Traditions quality

[Crow-Feather]

My wife needed to shoot a 32 rifle because of a spine problem where she could have no recoil. I purchased a Traditions Crockett 32. After a few trips to the range, accuracy became terrible. I dismantled the rifle and found so many problems that a "simple fix wasn't going to correct them. The ramrod spring screw was higher than the barrel channel and supporting the barrel. The main spring was rubbing against the barrel and causing misfires. The snail was rubbing the top of the lock and the lock was rubbing the side of the barrel. The tang channel was too deep and they put a screw in the barrel channel to raise the tang to it's proper level. After 3-4 calls, they finally accepted the rifle for repair after I sent them pictures. I received the rifle back from repair. All they had done was ground down the main spring so that it wouldn't rub the barrel. Two months later, after a bunch of calls, to a supervisor, the rifle was returned for another rifle.
The first thing I noticed with the new rifle was the ramrod spring screw sitting above the barrel channel. The barrel snail was sitting on the lock and the edge of the lock was gouging a notch into the snail. The trigger group was not inlet into the stock. The rear was not screwed in where it was supposed to be and sat past the inlet. The rear of the trigger guard was shimmed to be higher to clear the trigger bar and the top of the brass trigger guard was filed down to be even with the stock. As the tang screw was at an angle when it was screwed into the misaligned trigger group, the shots would wander after a few shots. (benched, 40 yards) The barrel could not be set into the stock until the lock was removed due to the lock being set too deep.. If the barrel was removed for cleaning, the rifle had to be sighted in again.

I filed, inlet, and epoxied the ramrod spring into place. My last 5 shots put three into the 10 and two into the 9 rings. A traditions is accurate, just don't expect a finished rifle to be "in the white".

 

[LANEY REECE]

Had to work on my hammer other than that good to go. Good and accurate

 

[simonbeans]

Anybody ever buy a Yugo? Cheap, but . . . .
Maybe there is a parallel here.

 

[Grimord]

The only Traditions rifle I own is a .36 caliber Shanendoah. It is an older gun but mechanically sound. I dressed it up some and fixed a few minor metal to wood fit areas. The gun shoots great and is a joy to carry.

 

[Carbon 6]

Maybe they are assembling them in America now.

 

[BullRunBear]

Sorry you had so much trouble. I have several Traditions muzzleloaders bought over many years and had none of your problems. Even the flintlock has always sparked well. I don't expect fit and finish on these inexpensive guns like on a custom rifle but they have all been accurate. I hope you just got a lemon.

Jeff

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Maybe wifey deserves a nicer rifle? I’ll bet someone here has a .32 laying around. I’m pretty well done with the Italian reproductions and reasons like this, among others, are why. To be honest, they are a budget-priced firearm and as you’ve found out often times are not really “all the way done” as it were. The Italian cap and ball revolvers are also very prone to this.

 

[Crow-Feather]

My first BP rifle was bought around 1977. A CVA Kentucky kit. It didn't look great but it sure could shoot. I don't expect a traditions to look great, but I do expect a lock, stock, and barrel that fit where they belong an are not slapped together by a 10 year old on drugs.

 

[Carbon 6]

My first BP rifle was bought around 1977. A CVA Kentucky kit. It didn't look great but it sure could shoot. I don't expect a traditions to look great, but I do expect a lock, stock, and barrel that fit where they belong an are not slapped together by a 10 year old on drugs.

Those old CVA kits would sometimes be less than desirable, while the next one would be really good. Even some of the factory assembled guns left something to be desired.
Guess the new ones aren't any different.
Maybe they were assembled on Monday or Friday.

 

[Stophel]

I will never buy anything from Traditions ever again, and I would strongly urge everyone else to avoid this company for their own sake.

I bought a repro 1863 Remington that was imported/marketed by Traditions. The barrel was not screwed into the frame properly. I foolishly sent it to Traditions for them to repair or replace it. That was July of last year. Their customer service is virtually nonexistent. I was patient. I heard nothing from them. For a LONG time. Repeated calling finally got me through to someone... "I don't know what happened.. I'll find out and call you back".... needless to say, no one called me back, no matter how many times I asked. Long story short... still I have no gun.

 

[Walkingeagle]

My better half has a .50 Traditions St Louis percussion and it has been great. It was bought new about 20 years ago by one of my best friends. I bought it from him and gave it to her last year as she started to really show an interest in shooting traditional BP.
Now, roughly the same time (20 years ago), another friend bought the same gun, but in flint. When it arrived he brought it over and showed me that there was no touch hole. We removed the lock and there it was, fully covered under the pan. Not too happy, and wouldn’t send it back, my friend both lowered the pan and raised the barrel/tang to fix the issue.
In short, I would only recommend the purchase of a Traditions if you can fully inspect it first.
Walk

 

[Carbon 6]

Ya know, those Spanish like to take mighty long lunch breaks, drink a bottle of wine, maybe take a nap. I wonder if that affects production ?

