36 caliber rifle comparison

[Artie Peltier]

Question for the room. I’ve been looking for a 36 caliber full stock rifle. Advertised here with no results. Went shopping on line and narrowed it down to the following two rifles and would like some input from the group on which one is better based on accuracy, Wood to metal fit etc.
First is a Shenandoah 36 made by Traditions. Out of production but the Possible Shop still carries them along with parts.
Second is a Dixie Deluxe Cub, sold through Dixie Gun Works and made by Pedersoli.
Both have decent wood to metal fit and finishes for production guns. The winner is going to be used for small game hunting and target. Well group enlighten me with your knowledge and wisdom. and thanks for all your help Art

 

[Adui]

FWIW Id go with the Pedersoli made gun. I like and Own a Traditions but it just seems to me that if you buy a gun that is no longer in production, the day is going to come when you need a part you can no longer get for it..

I could be wrong, just my thoughts

 

[Grenadier1758]

I think that going with the Dixie Cub is a good choice since it is presently on sale. With the 13 1/2" trigger pull, it may be a little on the small side but manageable.

 

[hanshi]

I had a Pedersoli .50 Cub for many years. I had both the flint and percussion locks for it. It was very nice, extremely accurate and took deer cleanly with either of the locks in place. The only thing I didn't like was the flint lock. It was a once-in-a-while sparker that was close to being worthless. I did kill a few deer with the flint installed but it always took two or more strikes to get an ignition. Flints had to be changed every 4 shots or so. I DO think I just got the rare "lemon" with that lock since they otherwise had good locks.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

You will find that buying a kit and building the rifle yourself if so much more rewarding, and much less expensive over factory-built rifles.

 

[Grimord]

There is a .36 Pedersoli Frontier in the classifieds section that is a good by and a great gun. I have one with both flint and percussion locks. Great accuracy and a fine looking gun.

 

[The Virginian]

Try the Pedersoli Frontier.... can be found in .32, .36, .50 flint or Perc

Cherry's s has a sale on a couple.

I have a .36 Perc, currently, IMHO, Best Quality out there.

 

[Artie Peltier]

The only 36 I found there is the blue ridge! Been for sale since 12/2 and seller has not answered any questions or returned messages! To bad it seemed like a great deal.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I have a traditions 36 in flint. It is a decent rifle, but I’m still working on reliability with the flintlock. Percussion should be fine. My personal criticism is the forearm inlays look unbalanced. There needs to be another one on each side. It is a handy little rifle and I got it by trading some stuff and it appeared to have been I fired.

 

[AlanG]

You might look at the Pedersoli Frontier- it has a much better lock than the rifles you have mentioned.

 

[don hepler]

If I wanted a 36, I would buy Jim Kibler's southern mountain rifle. It's a kit, but not like you think. It's very near finished. All quality parts. CNC machined to tight tolerances. I've followed a couple inexperienced people, put these together, with no problems. They shoot great. Does require a little, drilling, taping, staining. But, very little is required.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Jim has taken the term "kit gun" to a whole new level. "Kit gun" used to mean a sand and assemble gun that will get you something like an Investarms that sells for $150-$250 on the used market. The architecture is only vaguely reminiscent of original pieces. Jim's gun kits are not that. They are well done and have a lot of the wood removed that needs removing on what we think of as a pre-carved parts set. They're not priced like entry level guns, but that's not what you'r going to wind up with either.

I'd be curious to know the time estimate on time to "complete" them (sans carving and engraving). The inexpensive stuff is widely touted as being a 30-40 hour project.

 

[don hepler]

I've followed the building process on a couple of Jim's rifles. However, one person had never done anything like this before, so his time was a little longer. The other person had some staining, drilling and maybe even had built some type of kit before, so his gun went very quick.

The end results on both rifles, came out very nice. These are simple, in that, they are not fancy, but very consistent with the style of a southern mountain rifle.

In both cases, the finished rifle, looked like a way more expensive custom built rifle, but in a simple form, without patch box or inlays and no nose cap.

I'm guessing that I could finish one in the 30-40 hour, time. I'd bet these two guys could do a second one in less time. I'd take a little extra time, because, I'm really particular on the tiniest of details.

I might add, the guy with the least experience, owns several high end custom built rifles and this rifles is one that he has a lot of pride in. This rifle has a 40 cal.Rice barrel and is very accurate

 

[Grimord]

The Blue Ridge is made by Pedersoli for Cabela's and is the same gun as the Frontier, although early Blue Ridge guns (and possibly current?) had blued barrels instead of browned.

Try to contact the seller with a private post, you may get a response. Keep trying, that is a good rifle at a great price.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Just looked into those and he wants $995 for the kit... for $150-$200 more, you can get a completely finished one from TVM.

By the time a novice buys all the tools and stain, oils, etc. etc. your talking easily a matched price there. But the "thrill of the kit" is an important part of our hobby, and one that shouldn't be missed. There are less expensive kits out there, though.

 

[don hepler]

I have not seen the TVM, so I can't make a comparison. I have seen two of Kibler's and was very impressed with the whole package. I can't say which barrel, lock and trigger, that comes on the TVM, but, Kibler is using Rice barrel that is swamped. If the TVM has a swamped barrel, then it might be a good comparison.

True there are some other products, involved. But sooner or later, if you have these guns, you'll need that for some project.

I bought a custom straight barrel 40, for $1800. and now I wish that I had put my money in the Kibler.

Once you have a swamped barrel, it is very difficult to be satisfied with a long straight barrel, unless it is small or shorter.

 

[Gene L]

The Blue Ridge is made by Pedersoli for Cabela's and is the same gun as the Frontier, although early Blue Ridge guns (and possibly current?) had blued barrels instead of browned.

Try to contact the seller with a private post, you may get a response. Keep trying, that is a good rifle at a great price.

I've had a .32 Blue Ridge rifle for 22 years. It's a fine rifle, very accurate. Had a browned barrel on it.

I added iron furniture to mine, looks a lot better.

 

[hanshi]

If you're considering a .36 from TVM this is a photo of mine and I like it very much. For a kit I don't think you can beat the Kibler kit.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

That is a most beautiful one! I'd prefer it in a caplock, though.

 

[hanshi]

TVM will give you your choice of barrel, lock, stock wood and, of course, lop/dimensions/etc.