T.O.W trade gun kit

[renoman]

Ive been shooting a gpr,50cal flinter for about 3yrs,my only muzzel loader,love it,now Im thinkin I need a smooth bore.
I do most of my hunting with a little savage 24,thats 30/30 over 20ga.Ive found that 20ga to be great for both shot and slug,so I decided on .62 cal for my smoothy.Plus that seems to be a pretty common cal. for these things.
Im a lefty,so that really limits the guns available,cant afford a full on custom so figure I will try my hand at a kit.
Have any of you tried tow's kits or have any comment?
This is my 1st attempt at this,I was planning on having tow install the breech plug and do as much of the metal work as they can,Im not really sure about "dovetailing the barrel lugs" and such.
Are the parts,in general,of a good quality in these kits?Any comments appriciated

 

[BV]

I thought about ordering one of those myself, but they never seem to have everything in stock at once. I called when the walnut stocks were listed as "accepting orders", and they said they didn't know when they would have any. As soon as the stocks came in the lock and buttplate weren't in stock.

Because of this I can say North Star West offers a great kit and you don't have to wait for out of stock items.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Call Pecatonica River and ask Dick about the kits. I believe he can get you the parts you need, and perhaps at a price even more attractive than what TOTW is charging. Dick supplies most of the wood stocks that Track sells.

There are lots of custom builders out there, and many others who can build a "kit" for you at a reasonable price. Ask and you shall find. Go to the sales thread on this forum.

 

[Trot]

I did one of TOW's trade gun kits. The barrel lugs are soldered on, not dovetailed. It was not that difficult, drilling, tapping,soldering, wood shaping, inletting was pretty close. I am happy with mine.

 

[renoman]

trot,when you say soldering,are we talking similar to copper water pipe,which Ive done alot of or more like brazing with oxy/acet that I know nothing about?

 

[Trot]

Yes, similar to water pipe, not the same solder though. The underlugs and sight are soldered on.

 

[satwel]

I built the TOTW french fusil type D kit. The quality of the components is good. I substituted a Chambers Christian Spring lock for the no-name lock that Track sells with the kit so I had to inlet the lock myself. I had built 5 flint longrifles before so I did the barrel dovetailing and soldering myself with no trouble. The triggerguard is preinlet but out of the box didn't even come close to fitting the inlet. I had to do a lot of heating, bending and hammering on the triggerguard to get it to fit the inlet. I wouldn't describe myself as an expert, but I'm not sure a newbie could do that. Overall, I'm happy with the finished musket.
IMHO it's not a kit for a first-timer. I'd recommend it for someone with intermediate skills.

 

[Jason Lewis]

I concur about the type D from track, it's a great kit for someone who is transistioning from novice to intermediate skills but not for the newby, i have it and i love the gun but had to learn alot of inletting skills along the way. still turned out nice though. I would recommend one of the chambers kits instead, i'm working on the new england fowler right now and although the kit has higher grade parts than the track kit, it is actually easier to assemble. would be good for the newer gun builder.

 

[renoman]

Thanx for the advice Satwel (and others).I just looked at the type "d" and it says for novice builders like the trade gun.hmmmmmm,I belive you guys more than the ad.
Now,Im not trying to "blow my own horn" here,just giving you an idea of my skill set going in.Ive been a carpenter,house building type,for about 35yrs,the last 15 doing mostly heritage restorations.I own a sharp set of chisles that dont get used daily,but weekly at least.Deal mostly with square corners when mortising stuff in,but thinking I can adapt.
Where I think I fall short is the metal work (always had alot of respect for machinests),just never really tried it.Only drilled and tapped a hole acouple of times.
Does this experiance move me up the novice ladder at all,or does this gun building requier specilized skills?
Im after a relaxing experiance not a frustrating one,lol.

 

[longcruise]

There is not that much metalwork involved in most kits and the TOW NW gun is minimal. Probably the item requiring the most precision as far as metal work goes is drilling the flash hole or installing the flash hole liner, depending on which way you will go. The rest is file work or polishing work, etc. Soldering is pretty easy, IMO and closely parralells coper pipe soldering.

My son in law is an accoplished carpenter and is able to do some very nice work. As a carpenter though you need to be sure to shed any power tool mindset that you may have!! :shocked2: A drill press is ideal for the touch hole but other than that, IMO, power tools are the gunbuilders enemy. :haha:

 

[LRB]

Other than being historically inaccurate, it is a decent learners kit. Just don't get in a hurry, and you should do fine.

 

[longcruise]

Wick, I don't have much in the line of refernce material on trade guns. What would have to be changed on the TOW gun to make it correct. I notice they claim it to be an accurrate copy of a Barnett gun dated 1816.

I'm aware that TOW is prone to take license when it comes to PC and HC. :haha:

 

[LRB]

My mistake. I thought we were still on the type D French, which has a lock nothing like the originals, but will still make a nice smoothy.

 

[Jason Lewis]

your skill set should be just fine then, just take your time and ask questions along the way.

as for accuracy, not many trade guns are in existance mostly because they were used up and tossed aside. also, almost no two trade gun examples are alike so IMO i wouldn't worry too much about historical accuracy on this build, just make a quality piece.

 

[Billnpatti]

TOW sells nothing but good stuff but if I was making my first rifle, I think I'd buy my stuff from Sitting Fox (www.sittingfoxmuzzleloaders.com). Their stuff is good but less expensive. If you build one of their guns, you will have a good shooter and will have learned how to build a rifle without spending the family fortune. Maybe your next gun, you might want to upgrade to something from Jim Chambers, TOW, TVM, etc. Look at what Sitting Fox offers first before you spend your hard earned money. Good stuff....cheaper prices. :thumbsup:

It's just the opinion of a crazy old fart but I have been building and shooting muzzleloaders for over 40 years. What the heck, the advice is free and you may be over paying for it at that. :haha:

 

[fort fireman]

I ordered a Fowler kit from TOW about 2 years ago. I got all the parts except the stock. It was out of stock. I waited for 8 months and never got it so I cancelled the order and ordered a fowler stock from Pecatonica. I had a nicer grained stock for less money and had it at my door in two weeks. I just told Dick Greensides what lock and barrel I had and he inlet it for me. The lock and barrel inletting were dead on. The will most deffinately get my business in the future. They also have a trade gun kit avaiable. I'm not to sure bout a lefty though. Give tham a call. Great people to work with :thumbsup:

 

[longcruise]

I just told Dick Greensides what lock and barrel I had and he inlet it for me. The lock and barrel inletting were dead on.

No surprise. I'm pretty sure that Pecatonica makes that stock for track.

 

[LRB]

If I were making a first gun, it would be a Chambers kit.

 

[renoman]

Well one of the reasons I was goin with TOW was the shop work they offer (ie;the soldering).
The out of stock thing worries me,I was "next week"ed once for 8 months before I cancelled the order,car parts,it was frustrating.
Im looking around more now,Chambers has a left hand fowler and I heard nothing but good about them.
Im wanting the gun to shoot,Im not trying to be PC to anytime at all.Just like the long lines and the flint.
This has been helpfull.

 

[fort fireman]

He did tell me he made alot of the stocks for TOW. However he told me he doesn"t make that particular fowler stock. His fowler is quite different from the TOW fowler. At least it looks different on the web , cosidering after 8 months I never actually saw the TOW fowler stock in person. :haha: