratch it. Im trying to decide between a Whitworth in .451", an Enfield (most likely a 3 Band) .577" (Repro or Orginial), a Brunswick Rifle .704" and a Mississipi Rifle .58 (Repro or Original). Anyone got any personal experience with these rifles ? Or some Pros and Cons about them. . . .

It would help to understand what you want the rifle for; hunting, plinking/informal range practice, short range (100 yards), mid-range (200-600 yards), long range (beyond 600 yards), competition, prone, offhand, bench rest....

Whitworth's good for 600 yards but not so competitive as other rifles (eg. Gibbs-Metford, RIgby) at ranges beyond that. Comes with open sights - to get the best from it, will require aperture sights. Also needs needs more specialised equipment such as hex wad cutters and cleaning jags. Can be fired with cylindro-conoidal or hexagonal bullets. Do you cast?

Enfield can be used for target shooting out to 600 yards but without the level of accuracy of the Whitworth. Straight stock does not suit some, especially for offhand shooting. The rearsight placement on the 3-band is quite close to the eye, while that on the two-band is further away and can give a clearer sight picture.

Originals are a joy to shoot, but finding a good shooting rifle may take longer and cost more than a repro. However originals if looked after likely to hold their value better.

I'll leave others to comment on the remaining rifles you suggest - I don't have experience shooting them.

David

 

[bubba.50]

The proper procedure for when you can't decide which gun to buy is to buy both. Hope this helps.

 

[Nobade]

David is spot on - what do you want to do with your rifle? All the ones you listed have very different performance.

 

[Greasy_Jesus]

David is spot on - what do you want to do with your rifle? All the ones you listed have very different performance.

Hunting Deer mostly but also some target shooting, Id one day like to do reeacting but not now at thia time. For right now main purpose is deer hunting.

 

[Greasy_Jesus]

The proper procedure for when you can't decide which gun to buy is to buy both. Hope this helps.

I wish I had the money but each one of these rifles are typically over $1,000.

 

[Greasy_Jesus]

It would help to understand what you want the rifle for; hunting, plinking/informal range practice, short range (100 yards), mid-range (200-600 yards), long range (beyond 600 yards), competition, prone, offhand, bench rest....

Whitworth's good for 600 yards but not so competitive as other rifles (eg. Gibbs-Metford, RIgby) at ranges beyond that. Comes with open sights - to get the best from it, will require aperture sights. Also needs needs more specialised equipment such as hex wad cutters and cleaning jags. Can be fired with cylindro-conoidal or hexagonal bullets. Do you cast?

Enfield can be used for target shooting out to 600 yards but without the level of accuracy of the Whitworth. Straight stock does not suit some, especially for offhand shooting. The rearsight placement on the 3-band is quite close to the eye, while that on the two-band is further away and can give a clearer sight picture.

Originals are a joy to shoot, but finding a good shooting rifle may take longer and cost more than a repro. However originals if looked after likely to hold their value better.

I'll leave others to comment on the remaining rifles you suggest - I don't have experience shooting them.

David

I thought the Whitworth had a perfect gas seal and didnt require any patches ? Not unless it needs something under it. Does that Wad you mention act like a patch ?

 

[Nobade]

Hunting Deer mostly but also some target shooting, Id one day like to do reeacting but not now at thia time. For right now main purpose is deer hunting.

For shooting deer I would choose a .577" military type rifle or a roundball gun. The Whitworth is a heavy and very finicky thing to try to use out hunting, best kept on the target range. My own Parker Hale '61 musketoon makes a superb deer rifle, light and easy to carry and has a fast follow up shot if needed.

 

[bubba.50]

I wish I had the money but each one of these rifles are typically over $1,000.

I know neighbor. Just trying for a bit of levity for your morning.

 

[ResearchPress]

I thought the Whitworth had a perfect gas seal and didnt require any patches ? Not unless it needs something under it. Does that Wad you mention act like a patch ?

