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Reproduction Burgess


H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

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I've heard good things about them.   

I've heard bad things about them.

To any pards here who may have a reproduction Burgess, what has been your experience with them?  If all goes well and I can swing the deal, I'll soon have one in .45 Colt.  (Even if it's a mediocre at best rifle, I want to have one just to have one.)  I don't envision it as being my primary rifle, (that will remain a Lightning) just one to use occasionally for fun and variation.

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I'm thinking there are firing pin problems.  Pettifogger or someone will chime in.

I handled the first sample to arrive at Cimarron.  (It had the Kings Patent Improvement stamps on the barrel :huh: ).  The lever throw was sort of long but smooth, but then that was empty.  Interesting sliding loading gate.

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I walked into the LGS in 2013 and they had a .44-40 in, so I brought it home with me. I've seen several .45's for sale, but I think only one other .44-40. It's a bit stiff, a relatively long throw, and I've heard about the goofy arched firing pin bending or breaking, but mine's worked well so far - I've probably only shot it in half a dozen matches though, so...

BurgessBig.jpg

BurgessFiringPin.jpg

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Curved firing pin, multi-curved mainspring, ejector prone to fracturing.  (Part 726 in the diagram above.) The reports on the Burgess are kind of like the Henry Big Boy, they shoot fine as long as you shoot them slowly.

 

Chronicle, October 2010, page 56.

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I have one in 44-40. Purchased 10 years ago. Like Larsen said, it works best when used slow and deliberate. Mine tends to leave the brass in the action when worked at speed. 

 

I have had no mechanical issues with it but have probably put less than 500 rounds through it.

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Howdy H. K.

 

I don't own one or have ever handled one, so this is total hearsay and not admissible in in court. I have heard that the feed system on the Burgess is similar to the Lightning. As such, it prefers bottlenecked cartridges. Since you already have and like your Lightning, you are aware of what you might be getting into. Is the Lightning a .45? Just what I've heard, for what it's worth.

 

By the way, I whole heartedly agree with the concept of getting any gun "because you want to have one." I have a few of those.

 

Rev. Chase

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5 hours ago, Reverend P. Babcock Chase said:

Howdy H. K.

 

I don't own one or have ever handled one, so this is total hearsay and not admissible in in court. I have heard that the feed system on the Burgess is similar to the Lightning. As such, it prefers bottlenecked cartridges. Since you already have and like your Lightning, you are aware of what you might be getting into. Is the Lightning a .45? Just what I've heard, for what it's worth.

 

By the way, I whole heartedly agree with the concept of getting any gun "because you want to have one." I have a few of those.

 

Rev. Chase

 

My first Lightning was an AWA .45.   It was my first one because it's what was in stock at my LGS, and comparing it to the Taurus and the Beretta, it was clearly better quality.   Originally, I only wanted one just to have one.  It remains to this day, the only rifle I have shot a clean match with, including my first ever trip to End of the Trail, and is my primary main match rifle.  

Since then, I have acquired an AWA in .44-40, a Colt in .32-20, a Colt in .44-40, a Colt in .22 Long, and a Colt in .45-70.   I will soon have another one in .44 Special.  The Lightning Bug has bit me hard!

I have heard that the Burgess is similar internally to the Lightning.   I have also heard that this is an urban myth.   I don't know the truth of it all.  

In either case, I kinda sorta felt that I "needed" another rifle in .45.  After all, I've got 41 pistols in that caliber, but only 2 rifles.   So the idea that I could invite two friends to a shoot and we could all use the same ammo was only a dream.   But I also wanted something different.  I have every model Winchester there is, and while I might like to get, say, a 73 in that caliber, I already have a 73.   (Yeah, yeah, I've got 3 '92s and well, a bunch of Lightnings)  Getting a Burgess allows me to have more variations to have fun with.

Call me crazy, but don't call me late for dinner.  :)

 

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On 1/12/2022 at 2:56 AM, Warden Callaway said:

Mark Novak fixed an original.

Sage Creek Gus and his dad rebuilt an original about a dozen years back, making a few new parts and new fore end wood - just forward of the loading gate it's really thin and fragile.

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