Rifle Shoppe Early Matchlock Caliver

[JohnnyO]

I've been interested in pre-flintlock weapons for a while, and I don't know how happy I'd be with a gonne, so I've been looking at a matchlock, and possibly a build from The Rifle Shoppe. It doesn't look too hard to build, as I have never built a firearm before...other than a modern AR-15, but that was easy, all pins and screws lol
My main question is about the stock, as I have little to no wood working tools or experience. Is the barrel channel and lock inletting already cut on these stocks, or is it just a blank or shaped stock?

 

I would suggest you do a forum search for Rifle Shoppe. No sense in beating a dead horse.

CP

 

[JohnnyO]

It's always hard finding what I want when searching the forum. I found posts on "is the rifle shoppe good" or experience with TRS or is this gun good and what not...I just want to know about the stock and if it's cut/inletted...just searched through 12+ pages searching rifle shoppe and stock, tried inletting...Didn't see anything, so I suppose I will just email the rifle shoppe...

 

[bioprof]

Johnny,

The Rifle Shoppe is notorius for slow delivery (and I mean years) for items that they don't have in stock. They are also slow in responding to emails. The best thing is to call them and ask them if they have the items in stock. If they do, go ahead and order them. If they have them in stock, they usually deliver within two weeks.

The stock should be inletted for the barrel and have the ramrod hole drilled. I'm not sure about the lock inlet. It is usually easier to inlet a lock yourself rather than trying to fit a lock to a slightly undersized mortis. It's hard to get the lock to lay flat if there is alreay a slightly undersized mortis.

 

[twobirds]

...I just want to know about the stock and if it's cut/inletted...

Greetings, JohnnyO: I built a Spanish escopeta from The Rifle Shoppe parts, including their stock. Yes, the stocks are mostly inlet, though I did have to inlet buttplate, triggerguard, etc. I assume the matchlock stock would be inletted similarly.

I did have some problems with the inletting that they did...the ramrod hole was poorly placed, and some of partial inletting of the triggerguard was misplaced.

Yes TRS is notoriously slow. I like their metal parts, but am not a big fan of their woodwork, especially for the price. In my opinion, you may find a gunsmith who could do a better inletting job cheaper. Check out the "Builder's Bench" forum...you can pick up on who is an experienced stockmaker fairly quickly there.

twobirds

 

[JohnnyO]

Thank you bioprof and twobirds for the info :thumbsup: