Traditions Kentucky Rifle Quality?

[Farren55]

So as the title suggests I'm looking for someone to help me figure out the quality of the Traditions Kentucky rifle, I found a nearby store that sells them for $500 with tax, should I go with that and then get the accouterments, or wait and get a Perdisoli kentucky for about $700?

 

[azmntman]

Go to cheaper than dirt .com. The kit is $268.00 or the rifle alot less than $500.00. If you want a better gun go pedersoli. Traditions is an excellent starter rifle though. MANY of us had em

 

[Farren55]

My main problem is most manufacturers/suppliers don't ship to Canada, despite how easy it is to cross the border with a flintlock. Second Cheaper than dirt does not carry Flintlocks Kentucky.

 

[54ball]

Pedersoli.

That price may not be too out of line for Canada.

IMHO I would pretend I bought it and stick the money in a Piggy Bank. Then I would save up for a few months try to find a very good contemporary build, used or new.

 

[Farren55]

The price at a local gun store for a Pedersoli Kentucky is $645 and taxes which is $725.28 ($725.25, thanks to not having the penny anymore).

 

[rafterob]

The traditions is just fine if $500 is your budget. But If you need to wait a couple more months and save up for the Pedersoli it is worth that much more.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I am not much of a fan of the flintlock lock in the Traditions rifles. The springs seem weak and the frizzen hardness doesn't hold up for reliable sparking. The barrels do have a fairly good reputation for accuracy. The percussion cap version does perform good for a starting quality gun.

If you want a flintlock, then save your money for the Pedersoli flintlock.

 

[Farren55]

Thanks for the imput, part of the reason I'm getting flint is here in Canada all percussion cap guns are considered firearms, whereas flint guns are antiques, thus unlike percussion guns require no gun license.

 

[Rick Boylan]

I'll cast a vote for the Pedersoli. I own a Pedersoli Kentucky in .45 and love it. I had a chance at a Traditions .50 caplock for $300 and passed it up and waited until I found the Pedersoli. I've not been disappointed one bit.

 

[19 16 6]

Pedersoli will not disappoint you. Have, or are you able to handle & inspect both the traditions & the pedersoli before you buy ? That alone will answer which to buy.
Gun laws are made with the use of a blackjack wheel, I am sure. In Australia a flintlock rifle is classed as category B. The same as any bolt action centre fire not including 50 BMG. Category A is rim fire & shotgun so a smoothbore fowler is classed A, as a shotgun.
O.

 

[Farren55]

The Laws in Canada are what they are because the vast majority of historical sites are run by Parks Canada (federally funded parks services) and to avoid the gov't paying for thousands of reenactor gun licenses flintlocks are antiques.

 

[jamieorr]

Hi,

I recently brought a flintlock Lyman into Canada from the US. I had it shipped to a friend and picked it up on holiday, no problems bringing it back, or the powder. There are convenience mail drops close to the border for exactly this situation, try google to find one.

Alternatively, the Gun Works Muzzleloading Emporium told me (after I'd bought the mail order) that they will ship to Canada. I don't know what it involves but might be worth an email to find out. They run a great store, prices were a shade higher than mail order but I'd consider going there next time for their expertise and knowledge. (I'm sure there are other good suppliers, but I've met the the GW folks.)

Jamie

 

[Farren55]

Adding to this does anyone know the quality of CVA flintlocks?

 

[Zonie]

The quality of the CVA guns depends a lot on when they were made.

CVA was importing muzzleloaders from Ardesa in Spain as far back as the 1970's.
The barrels were always good shooters, the stocks were made from Poplar with a colored varnish finish.
The locks on the early CVA's were IMO, poor.

Most of the locks produced by Ardesa in the 1970's did not have a bridle to support the end of the tumbler furthest away from the lockplate.
This led to a rapid wearing of the hole thru the lockplate and reliability went downhill from there.
The frizzens on these early Ardesa flintlocks were poorly case hardened, often wearing out with just a few shots.

In the 1980's, features like a bridle for the tumbler were added to the locks improving their quality but the frizzens were still a hit or miss proposition.

