FIE long rifle?

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BerdanSS

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Been looking for a cheap project starter, somthing medium to small caliber. I found an FIE long rifle, 45 caliber cap lock. Dont really know anything about them, looks like a cross between a kentucky and tenn. Long rifle. The rifles also comes with loading blocks, starters balls a can of holy black, caps and a couple other things. Along with a sears.45 caliber kentucky, previously functioning but now has the ram rod stuck in the barrel. Think I can get.the whole shootn match for $275. Yea or ney
 
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They look a lot like the Spanish guns imported by CVA and Traditions. Probably a decent shooter but if it was me I'd pass on it.
 
$275 is way over priced for it. The rifling on them isn't very good. FIE is actually made in Italy. $50 to 75 is better but even then, with a stuck ramrod, that means its more than likely loaded and the bore has been rusting out. PASS!
 
FIE is actually made in Italy.
Click to expand...

FIE was an importer that imported cheap stuff from a lot of places. You may be right but the ones I saw on a google search had the two piece stock like the Spanish ones sold by CVA and Traditions.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

Frontier, $275 is for two rifles (the FIE and a Sears kentucky rifle)
A can of swiss, caps, balls and two full sets of loading gear (blocks, cappers, short starters and the like)

The rammer is stuck in the S&R rifle not the FIE. Apparently it was stuck during cleaning with a brass brush on it. That rifle would of had the rammer snapped and been sold to a buddy from work who wanted it for a wall hanger above his wood stove.

Sounds like I should pass though. I want to do a little reworking on whatever I get so I'd mainly be buying for the barrel.


HAWG, This one has a one piece stock, appears to have iron furniture and is stamped FIE-Italy Black Powder Only. The sears is ,marked Spain and has a really poorly fitted two piece.
 
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IMO you should be more in the ball park of 175-200
The sears rifle could be a Jukar , Maruku , or Markwell . If it’s a Markwell its worth near zip . If its one of the others 75-125 each . But then the prices for those old CVA , Jukar and Maruku’s are going up its not uncommon to see then in reasonable condition for around 200.. Personaly though I wont pay over 100.00 for one .
An FIE long rifle could have either a full 1 piece or a 2 piece full stock with a large brass casting for a joiner . Almost like a nose cap on a half stock .
Most were stocked in a red brass that was almost to the point of being bronze . I have seen a couple with iron and pewter though . They also used a couple different patch box designs
One of the big issues IMO for the FIE was the lock . . Not sure what they were thinking with that .
In fairness though , the lock parts do seem to be better in quality then the Spanish locks . that’s excluding the main spring which was way to weak even when you got a good one . However on the plus side , it should have a snail breech.
The rifling can range from good to bad . The largest % I have seen had rather deep rifling that wasn’t cleaned up . As such they often ate patches . So there could be a lot of work to clean up the rifling .
On the Sears rifle , as long as whats stuck down there is a brush , that wouldn’t be an issue . However if it’s a cleaning jag and patch that’s been there for years , then the barrel is toast even if it got stuck at the end of finishing up the cleaning . More times then not , what you will find is that the area where the patch and jag has set , will have serious corrosion , even though the rest of the bore my be fine .
If it’s a brush , it can be simply pulled with a brush tube . You can make that with a 3-4 inch piece of brass thin wall tubing that’s of bore size . Fit it to a wood dowel and pin it . Simply slide this down the bore . When you hit the brush , push past it . The brush will trap on the inside of the tube and then extracted .. Again this must be thin walled and of larger ID then threading of the brush .

Over all if you could talk the fella down to 175-200 for the complete offering , you could most likely get that and a little more by selling the rifles in parts if you decide not to do anything with them
 
BerdanSS. I'm checking on a rifle this AM to see if its still available. I was considering its purchase earlier this last weekend. But since I already own a similar model. Its not a big deal for me to do a favor for another B/P enthusiast who no doubt would enjoy its ownership. Do you think you would be interested in a T/C 45 Hawken model in near new condition Sir? I don't believe its a Pre warning model more like a Post warning one and I do believe it was made prior to the QLA feature installs. Please don't get your hopes up to high just yet. {if your interested?} As others are aware of its pending sale also. As I said I have to check to see if its still For Sale yet.
 
Hey, my first rifle is a Markwell. I spent $45 to buy the kit.

This year I soldered a rib onto the barrel and poured a pewter nose cap for it. Now I wish the rib was taller.:(
 
just be carful with it Gary and dont load her way up . if you start to see fouling around the breech line or where the bolster matchs the barrel . set her aside
 
I don't think I ever shot that Markwell with more than 50 grains. Normally I use only 40 grains FFF. Recently when I had it reblued at school, I pulled the breechplug and cleaned it and the barrel thoroughly. Apart from a little soot around the breechplug and the end of the threads (where the breechplug ends), it's fine.
 
As of right now. No word from him yet. When and if He gets back to me I'll PM you with details. As for price. The last time I heard from him his wanting figure was open for negotiation.
 
BerdanSS

As of this morning 7-10-14 it appears the rifles owner is back on-line answering questions on his sell site. PM coming your way. Good luck.
 
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