Thread: P53 from AC

I am thinking of ordering a P53 rifle from AC. I have looker at some that is listed on IMA web and they looked pretty rough espically at their price. Seems to me they are at the bottom of the barrell. Anyone have any opinions? Would like to hear from as many people as possible.

The cleaned and complete P-1853 is the way to go.

Though not directly related to this thread's question - I was at an auction in Melbourne recently which had quite a quantity of original P/53 rifles, a couple of surprises from the results were: - A Parker Hale repro (unfired) fetched a price that could have easily purchased an original (though not one with a really good bore). - An ENFIELD P/53 fetched nearly double the price of TOWER P/53's - this perplexed quite a few collectors...

The P53 I bought looks terrible insofar as its stock is dry - like driftwood - and the barrel has a light coating of rust all over it. The hammer spring doesn't seem to be working (broken?), and the stock edges along the barrel channel are broken off. The butt is dry-rotted, so the repro butt-plate will not screw onto the butt. I will fix this thing up, but it is not going to be easy.

I bought two P53's this past year from IMA. One was "cleaned and complete" but not "hand select", and the other was "untouched". The untouched one was in far better condition (both metal and wood) once I got it cleaned up, so who knows? It's been luck of the draw.

I bought an untouched P53 from IMA sometime back, and was satisfied enough with it. Dissappointed in the bore, but the exterior really was better than the pics IMA was showing for the cleaned ones. No doubt about it, it's a cool old musket. I've been shooting patched round balls, and a rather modest powder charge. Can hit a gallon can at 40 paces, so thats good enough for me. I don't think I would try a mini ball and full powder...