David LaPell
Blackhawk
I picked up this 1853 Enfield Musketoon in .577 caliber made by Euro Arms a couple of weeks ago. There is an interesting story behind this one. There is a little gun shop a couple of miles from me that I go into only once in a while because the owner always looks like he just woke up and he is a bit pricey. I had spotted this gun three years ago when I was in the hunt for some oddball ammo that I heard he had. I saw this gun and asked what the price was because it was used. $350- Well time passed and things came and went, and I forgot about this gun. Well three months ago I had heard again that the shop owner had a box of 8mm Lebel ammo on hand (almost impossible to find here). So I checked in and there was this gun, still on the shelf. I asked to see it, and the price was still the same. However when checking it out, the hammer would not stay at half cock. Full cock worked fine. After showing the owner, which took five or six times even explaining what half cock was and to get him to see how the gun was (his response to the hammer not staying on half cock was that it was "touchy") I offered the owner $250 to take it home. After a bit of haggling, the owner handed me the gun and said "Fine, you fix it!" And so for $250 I took it home. New, this gun sells online at Dixie Gun Works for $650. After getting it home, I knew it was something simple. I noticed that the tang screw had been cranked down pretty hard, I backed it off about 1 turn, and the lock now works perfectly. I replaced a couple of the screws that had been buggered up a bit in disassemby, something I see alot with used muzzleloaders. The rifling is crisp and clean. I took it out the other day and loaded it up with 60 grains of FFG Triple 7 powder and minie balls at 25 yards rested. If it wasn't for the one stray all the bullets would have been touching in this five shot group. I am hoping to use this gun in a couple of BP matches this year.
