I had bought a repop Model 1863 type 1 Springfield several years ago, before joining the team. It was in fact the reason I became interested in shooting rifled muskets, and also the reason I was introduced to the N-SSA. As I have some time between projects (waiting on a few parts and a mould), figured I'd try to tweak it a bit. Its made by Miroku of Japan and marked by Dixie Gunworks.
I sent the crunchy heavy pull lock to Walt, and he returned it operating smoothly, with a light trigger. So far so good. I then sanded the stock to remove the varnish and reduce some of the bulkiness. I found a .578 Hodgdon used mould on the N-SSA bulletin board.
Then I hit the wall. My first attempt at bedding didn't go well. I didn't put enough epoxy, and the two piece stock separated when I removed the barrel. So I sanded down the barrel channel, reinforced the forearm, and started over. To get a full length bed, the miroku required ALOT of Acraglas Gel. Lots of voids to fill. This second attempt was successful but...
The musket now weighs a ton. Balance isn't bad, the overweight barrel is now offset by the epoxy laden breech. I could probably put wheels on it and enter the artillery competition. The musket has stand hunter written all over it. Well, its not that bad, but it is noticeably heavier than the one I built last year, and the one I'm building this year. And its a backup to the backup.
I will post some pics soon. Just need to stain the stock and it should be all set. On another note, I'll be able to do a side by side comparison of a new Whitacre barrel and a newly relined Hoyt barrel this Spring. Neither has seen a round go through it. Both are .576, both are 3 land, I think the Whitacre is 1 in 72 and the Hoyt is 1 in 56.
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