New to BP - Want a Military Carbine Repro!

[tacfoley]

The only good carbine that I can think of are the Parker Hale reproductions. They are exact or extremely close replicas and perhaps the only drawback (common to most military rifles) is that they use musket caps which can be difficult to find in some areas. They use a patched .570 ball. I see them on the EE and in gunshows for $500 - $700 and they are usually in pretty good condition.

I think your only hope for a russian or austrian carbine would be a custom kit (if you can find one) or making one yourself from parts from a US dealer like Track of the Wolf. I don't have an address for it but there is a webpage describing Norwegian military rifles. Not exactly russian or austrian but at least northern Europe

cheers mooncoon

Sir - you might just be mistaken. My Parker-Hale Musketoon, bought new by me in 1978 and serial #1361, has always shot the 535gr Minié bullet made from the mould that came with the gun. Depending on the available grade of BP, between 45 and 55 gr of FFg lands most of my shots in a two inch circle at 50m.

AFAIK, NONE of the P-H reproductions are designed to shoot anything except the original style of hollow-base or Pritchett-style bullet projectile that was fired by the real thing, according to Roger Hale of Parker-Hale, who should know a thing about them. In any event, shooting RB out of one at 300m is a pretty futile experience, and anybody who has tried it would readily testify.

tac

 

[mooncoon]

Sir - you might just be mistaken. My Parker-Hale Musketoon, bought new by me in 1978 and serial #1361, has always shot the 535gr Minié bullet made from the mould that came with the gun.

AFAIK, NONE of the P-H reproductions are designed to shoot anything except the original style of hollow-base or Pritchett-style bullet projectile

Perhaps I should clarify; in this area, competitions are shot with round ball only, at least in part to reduce damage to the targets. Mini and maxi balls are allowed in musket shoots (I think) and alongside cartridge rifles in BP cartridge events. The bulk of round ball competitions are shot at less than 100 yards with a few long range shots.

Also worth noting that the british mini ball is quite different from the US mini. The US one has a cavity ending in a very thin skirt edge while the original ones as shot out of sniders has a skirt about .1" thick. That becomes a concern on this side of the pond because there are several different styles of molds available.

cheers mooncoon