In the 1990's, the locks produced by Ardesa seemed to improve and I believe these locks continued to be made up thru the time that CVA stopped importing traditional muzzleloaders.

Traditions picked up the Ardesa contracts and now import the same guns that CVA imported for years.

I don't know the exact dates that the changes were made which explains why I broke their history down into 10 year intervals.

 

[Kansas Jake]

My first muzzleloader was a CVA kit that I bought and put together in the middle 1970's, maybe '75. It was marked Jukar and the inside of the barrel looked like a water pipe. Also, the lock was very poor with a frizzen that would not spark. I tried case hardening it, but didn't have the skill to get it hard enough to spark. I eventually ordered a new frizzen and shot it some. My next kit was a TC Hawken. I still have that gun and it still shoots center or at least as center as my eyes allow.

 

[azmntman]

Midway has a traditions flint assembled and $449.00. If they ship that far north it might be a good deal?

 

[garra]

If it were me and I just recently bought my first flintlock. I would be concerned about the quality of the lock and availability of replacement parts for it. I am not sure about the quality of locks made over seas, I figure parts may be hit or miss. There are many locks made in the US that are great quality, with parts support. Whatever you chose to buy I would really ponder spending a bit more for a rifle I could keep in firing order for a long time.

 

[Zonie]

Having somewhat lambasted the early CVA locks I should mention that replacement locks are available in flintlock for these guns.

The L&R replacement locks for both the CVA or Traditions Kentucky and the CVA or Traditions Hawken are not direct drop in replacements but with very little work they can be installed.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/759/1/LOCK-LR-01-F
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/759/1/LOCK-LR-02-F

While there are those who would say paying for a aftermarket drop in lock isn't worth it for these lower cost guns, for our friends up in Canada and in other areas where there are not a lot of Ardesa parts available it may very well be worth it.

Just something for our friends from the North to think about.

 

[Ron_T.]

So as the title suggests I'm looking for someone to help me figure out the quality of the Traditions Kentucky rifle, I found a nearby store that sells them for $500 with tax, should I go with that and then get the accouterments, or wait and get a Perdisoli kentucky for about $700?

************************************************

I bought a flintlock Traditions "Shenandoah" (33.5 inch barrel) Pennsylvania Long Rifle rifle about 7 years ago and have shot several hundred rounds through the rifle since then.

The good things:
1) The Spanish-made rifle has a very accurate barrel and, over-all, is nice looking rifle as well.

2) Once I learned what and how to keep the flash-hole clean and slightly primed with FFFFg powder and how to prime the pan with the-right-amount of FFFFg (and getting a little FFFFg into the flash-channel), the rifle is very reliable and fires with very little "hesitation" some flintlock rifles display. In fact, there is very little difference in the timing from the time I pull the double-set trigger on my Shenandoah and the rifle fires compared to the same time-interval of my 2 cap-lock (percussion cap) older CVA Hawken rifles.

So "much" for the questionable, often-quoted "hesitation" differences between a flintlock and a caplock. Ignition in my flintlock Traditons Shenandoah is literally instantaneous.


The bad things:

1) The "hump" in the stock's comb doesn't allow a normal man's cheek to "get down" on the stock far enough to properly align the iron sights. Several other black powder shooters shot it and felt the same as I felt... saying "The comb is too high and I found it 'uncomfortable' to down on the stock & align the sights". I "fixed" that by sanding down that "hump" in the comb... making it a "straight-comb"... and refinishing that area I sanded down. It's now very comfortable to shoot the rifle.

2) The hammer spring was far too heavy. A local black powder gunsmith took some of the tension outta the hammer spring and that "fixed" the problem.

Over-all, I am pleased with the Traditions Shenandoah... especially how accurate it is. That "hump" in the stock is a very poor design, but easily "fixable" which looks just fine after being "fixed". :wink:


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

 

[Blackfingers]

Farren, I've had the Traditions Kentucky rifle in 45cal flintlock, and the same rifle in 50cal caplock, should have kept both but for my money, I go with the superior lock physics of the Pedersoli. I now have the Pedersoli Kentucky rifle in 50cal and wish I had gotten it first, but there was the issue of $ at that time. Blackfingers