[JN01]

I am considering a .54 cal Mississippi rifle by Euroarms. Does anyone have experience with this rifle, or in general, the quality of recent Euroarms production?

The stock rifle is available for $545. Is a worked over model from James River Armory worth the extra $275?

[mec]

Euroarms very good!. I borrowed the Mississippi from Dixie for a Guns Magazine article. it shot a bit low with round ball and I bet it would have been right on with the 54 caliber minie bullets dixie sells. The quality of these guns is very good. The front sight is fairly small and there is not much room to file it down to raise elevation if that is needed.

[Phantom Captain]

Really depends on what you want to use it for too. Are you looking to reenact with it?

What James River does is both defarb, which means to remove all modern markings and refinish the rifle to make it look original and as-issued back in the Civil War. James River also offers shooters models which have a Hoyt barrel that is used more for competition shooting such as the N-SSA does.

So its up to you if you want somethig just for your own fun (stock models), just for your own collection but wanting it to look correct or for reenacting (defarbed) or for serious competition shooting (re-barreled and defarbed). Once you figure those out and how much you want to pay it will all click.

The original 41 Mississippi rifles were originally made to fire patched round balls and thuse weren't set up to shoot a minie ball. Some were rebored to .58 and/or re-rifled to accept a .54 minie ball. I'm not sure how it's rifled (deep or flat) or what the twist rate is for a stock Euroarms is but that is definitely something you will want to look into depending on what and how you want to shoot.

[bonza]

Depending on the work performed by JRA, it could be money well spent. Either way, my experience with Euroarms rifle-muskets has been very good.....I own two, a Zouave & an Enfield musketoon.

[Hawkeye748]

As was said earlier, what do you intend to do with the gun?

Stock .54 Cal. Mississippi rifles usually come with a barrel that is .546 or better. This is set up for the round ball, not the minie ball. In addition, the internals are of soft, unhardened metal. End result is that long term, you have problems.

The James River models come in different types, one for the re-enactor, basically defarbed and not really a great shooter with the stock barrel. The Skirmisher quality has a Bob Hoyt cut barrel designed with a twist for the minie ball that shoots well in competition. I also have been told that they harden the internals and reduce the trigger pulls. Not sure on this but if you are looking to shoot accurately with minie balls, I believe it is worth the difference.

[JN01]

It would be mostly a range toy for me. However, being a rather picky 18th Century re-enactor, I also like reproductions to be close to "right".

As I don't intend to use it for reenactments, I could get over proofs marks and such (as long as there aren't any huge billboards). More importantly, a lot of the repros leave way too much wood on the stock leaving them poorly balanced. Most importantly, does it shoot decently? I'm not a world class marksman, so requiring 1/2" groups at 1000 yards isn't a criteria.

I'm thinking that if it functions pretty well out of the box and doesn't feel too clunky, perhaps the stock gun would suit my purposes.

Is there anyone who could work over the lock internals to give it a little more durability?

[StrawHat]

I don't know if the wood is oversized but the barrel is a bit thicker in diameter than any originall 58 I've eveer handled.

I took an italian 1841 and merged it with an 1866 Trapdoor barrel. The TD barrel was a full 3/32 smaller in diameter and needed to be glassed into the italian stock. Turned into a great shooter and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The lockwork is not all that hard to do. There are a couple of articles on the web concerning tuning a musket lock. Relatively easy stuff.

[Hawkeye748]

JN01,

If you are just going to play around with it, it should suit your needs. The lock work that is needed can be done by any competent gunsmith. I strongly believe that you can do it yourself. It is not really that difficult if you have the time.

It involves polishing/stoning the internals to make them smooth and work together well. You harden them through a heat process that will add a thin layer of harden metal to cut down the wear. I have an Arkansas Stone I sharpen knives with and a Dremel kit. With the Emory embeded polishing wheel and the stone, you have everything you need to polish the parts. A propane or Mapp gas torch with a carbon source is all you need. I bought a product called Kasnit for the carbon source. Easy and works great. As I said, it takes a bit of time, but the job is actually fairly simple.

To me, All of the Italians are too heavy and out of size. The stocks seem heavier/thicker than necessary and so do the barrels. I believe that wood is denser and the metal of lesser quality to keep cost down. End result is what you get. If you want the feel of an original, buy one or have it made.

[JN01]

Thanks for all the info. Maybe I can find one to handle in person before I buy.

[sharps59]

If you want to do the lock your self. I have a copy of detail instructions on how to do it.
I can dig them out and email them to you. I also think there is a copy of them posted on the nwt region web page of the NSSA. go to the NSSA web page clik on regions. the NWT's page.

[JN01]

Found it on the web site, thanks.