 

[deermanok]

Sorry to hear that. I've owned a number of traditions rifles over the years and they have been good shooters and mechanically sound. With the only exception being my latest rifle which has a stuck clean out screw. But even that isn't too bad of a problem.
I also shoot crossbows and some people who own the same brand have had many problems with them while most have zero issues. I guess my point is that no matter what product it might be, sometimes you just end up with a piece of junk.

 

[dave951]

Of the Traditions rifles I've handled, it seems that they're built to a price point and QC shows it. Don't buy one and expect match grade quality and accuracy. Some will shoot great, most just ok. The ones I've shot and handled were safe and worked, but I wouldn't want to shoot a match with one.

 

[MAC1967]

I had a Traditions Crocket that I bought used from the Log Cabin Shop. It was a wonderful rifle in terms of fit and finish, comfort to carry, size, and it had a lot going for it. It never misfired for me. As you may hear, the Crockett has a very good reputation and most people love them. I have read dozens upon dozens of comments here and elsewhere about their accuracy. They have a very good reputation.
I must have gotten a lemon. I could never get it to group well enough. I tried everything, new nipple, patch sizes, lubes, 310, 311 ball, 3F GOEX, 2f GOEX, Shuetzen, Pyrodex, every single grain from 12-35. After two years, I called Traditions and told them everything I had done. They were very nice. They had me send it back to test. (My desire for this rifle was to hunt squirrels.) After spending a buttload on shipping and insurance, I got it back rather quickly with a target. They tested it, and said it was fine. They shot it at 50 yards. And I could cover the group . . . not with a quarter or half dollar . . but with my iPhone or a softball.
So I called them and said, I don't know how big the squirrels heads are in Connecticut, but in Indiana they are the size of a golf ball. . . and shooting one at 50 yards with open sights is unheard of in the Hoosier state. That's when the conversation went south.
It wasn't that the rifle wouldn't group regularly. down to a coffee cup circle for me, but never much smaller. (The crown was good as was the rifling with no barrel buldge etc.) Yet, others routinely talked about nickel and quarter sized groups for their crocket.
The other thing about my rifle was it had a vicious troll living in the breech plug that stole patches and grabbed jags. Many a times I got the rod stuck while cleaning the rifle.
So I sold it w full disclosure of my issues for not much, and got a TVM late lancaster flint in 32 with a rice barrel .. . it's more accurate than me. I'm the only reason I can't shoot clover leaf groups with it . . though I have many times.

 

[Marinekayak]

I have a traditions Mt rifle with e cerakote finish that looks like rust brown. Super accurate with PRB and conicals. No QC issues at all. I also have an 1851 and 1858 from them (actually Pietta) and they are fine too. Also have a few of their unmentionables and they are fine too. Their customer service has always been great. I used to live close to where they are located and used to make several visits there. Good people who use their own products.....

 

[flynfred]

I have a 32 crockett and its one of the most accurate rifles I have, It will shoot 2in bull all day long ,I only shoot at 25 yrds because that is as far as I can see with old eyes, also have half doz other traditions with no problems , also own American made cva and H&A rifles and cant say they shoot any better than the ones made in spain,

 

[russellshaffer]

Interesting. I traded an unusual center fire straight across for a Crockett a while back and had some issues. The ramrod retainer spring bore rather heavily on the barrel and the lock couldn't be removed without loosening the tang screw. I fixed the spring issue and shimmed the tang up a little and it shoots just fine. It wasn't nearly as labor intensive as a kit would have been. I may still scrape off the stock finnish and redo with linseed but that is cosmetic.

 

[helwan9]

I have at least a dozen traditions rifles and pistols and they all operate and shoot just fine. a couple need minor adjustment when received. I use them for the boy scouts and sometime they are used hard. I wish i could afford fine custom guns but the traditions fit the bill. I also have had as many issues with Prdersoli as with the traditions.

George

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I will never buy anything from Traditions ever again, and I would strongly urge everyone else to avoid this company for their own sake.

I bought a repro 1863 Remington that was imported/marketed by Traditions. The barrel was not screwed into the frame properly. I foolishly sent it to Traditions for them to repair or replace it. That was July of last year. Their customer service is virtually nonexistent. I was patient. I heard nothing from them. For a LONG time. Repeated calling finally got me through to someone... "I don't know what happened.. I'll find out and call you back".... needless to say, no one called me back, no matter how many times I asked. Long story short... still I have no gun.

I had a similar issue with an Uberti 1858. The nipple were frozen in place from the factory and I didn’t have the tools to remove them. Penetrating oil didn’t work and neither it ruined two nipple wrenches. Sent it back to the Uberti people (I believe Beretta USA) and didn’t here back for months on end. Multiple emails and phone calls where I had to beg them to send the cylinder back and, eventually through a lot of trouble, they did.

I just find it really hard to ever give my money to a company that refuses to stand behind their product.