I'm Still Shaking! Placed Order for Rifle

Without having the rifle in hand and trying shooting it, very difficult to diagnose the problem with ignition you are describing. Lot of tips so far (bank, don't bank, lots of prime, little prime, pick, scream, cuss, etc.) but you still seem to be having issues. My flinters, especially the longrifle I shot for 40+ years gave/give good ignition. They are not fussy on how I prime although my preference is a thin line of 4Fg along the bottom of the pan. The longrifle will even fire about 50% of the time with NO prime in the pan. You have, supposedly, a good lock. Before sending back, I hope you can enlist the help of someone near you with flintlock experience to look at the rifle and maybe get it working for you. If not, talk to the builders again and try to find a solution before shipping. Good luck.

Well TOTW isn't going to cover shipping, which I figured would be the case. So I packed up the rifle and took it to the local postal annex and $106 later the rifle is on it's way Fedex. This has been quite the experience. Living in a virtual black powder wasteland there's not many choices when it comes to buying rifles especially so called custom jobs.

Well maybe this be a lesson for all or maybe you don't care or think I'm an idiot. Anyway I thought I was on to something cool but ended up a pile of manure! Buyer beware... :surrender:

Well, I always try to put the best face on things. At least, you're not $1700 into a gun that won't shoot. You got out of a bad deal and it cost you a hundred bucks. I've done a lot worse.

If we have been around long enough Gene, I think many of us have with both firearms and other things.

Bearkiller said:

Anyway I thought I was on to something cool but ended up a pile of manure! Buyer beware... :surrender:

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Some of us did try to warn you that the workmanship was shoddy and could indicate a more fundamental problem (which you ultimately discovered). The "you shoot it, you bought it" was also a red flag....

I think you made the right choice to send it back. I also think TOTW should have covered return shipping because they did not disclose the proper location of the flash hole. In a perfect world they should not accept rifles as described as shoddy by people here.
Good luck on your next rifle. I am thinking about Tip Curtis purchase myself.

"Usually" on TOTW listing you can see the position of the flash hole. I dont think I saw the pics of this rifles posting but their description certainly is false advertising so they should have covered return shipping. Then again I dont know prior to this thread if I would have actually looked for that problem myself. I know better now!
Still, only being out $100 for the experience isn't all that bad. I have certainly taken worse beatings over the years.

Unless you have built a gun or two and studied pictures of the rifles the great builders here have posted you won't recognise the subtleties of good verses bad workmanship.

John Q public in general just doesn't notice poor workmanship. To do so you have to have either an artist's eye or be experienced in judging the work in question.

I thought my first build was a Rembrandt until I developed an eye for detail and discovered it was actually a sow's ear.

Unknowing folk still look at my sow's ear rifle and proclaim it to be a work of art, they just don't know better.

I've been reading this thread with interest and since my opinion was with some of the others who felt that it would be a non-issue, have resisted posting.

But i will now say that I too feel your pain about having to pay for shipping. I bought a fowling piece from TOTW a few years back that looked to be exactly what I wanted. After receiving it, I was looking it over and upon taking the lock off found that the inlet was a bit more amateurish than I expected and found the wood to metal fit, while not bad, wasn't completely ideal. Now it was a VERY nice looking gun but after a couple of days thinking about, i made the decision to return it. Same as you I had to pay shipping.

Still I have absolutely no ill will for TOTW and have bought a couple of other guns from them over the years that I love. I knew going into it that if I didn't like it I'd have to pay to send it back. I think their letter to you was very nice and very professional. I would implore you and everyone else on this forum to not take this as a knock against the company. For our hobby/sport they are a true treasure and need to be supported.....just my 2 cents.....Mick C

BTW, i did later get the perfect fowling piece for my collection. Picked it up from Dixon's in PA. And damned if it isn't 10 gauge!

Eric Krewson said:

Unless you have built a gun or two and studied pictures of the rifles the great builders here have posted you won't recognise the subtleties of good verses bad workmanship.

John Q public in general just doesn't notice poor workmanship. To do so you have to have either an artist's eye or be experienced in judging the work in question.

I thought my first build was a Rembrandt until I developed an eye for detail and discovered it was actually a sow's ear.

Unknowing folk still look at my sow's ear rifle and proclaim it to be a work of art, they just don't know better.

Click to expand...

Excellent description. My personal thoughts on building. Unless you have done it the little details are just hard to grasp. If you look through my posts that is why I always preach on the "little details". Those small, subtle items are what will stand out like a throbbing red thumb. By no means am I an expert but it sure is a nice feeling when compliments come from other seasoned craftsman on a job well done. Patience and a good eye are developed over time for sure. Pictures alone are unable to tell the entire story, while a good indication none the less I personally would never drop funds without going over every inch of a rifle.

That is a beautiful rifle, and I agree that it shouldn't really be a problem for ya

I just bought a new gun, and will post pics once it arrives. I am tired of trying to make what I have work. I had to sell my last gun to pay the mortgage, and mortgage is done.