RIFLE REVIEW: QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

Created on 14th May 2009

DAVE FROGETT reviews Artax's Staudenmeyer - a muzzleloader for the purists

AS MANUFACTURERS of muzzle-loaders go, Artax, a company based in Cellatica, Italy, isn't exactly a household name. However, it produces reproduction muzzleloaders and seems to focus mainly on a smaller line of semi hand-made limited production guns, sacrificing volume for quality. The range includes reproductions of matchlock, flintlock, percussion and cartridge rifles and pistols - even some traditional archery equipment.

Many of the products are named after famous gun makers and while not always identical in every aspect to the originals, they are generally much closer to the ‘real thing' than many of the other reproductions. The test rifle - a flintlock target rifle - is named after Staudenmeyer, which also isn't exactly a name on everyone's lips, but is associated with quality firearms.

Samuel H Staudenmeyer was one of John Manton's apprentices. Manton said of Staudenmeyer that he was the best barrel borer and rifler he knew. He even had his own particular style of rifling. It seems fitting then that his name is given to a target rifle.

Staudenmeyer eventually had his own business in London from 1810 to 1832, part of which involved producing Baker style rifles. Some of these were fitted with John Manton locks.

Barrel

The barrel is parallel sided with an octagonal profile and finished in a pleasant brown colour. A similarly browned under-barrel rib carries the ramrod pipes. Surprisingly, it has quite shallow rifling, but the 59" twist is definitely geared towards patched ball shooting at which it performs very well. The barrel is 1" across the flats and at 30 ¾" long it is substantial. However, the weight is pleasing when driving those 224gn balls to the distant 100m target. The barrel is secured by one barrel wedge and a hooked breech for ease of dismounting and cleaning. The touch hole looks as if it has a beryllium liner (no, it's not gold!) and is positioned slightly low in the pan.

Stock

The stock is of pleasantly-figured oil-finished European walnut, enhanced with a dark wood tipped forend. The stock has a patch box which is colour case hardened and matches the finish of the shotgun style butt-plate. The trigger guard is satin-finished and well-blacked. The stock also has a slight roll-over cheekpiece which is functional, but doesn't spoil the clean lines of the stock. The rifle sports a chequered wrist and forend, but more unusually the ‘saw grip' gives a solid comfortable hold, which you will find familiar if you are used to modern guns. The rifle is straight in the stock which makes it particularly suited to prone shooting. The length of pull is long at 14 ¾" to the front trigger.

Lock

The lock is colour case hardened and has a semi-rainproof pan. The cock takes flints. The cocking effort seems light at 16lb and the throw initially seems long. However, its small size allows speedy acceleration and this makes the action quite fast. The frizzen is well-hardened and with a spring which requires about 5lb pressure to be applied to open. It throws a good shower of sparks while prolonging the life of the flint. Altogether, this is a nicely balanced lock.

The lock is secured by a single screw, but I recommend placing it at half-cock before removal. If not (like many originals), you will chip the wood found at the base of the lock inletting.

Trigger

The double set trigger is adjustable and can be set to suit most tastes. I found the control offered by the saw grip allowed me to use slightly less weight than usual as I felt I had more feel of the trigger. From the factory it broke at just under 1½lb.

Sights

The diopter rearsight is adjustable for windage and elevation. The ‘lollipop' sight is set in a grommet which is inlet into the top of the stock. The vertical adjustment is accomplished by loosening a screw and sliding the stem up. The horizontal adjustment has micrometer adjustment which requires a spanner to adjust. The front sight is a fixed bead with a hood and can be moved in the dovetail if desired.

Shooting

The first thing I noticed when firing the Staudenmeyer is the speed of the flintlock. The lock is light and very fast - the fastest repro rifle lock I've fired out-of-the-box - so not much tuning will be required. As the man who put the flinch in ‘flinchlock', I was particularly pleased about this as anything which develops the shot quicker is a good thing for me. The test rifle came in .54 calibre (a personal favourite), but can be had in .50 calibre according to the website.

The rearsight stem was a bit tight in the stock fitting so adjusting the elevation took a little longer than anticipated, but I would sooner have it that way than a loose fit.

Windage was easy and was adjusted using a small spanner on the square nut provided - one revolution moved the shots just over a scoring ring on the 50m target. I tried the Staudenmeyer offhand at 50m and despite the straight stock and the weight of the barrel it held well, with the saw handle and pistol grip contributing to the control.

40gn of Swiss 2 behind the recommended 535 Buffalo Ball and a 10 thou patch proved ok for this distance giving groups from the bench around 2". I'm sure more work here would produce even better results. In fairness the .530" buffalo ball with a 12 thou patch made for easier loading and gave groups which were only slightly bigger. Personally I'd probably go for this option and take the easier loading.

Due to the relative inefficiency of patched balls, a bit more velocity is required at 100m. So 65gn of Swiss 3 behind the same 535" Buffalo Ball, but with a 12 thou patch (and wiping the bore between shots) best groups from the bench running just over 4½". Again, sorting out the optimum load and an efficient wiping regimen would undoubtedly improve on this. Clean up was relatively stress free - the hooked breech and the smooth internal surface of the bore made for easy cleaning.

Conclusion

The Artax Staudenmeyer is a good quality rifle and shoots well which should attract the competition shooters. It's nicely made, well-finished and it looks right - which should attract the purists. All this doesn't make the Staudenmeyer a cheap option in comparison with the run-of-the-mill muzzleloaders, but a hand-finished low production gun is always pricey.

So if you're after a quality repro flintlock rifle and fancy something from the ‘old world' as opposed to the more usual American-based stuff, the Staudenmeyer is a rifle that's well worth consideration. 

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