[tbird255]

Has anyone purchased any of the Nepalese discovered Enfield muskets from IMA etc, in untouched condition? Are they a good buy? I see that it is a new listing

Any advice. ( I am prolly gonna buy one, cause I have always wanted a civil war era musket but..... I like make informed decisions)

Thomas

 

[John Sukey In Memoriam]

FORGET it! they are SO BAD that IMA is offering a extra stock with them, that you will have to inlet. the original stocks are ROTTEN and the barrels are CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are better off buying a modern replica. At least you will be able to shoot it.
I wouldn't go any further back in their inventory than a Martini Henry. At least those are decent and shootable.

 

[tbird255]

It is interesting to me that they are offering the Kit, which has been on the site for awhile, but they just added the complete original.... Clearance maybe???... or the best of the worst???

 

[tbird255]

Just got it! It is in better than pic'd condition, and is very solid. Bore looks good and should clean up well. I have not torn it down yet, but there are no obvious signs of bad rust anywhere. so far it is wellworth the 250! will post pics once I det them taken

 

[texcl2]

I sure would like to see your 53 if you could post some pics.

 

[tbird255]

SOrry for the delay in posting, Her are the pics straight outa the box, I am quite pleased

There was/is some minor pitting below the wood line, but not serous enough to effect shootability I dont think, The rifling is strong, with little rust. I did not have any luck pulling the breach plug, though I dont have the proper tools. The rifle was covered in a lacquer of sorts, and my best luck cleaning was hot water, and Denatured Alchohol. It cleaned up really well, The action screws and th action is very solid, and very clean

I will try to get after pics posted soon.

 

[texcl2]

Man, I hope mine looks that good. I read somewhere that they packed these with an animal grease and put them into storage, maybe thats the laquer like substance. what do you think the bore will rate? looking forward to the after pics.

 

[tbird255]

AHHHH Animal grease!!! high protien, that is why water water and alchy.... Makes sense, Here are the after shots. sorry for the poor muzzle pic, camera was dying :-(

 

[texcl2]

That's one nice lookin 53, hope mine's that good. so far I haven't heard one bad thing about this group of rifles.

 

[kenb]

Very nice. Darn you. You are going to make me spend money!
Are these British made or Nepalese copies?

 

[texcl2]

they are probably nepalese but there is a slim chance that they are unmarked british. i notice the wood is very similar to the british version, I find that sort of interesting, but I have no real experience in this field.

 

[kenb]

Interesting. Any idea what the markings on the lock plate mean? Any plans to shoot the rifle?

 

[rokoicepick]

How is the bore? Any pitting or rust? Been itching for one of these . Guess I'll have to get one and hope that it is as good. Would like to shoot one to see how accurate it is.

 

[tbird255]

The bore is pretty good. There is some light (empahsize light) rust which is to be expected, but the rifling is strong. There was some light pitting (frosting) towards the muzzle on the inside, but nothing serious. I will try to get it cleaned a little better and see if I cant get a decent pic this weekend. .... I will try any way.

I would be certain that these are nepalese copies. There is * (yes and asterisc) makers mark on every part of the rifle, and larger actions pieces, so I assume that it was definately a mass produced item, THe workmanship is VERY similar if not equal to the belt pistol (EITC British) I also have

TC

 

[tbird255]

Interesting. Any idea what the markings on the lock plate mean? Any plans to shoot the rifle?

The markings are numbers I believe, I do plan to shoot it eventually, I dont think I will ever load it for the 700Yd mark though.

 

[kenb]

Well I ordered one. We'll see.

 

[Fritz]

Got mine yesterday night.

Got Mine yesterday.

Here is the good points:

1) Bore very nice for condition for age, little to no rust inside. No rpitting, just light surface gunk.
2) Little to no rust on rifle, just a black paint like crap coating that is dryed grease or might be paint
3) No evidence of water damage. The stock is very, very dry.
4) stock is not heavily dented. once gunk removed it might look very nice.
5) came apart with ease, no rusted screws or messed up screw heads.

Bad things.

1) Muzzle is out of round, significant enough to make shooting out of the question.
2) Barrel has a bulge in it about 6 inches from muzzle, can be felt inside and seen on the outside of the barrel. reason # 2 this rifle will never be a shooter (sigh.......)
3) rear sight leaf is broken, will not hold position on sight ladder.
4) stock is broken through the lock rear barrel support area, almost all the way through, enough to ensure the rifle stock cannot be used. Not due to shipping, it was carefully packed, my bet is the stock was so dried out that it warped and cracked. Can be repaired to make nice appearance, but no better than that.
5) rear buttplate missing bottom screw and other screws loose in stock.
6) lock is not fully functional. Will not hold on full cock, slips off of full cock.
7) Nipple pretty much hammered. looks like kid spent time snapping it until crushed.

Overall, this rifle will never be more than a wallhanger, though with effort it might be pretty. I guess I cannot complain, as they promised nothing more but I was frankly let down by it all. If I knew it was going to be in this shape I would not have bought one, it is just too rough. In fairness, where in the world are you going to get a decent 150 year old rifled musket for 250 dollars? I am tempted to buy another and hpe to be able to assemble a decent rifle between the two of them, and might if most others have better luck. The problem is that none of the major assemblies on the rifle I got (the lock, stock or barrel) were in good shape or (with the possible exception of the lock, which might be repaired) can they be put into decent shape. The bands, buttplate and the ramrod were in good shape.

The do not allow special select. Bloody shame. Hope that helps.

 

[texcl2]

you know I'm pretty sure they will replace that rifle for you, they have good customer service.

 

[kenb]

New note as of today on the website:
"Note: Some examples may have unattached parts such as; Butt Plate, Hammer, Trigger Guard, Steel Band, etc. However, we are looking carefully to make sure there is not catastrophic damage to any specific part or the wood stock. IMA will INCLUDE any missing parts for you to install. Please remember, these are not perfect, but are truly untouched, and therefore; “they are as they are”. For obvious reasons we cannot offer a Special Selection on this item.

Furthermore, REFUNDS are OK, but exchanges for a diffrent 1853 is not."

I'm sure they'll take care of you if you call. Sounds like yours has "catastrophic damage". i ordered one yesterday and I was going to call and cancel the order after seeing your review but if they'll refund I'll see what comes.

 

[Fritz]

Well my reading of their ad was that you were buying it in as-is condition. Kind of unfair of me to return it if it comes as-is and that condition is not so good. The cost to ship it back will most likely be on the order of 15 dollars, so I am better off cleaning it up and selling it at my cost. IT might come out to be a pretty display piece. I think the lock can be fixed up, it looks like a screw is not in its hole (but the part is there).

Not sure what I will do, but I am really bumbed out about this. This is the second order from them that left me with material I could not use. Most likley I will sell it at a slight loss.

This is about my 4th or 5th order from IMA in the last 8 years. My experince has been if you pay for special select you get very nice stuff, otherwise you have a good chance to get the floor sweepings, if it is nto a repo item. I ordered one of their wooden drill SMLE rifles back in 99, what I got was junk with missing hardware. I returned it with a polite letter and got a nice one. I ordered a MK IV Martini, got a rusted example (water damage), returned it and paid for a special select. What I got can only be described as excellent, it was like getting a 1886 rifle that had been in storage all that time. It was an excellent deal. I then ordered a MK II Martini cleaning rod and got a rusted peice of crap that should have been scraped and never sold. I ate that as I was on travel when it got in so I did not see it until about 3 weeks had passed, too late to return it. I did nto order special selct on that item. Now in a burst of hope I bought this crappy P1853. Another headache to deal with..