Typically the Whitworth will be used with paper patched bullets, either cylindro-conoidal or hexagonal. It is often fired by loading powder then a tight fitting wad, the bore wiped then the bullet seated. If hunting then wiping between shots will be less of an issue. Some use grease groove bullets. Some will seat a hollow based cylindro-conoidal bullet directly onto the powder. Whatever choice of bullet they are a snug slip fit, and if being use for hunting then care will need to be taken that once seated the bullet is not disturbed and slide forward.

David

 

[cynthialee]

If you just want a deer rifle, get a TC Hawken or a GPR

can't argue with their track record for taking game, you won't dig deep in your pocket

 

[hanshi]

The only one mentioned that I'm familiar with is the US M1841 "Mississippi" rifle. I've had one for about 20 years and have killed deer with it. But then it does weigh 10.5 lbs. Extremely accurate with prb (originally designed for prb) I special ordered mine in the original .54 caliber. Depending on the maker they can be very nice. Mine is as well fitted and finished as most custom rifles and it has a walnut stock. I don't shoot anything other than round ball anyway and that 1841 excels with them. Just my two cents.

 

[morehops52]

It didn't take me long to figure out that an Enfield was not an ideal rifle for PA deer hunting. Much too heavy and unweidy for woods hunting. If you have a short walk to a tree stand and can sit that's a different story. Based on you're requirements I would have two rifles. A rather inexpensive hunting rifle of which there are many to choose from under $800 (used to be $500). I'd get a good used one. Then put your big money on a one-holer.

 

[leadhoarder]

I agree about buying an inexpensive hawken style rifle for hardcore hunting use and also buy a nice target rifle if you have the desire to do that.

 

[Stantheman86]

If I had to pick one of mine to keep it would be my Parker-Hale Birmingham made 3-band P53. It's the Rolls-Royce of military repro muzzleloaders.

The 3-banders are hard to find but you can usually turn up a N-SSA used P-H Musketoon on Gunbroker for about $1000- $1500

They are well worth hunting down vs an Italian

 

[vibraphonusrex]

Back in the ‘90s, I did reenacting, and I bought a Euroarms 3-band Enfield. Of course, we mainly shot blanks, but we did go out east of Greeley to live fire, and my friend and I went to the range once in awhile. Now, I’ve joined the N-SSA, and hope to hit those little targets. I had the Enfield refurbished at Lodgewood, snd have started shooting it. Didn’t do too bad, I suppose, my first time out. Pictured is at 50 yards, and a combination of Burton balls and Pritchetts. Yeah, I had some weird fliers. Blah!

 

[dave951]

Back in the ‘90s, I did reenacting, and I bought a Euroarms 3-band Enfield. Of course, we mainly shot blanks, but we did go out east of Greeley to live fire, and my friend and I went to the range once in awhile. Now, I’ve joined the N-SSA, and hope to hit those little targets. I had the Enfield refurbished at Lodgewood, snd have started shooting it. Didn’t do too bad, I suppose, my first time out. Pictured is at 50 yards, and a combination of Burton balls and Pritchetts. Yeah, I had some weird fliers. Blah!

I shoot N-SSA and am constantly looking at my load and practicing. Look to your load. Get the minies sized right, use real black, good lube, and quality caps and you'll be here with an Enfield

Parker Hale 2 band

 

[dave951]

It didn't take me long to figure out that an Enfield was not an ideal rifle for PA deer hunting. Much too heavy and unweidy for woods hunting. If you have a short walk to a tree stand and can sit that's a different story. Based on you're requirements I would have two rifles. A rather inexpensive hunting rifle of which there are many to choose from under $800 (used to be $500). I'd get a good used one. Then put your big money on a one-holer.

For hunting purposes, I'd carry my Parker Hale Enfield Musketoon. It's a short, light, 58cal carbine. Here's a pic from another website but you get the idea of length.

I've done load development with mine and it's a 2moa gun-