So there were two muskets for sale on Gunbroker, a Jap Bess and a Charleville (also probably Jap), from the same pawn shop in FL. The underside of the Charleville barrel has the previous owner's name and "1984" so I'm betting he bought both back then. Although they were both set up for reenactment shooting, the previous late owner was heavily involved in CW stuff so..., I don't think they were shot much. Anyway the Bess went for a little under a grand, but I got the Charley for very little. Luckily as a Loyalist I can use a French musket either as a soldier or as a loaner to a recruit. I hope the bore is good enough to shoot.

LD

Dave,

Congratulations on the new musket! There are some deals to be had, but you need to know where to look, and you need to keep looking... or, just get lucky!

I know Miroku made a Bess, but I did not know they made a Charleville. The Miroku guns had a good reputation for quality. I have a Pedersoli Charleville. It is nicely put together, but I had some issues with the lock. It did not spark well, and it would eat flints. I sent the lock to Brad Emig, the "Lock Doctor" at Cabin Creek Muzzleloading. After he worked on it, the difference was like night and day. It's a great gun.

Anyway, I hope yours turns out to be a good 'un. There are some sleepers out there... You just have to look in the right place at the right time, and make your mind up quickly.

Best regards,
Notchy Bob

YES, as a matter of fact, the very first "run" of Japanese Bess, was coupled with the Japanese Charleville, and they used the same barrel for both...so BOTH were .69 caliber. The public quickly rejected the smaller caliber Bess (well they did sell them but the sales were slow, because it wasn't "right"). So they then upgraded the product to a .75 caliber barrel. Then years later, the rare .69 Jap musket (and it may have been a problem only with a kit version...can't get clarity and I've only actually held one in 25 years of reenacting) turned out to be similar to a Light Infantry Carbine, and suddenly was desirable. Go Figure.

Yeah, Brad Emig built my deer rifle, a Cabin Creek PA Mountain Rifle. He's very very good. The Charleville often benefits from making a saw cut in the forward edge of the "loop" that is below the cock jaws, then bending the jaws downwards until the edge of that cut meet, and welding that to change the angle of the flint.

As for "deals" well I've gotten three in 25 years including the Charley. One was a Jap Bess that I restored, and sold to the production crew of TURͶ: Washington's Spies., the other was a vintage kit that I built and sold to a fellow in New Jersey, and then this one.

LD