kit guns?

[trad hunter]

Are there any negatives to buying a kit gun? I like the
idea of finishing a gun out myself but don't want to bite
of more than I can chew.

 

[REX]

trad hunter; I just finished a Dixie Gun Works LH Hawhens. it took about 40 hrs to complete, and I had a lot of fun building it. Give it a try.
rex (westcoastBPgramps)
bp can be fun

 

[Zonie]

You might have noticed this forum has a Builders Bench section.
As West Coast, Spot Shooter and others have found, there are a large number of people who build muzzleloaders both in simple kit style and full custom who visit this site often.
They (myself included) can help you thru any question or problem you have.

If we are talking about a CVA, Lyman or Thompson Center kit, all it takes on your part is the purchase of the kit you like, and some simple tools. Oh, you will also need a place to work because lots of wood and some metal dust will be created.
These kits are about 95% finished by the factory. The main thing you will have to do is to make sure the parts fit correctly, adjust those that don't (this is usually very simple), sand and finish the wood and the metal parts.

SpotShooter built a Great Plains Rifle and asked a lot of good questions in the Builders Bench area (and others). If you use the "user list" button you can find him and the posts he made.
(I can't list ALL of you other guys who built guns and asked questinons. Hope you understand).

 

I looked over a Lyman Great Planes rifle the other day at the range, one of the guys here make up form the kit. It apeard to be a very nice, traditional looking rifle. He built the flint kit, and the only problem is the cock is too short for the geomerty of the lock, causing the flint to strike too low on the frizzen. ith a much longer flint, it wil strike still about 3/8" TOO LOW. A simple fix is to buy the right length cock from Track. The lock-parts lists have the cock length - pick the one needed and that's about it other than browning, bluing or colour case hardening.
: The lock provided(coil spring) felt much better than any coil spring TC or other coil spring locks that I'm familiar with & even though too short in the cock, still sparked quite well with the sawed flints the fellow was using. I'd expect with a god English flint, of the correct length, the lock would be quite servicable as it is.

 

[tg]

I have heard good and bad about the Lyman flintlocks...may be the luck of the draw, the LGP is a nice kit to put together and by doing so you will have the chance to end up with a gun a bit different than all the off the rack ones around by way of finish, stain, amount of wood left here and there, a simple cap/patch box of the era is a nice touch as well,there is not much out there in the way of longrifle kits on the production level if authenticity is a factor, but the LGP does well as an 1840+/- halfstock replica.

 

[Doc Arroyo]

trad-

I think that 90% started off the same way. And most of us had the same worries. And I still have a number of pieces left over from my first rifle "kit".

Ask yourself a few questions-
1. Are you building a kit to save money? If you count your time for free, then you may save a couple of bucks. A really cheap kit may cost you more in aspirin than the rifle will be worth !!!!

2. Are you patient, and have a nominal ability with tools? Then you might enjoy the experience.
Remember, it will take you at least twice as long as you think it will.

3. Do you have a place to build this thing where no one else will mess it up, or you won't be messing their stuff up? first rifle I started, and the first rifle I completed were built on a Work-Mate bench in the corner of the livingroom of the apartment, but that wasn't the best of situations. Just ask my wife! ::

Buy the best parts that you can afford. If you want a simple percussion build that will produce a fine rifle, look at th Lyman GPR. If you want a bit more challenge, then contact on of the vendors like Track Of the Wolf. You will have more work to do, but that is the challege.

Good Luck!

 

[roundball]

Daryl, TC had that same short hammer/lock geometry problem until a few years ago when they redesigned their flint lock assemblies...one of the changes was a much taller hammer and the flint now strikes much higher up on the frizzen face with a better angle of attack, giving good sparks.

I've had the redesigned locks on a few TC Hawkens for a couple years now and shoot one of them nearly every weekend, using 3/4" english flints...so far they've all been 100% reliable, averaging 40-60 shots per flint.