Taylor’s & Co. 1883 Colt Burgess Rifle

[RRio]

Taylor's & Co. 1883 Colt Burgess Rifle
Review by Phill Stricklin    ( originally posted 5/22/2009)


Taylor's & Co. has got an new Colt Burgess rifle that would be great for anyone portraying an 1883+ time era.

At about $1300, the new rifle is a beauty. I handled the prototype at the NRA Convention last spring at the Taylor's & Co. booth and I was highly impressed. This rifle is totally sweet!

The lever throw is shorter than a '92 Winchester and as smooth as silk. The CCH is of Doug Turnbull quality (it may even be Turnbull CCH) and the blue is deep and rich. The walnut stocks were nicely figured and mated to all the metal flawlessly.

I was out at Winter Range 2010 last month, and stopped in at Taylor's tent. They had their production model 1883 Colt Burgess Rifle there and of course I had to compare it to the prototype I handled at the convention.
The production model is every bit as smooth and slick as the prototype that I handled at the NRA convention. I think the only thing that will hold this little rifle back is the $1300 price tag, right now in this economy, but I'd sure like to add one to my rack.

One beautiful little rifle, that I think we're gonna be seeing a lot in the CAS circles.

Short version:  Ohmygawd I gottagetoneofthese!

And I gotta say, the folks at Taylor's and Co. are always first rate. They always welcome people to their tent/booth and just make you feel at home. There are a couple other importers that could learn a thing or two about customer relations from them.

[Abilene]

I've handled a number of Burgess rifles (Cimarron sells them as well).  They caused quite a stir when they first were produced, since it was something "new and different".  And they do feel pretty smooth out of the box.  However, I don't think they are a very good match for CAS since they don't work very well at speed, plus no race parts available.  Unless of course you aren't very fast and are just in it for fun (and there's a lot of those folks, too).  I don't think I've seen a single one at a match.