Went shopping for jewelry for the wife yesterday and found this along the way, looks like a decent reproduction of an 1863 Springfield. Pawn Shop thought it wasn't functional, but in reality it's in excellent condition and I was able to snag it for $150 OTD. Anyone have any info on these? Can't find a whole lot online about it. Says Pedersoli and Navy Arms.

Seems these days that anything marked Perdersoli is worth big dollars. I think you got a good deal on that.

nice gun! Great price, look up new ones.

Pedersolis aren't cheap. They make good quality stuff and I believe they're the most expensive of the mass-produced muzzleloaders available. Looks like yours has a bit of surface rust and could use some cleaning, but should be looking good with a little effort. Remove the barrel from the stock and buff the metal with some 0000 steel wool and oil to remove the rust.

Being a Navy Arms model, it's an older one but looks perfectly serviceable. Pedersoli doesn't make the 1863 anymore, but they're still making the 1861. Used ones in good shape can fetch several hundred dollars. Assuming the bore isn't full of rust, I'd say you got a fantastic deal.  For $150 I would have jumped on that in a heartbeat.

How does the bore look?

Navy Arms imported Pedersoli copy of an 1863 Springfield.  The lockplate is usually bright on the reproductions (the Miroku reproduction Model of 1864's had 'case hardened' lockplates).

New ones are north of a grand (even Armisport 1861s are $800 - which is stupid - my 1863 was $350 and I traded it for an original Austrian Lorenz Model of 1854 - the second most common imported arm used by both sides).

You have an older Pedersoli, one of my favorites.
You paid nothing for it, best deal ever.


Clean it up some, as best as you can (some of that is pitting) and enjoy it.

First, you got a steal of a deal. Congratulations.

Navy Arms imported both Pedersoli and Miroku (Japan) reproductions of the M1863 Springfield. Of the two, the Miroku is closest to the original, and is highly sought after today. Still, the Pedersoli is no slouch, and is better than the common Armi Sport (Chiappa) that we see today.

As we see by the pictures, the Pedersoli is the M1863 Type II (1864) version, with solid bands and band springs. The Miroku was sort of a hybrid, with band springs but with clamping bands like in the Type I. Also, the Miroku M1863 had a two-piece stock, cleverly joined under the middle band. This is so well done that it can be hard to notice.

As well as a Miroku M1863, I have a Miroku M1861 that I converted to an M1855, with a functional Maynard lock. This was my go-to gun when I was reenacting.

Collecting Italian (or Japanese) reproductions has become a hobby, like collecting originals. In some cases, the prices of originals and reproductions have  become comparable. The advantage of the reproductions is that they are safer to shoot.

Man you stole that thing as long as the bore is good.  My son just sold his to another reenactor for $800.  He had several people bidding on it.

Thanks for the info! I plan on keeping this one, it's the only rifled musket I have. The bore on it looks unfired. So it doesn't appear to have been used in reenacting. I do have a Springfield 1842 smooth bore, its big brother.

150 OTD... wow. I jelly.

Dude. As a Gettysburg native, I can tell you that the responses you've gotten have been spot on!

Good for you - and congrat's!  

Great buy at $150.

You stole it!  Awesome.

Great score OP, the date code on the barrel (AU) indicates 1989 manufacture.

Looking more closely at the picture, it appears that this Pedersoli reproduction, like the Miroku, has clamping bands as well as band springs. Now I'm just wondering if Navy Arms specified this configuration to both of its suppliers.

I bought my Miroku in 1987. This Pedersoli seems to have been made in 1989. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Navy Arms contracted with Miroku first, and then contracted with Pedersoli after the Miroku contract lapsed. It's not likely that Navy Arms was buying from both companies concurrently.

Could it be that this Pedersoli reproduction, therefore, was a copy of the Miroku reproduction, and not a copy of an actual original?

Someone should compare, side by side, both the Pedersoli reproduction and the Miroku reproduction to each other, as well as to an original. I'll bet this would be very revealing.

I agree completely that for $150, this was steal!

Here is my Miroku (Navy Arms).  

You got a hell of a deal on that.

Here's a pic of my reproduction 1863 Springfield  (a Miroku, imported by DGW) side by side with a modern M16A4 clone:

Good lord! What did you do - load it, point it at his groin and say, "$150 sound good?"