building a rifle as a newbie

[kaintuck]

Tip Curtis will have what you need, in stock.

X2!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tip has it.....imagine ALL the other known company inventories under one roof.....that's what Tip has....

marc n tomtom

 

[jdw276]

Tip is a wonderful person. Met him at friendship in june.

To update, PR has not returned my email question on a stock availability. Not going to bother attempting to call again as they never picked up. Totw says ship the parts back.

So, I have access to a great gunshop. Four generation gunsmiths work there. Hunter is only six yr old but has his own apron and he definitely runs the shop. walked in bought a green mtn 36" 58cal barrel, stock with channel and ramrod inlet, breech plug and trigger (LR). It is a tennessee shaped stock. Still deciding on lock. Got plenty to work on now anyway.

So I have the internet, ml forum, gunbuilders book and some really nice gunsmiths that will talk to me as I do some work. Only negative is lock and trigger not pre inlet, oh well. They love talking guns and as long as they are not backed up will talk to me.

First step, barrel channel is 15/16 and I need to get it to 1". Sandpaper and scrappers here I come. They talked me through a bit of the tricks of the breech plug install.

This will be my rifle, not for sale and built in the john style of gun builders from ga.

Should be an interesting next several months or years!

 

[Crewdawg445]

The first thing you need to develop if you are going to build your rifle is patience. And I'm not saying it to be mean, but just about every one of the muzzle loading builder suppliers is one or two man operations.

It's not like calling customer service of a multi-national. If Jim at Chambers or Jason at Rice sat at the desk all day answering the phone all day they would never produce any product at all.

So yes, you do have to "keep trying" to get through and then spend time talking to them (which is maybe why you get continued busy signals) - address all your concerns and make sure they have everything you want, in stock, and ready to ship. They won't get offended if you tell them "I want all or nothing - no waiting for "out of stock" items".

Many of us who build or hobby build have learned that it sometimes takes a year to get your whole box of parts together for a given build.

Now, if you only plan on ever building one or two rifles, going with the builders kits is maybe the way to go.

But in particular, because you are a "lefty" you may want to independently source your parts.

Knob Mountain probably has the ability to produce more stock patterns than anyone else - including a good number of left handed patterns. That may be an option. But, you won't get a box of parts with it - you are not buying an entire kit. You would select your lock, other furniture, trigger etc - piecemeal it together - and sometimes that means waiting for stock.

I have sometimes waited months for a lock and in at least two cases, over a year for a barrel.

These are small operations you are dealing with...

+1, I've waited over 6 months for parts. This hobby is about patience, or make it yourself which is very rewarding and fun. My experience when purchasing parts is to always call and get a physical inventory before hitting the order button. Never had an issue from any dealers when doing this. Frustrating yes, but just how it is... like mentioned above, your not dealing with Ruger or S&W, most of these smaller parts companies are maw and paw shops that make do with what they have when filling orders, that's were the patience part comes in again. However, when building the wait and frustration is completely worth the time vested! :hatsoff:

To note, I've personally called TOW many, many times and they have always been very helpful and knowledge. Also, look into the Log Cabin Shop, always a great company to deal with, as is R.E. Davis.