Ted Hatfield Rifles,

[madcaster]

any good?
Locally one in .36 pe Pe Pe Percuz pecush Precuzion,bueatiful wood.
What da ya'll think bout them?
Thanks for any opinions.....:coffee:

[Tom W.]

Wanted one for years, never wanted to spend the money, so now I just look at pictures....

[madcaster]

Tom,
There is one on Auction Arms,a .50 caliber per cuss ion.
Jeff

[Tom W.]

Can't do it now, either. Been out of work and under a Doctor's care since Mother's day...But I'll be released to go back to work on 14 July...

[waksupi]

I had a Hatfield years ago. It had a Roman stock, and even in .45 caliber, whacked my cheekbone something fierce, every shot.

[KCSO]

The first Hatfield rifles were pretty decent, I had #327 and gave it to a friend of mine when he was married. The gun was in 40 caliber. The later rifles had some production shortcuts and were not as nice. They all had good wood but the later rifles were not fitted and finished as well as the early ones.

Here are the problems I have had to fix on the Hatfield's The barrel is held on with screws through the ram rod thimbles and these screws work loose. I replace the thimbles with pinned ones and put staples and pins in to thold the barrel. The later guns have a semi patent breech with a very small powder chamber and they tend to misfire. I take this chamber out from 1/4" to 3/8 " in the smaller calibers and this really helps ignition. The locks usualy need to be tuned somewhat on the flinters as i have not been impressed wiht frizzen to pan fit.

Don't waste your time getting anything over 45 caliber unless you are a midget. The small dimensions and the roman nose are punishing. All in all if you can get one cheap and are willing to do a little tuning go for it, but if they are asking CUSTOM price I would pass as for that kind of money you can build a better gun.

[northmn]

A percussion will ususally go bang or can be made to with little effort. What seems like a small task for KSCO may not be for you. One problem with the traditional rifles is the limited selection of good quality arms at a reasonable price.

Northmn