I built a Traditions kit and a Jim Kibler Southern Mountain Rifle kit. Both went together very well. I am extremely pleased with the finished product. They were almost too easy to built since the metal to wood finish was near perfect. I have a pretty good selection of hand tools, and am learning as I go. I don't think I'm ready for a full on custom build yet. Are there other kits that might be just a little more challenging.
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Kit Availability
- Thread starter Russ498
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Having built 2 Chambers' Lancaster parts sets {wouldn't call them "kits"}....both had some minor errors that req'd fixing and learned a lot w/ them early on. The metal parts are excellent but the minor errors concerned the stock. After these 2 builds, I started w/ blanks and nearly all thereafter were blanks.....Fred
Want a challenge? Do a stick build from a plank and barrel blank. That should keep you busy.
Ain't like being a finisher. Reminds me of an unmentionable fire arm folks think of a making.
Ain't like being a finisher. Reminds me of an unmentionable fire arm folks think of a making.
My experience has been similar to Fred's. Once you feel ready to branch out beyond Traditions and Kibler, consider a "kit" (yes, parts sets is a more accurate description) from Chambers, Track of the Wolf, or Pecatonica. There's quite a bit of work involved there if you go looking for it.
Hatchet-Jack
54 Cal.
Kibler's and Traditions are not "builds" they are kits you assemble, and they are designed to make it easy on the assembler. I assembled many CVAs, and other Italian kits in the late 70s and a Kibler SMR last year, great kits, now I'm "building" a Chambers PA Fowler. If you want to challenge yourself build a Chambers, Pecatonica, TOTW, Log Cabin shop pile of parts and a roughly cut stock into a gun. That's just a few of the suppliers that have builders kits. Good luck on your next project.
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Sure grab a slab and start carving, you may not be satisfied but you will gain abundance of knowledge. You will have an excuse to start another and will have the change to buy parts. Grab a plank of maple or walnut. You can worry about fancy in later builds.
Sam squanch
62 Cal.
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Keep those chisels razor sharp! Try to find a collector that will let you handle the old original guns…..better than working from pictures.
Hi Hatchet-jack, I 've been looking at that kit that your building, the PA fowler, are you happy with it so far? Rich
Hatchet-Jack
54 Cal.
Yes very happy with the quality of the parts. The inletting on the trigger plate had some gaps. I talked to Jim at the CLA show and he told me to use a hammer to coldsmith the plate to widen it. That's the kind of thing you run into with these kinds of kits.
Here's my thread:
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/my-next-build-jim-chambers-pa-fowler.133414/
Sidney Smith
58 Cal.
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Pick a style of rifle you want, choose a caliber, barrel profile, caliber, etc, then what lock you want, then order the parts piecemeal a little at a time. Give Pecatonica river a call and pick a stock for them to cut. They will inlet as much or as little as you want. Then you can challenge yourself. I did this with my squirrel rifle build. Had them cut the barrel channel and ramrod hole for me as I'm not skilled enough to do that yet. But, I told them not to inlet for anything else. I did the rest myself.
There's really no need to buy an entire kit. All you're doing is paying someone else to put all the parts in one box for you. Convenient, yes, but probably more expensive than ordering parts as you need them. Chances are you've got leftover parts from previous builds. Make use of them, money saved. Parts like side plates, toe plates, and other small parts can easily be made from sheet brass. One small sheet of brass is usually cheaper than one ready made side plate. Again, money saved. Best of all, by ordering as needed you can space out the cost, instead of having to drop a G on a kit upfront.
There's really no need to buy an entire kit. All you're doing is paying someone else to put all the parts in one box for you. Convenient, yes, but probably more expensive than ordering parts as you need them. Chances are you've got leftover parts from previous builds. Make use of them, money saved. Parts like side plates, toe plates, and other small parts can easily be made from sheet brass. One small sheet of brass is usually cheaper than one ready made side plate. Again, money saved. Best of all, by ordering as needed you can space out the cost, instead of having to drop a G on a kit upfront.
