The 3-band Volunteer models are nice.
Never saw a .451 Whitworth for sale when I had spare funds....there were a couple of other .451 options.

The 1853 in .577 is nice too.

Not had any experience of the Italian versions....but back when I started with shooting irons the P-H models were thick on the ground & very respected...I went with an EBR & Ivor Johnson  M1 instead!!

Quite a lot of difference. They're 2 different guns. The 1853 is a 3-band rifle musket, 55" OAL, caliber .577, with a a 3-land rifling, rate of twist 1 in 72", and was originally progressive depth, though most of the repros don't have that, including some, though apparently not all, of the Parker Hale repros. Also, some PHs had a 1 in 48" rate of twist to appeal to skirmishers in the US.

The 1858 is a rifle, originally designed for Naval use, OAL 49", caliber .577, but utilizing a 5 land rifling system, and a rate of twist of 1 in 66". I don't think they used progressive depth on them, but I could be wrong on that. Because they were intended to be a Naval rifle, the barrel is slightly heavier in order to support the ludicrous yet cool looking cutlass bayonet. The heavier barrel MAY have contributed to better accuracy.

Personally, I like the shorter rifle better, the 1858 in this case, and typically get better accuracy with it. Might be the guns, might be that they handle better to me, maybe a combination of factors. Historically, they were reported to be more accurate, but in the case of the US and CS, nobody seems to have bothered usually to identify WHICH "Enfield short rifle" was being referred to, and there were plenty others besides just the 1858 Naval rifle, so take that for what it's worth.

Genuine English Parker Hale guns are fairly scarce, and just because it's a Parker Hale doesn't mean it wasn't made in Italy. After Britain stopped making them, they sold rights to the name and production to Euroarms, which went out of business in, I think, 2011, and Euroarms continued selling Parker Hale Enfields. In fact, their usual production Enfields, if you take the lock off, still had PH stamped on them, and on the few I've seen, that practice continues now that Pedersoli took over from Euroarms. I had heard, but never confirmed, that Parker Hale was contracting some parts to Euroarms, and finishing them in the UK. My Whitworth and Volunteer rifles don't support that theory, but my Artillery carbine does seem to, so I don't know, but it might be something to keep in mind.

As for where to find one, they turn up on gunbroker from time to time, and I'd keep in eye on various skirmisher forums, such as the N-SSA forum, and various civil war reenactor forums. They still turn up, just not terribly often.

Dunno if any of that helps much, but good luck and hope you find one. They're quite a lot of fun.



Cpt. Redleg

If you look at PHs and want a Birmingham made gun make sure there is a cartouch on the stock .
I have noticed that Italian made ones do not have cartouch on the stock .

I had a Parker Hale 1858.  Don't worry about the quality.   Very good rifle