Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders question

Been a while since I've messed with a muzzle loader and this time I want to build or put one together myself. Who makes the best kit(percusion style)rifle? I would like to use round balls,but will be okay maxi hunters.Thanks guys

what kinda budget do you have?

The Lyman Great Plains Rifle is available in kit form.

first you should you should realize that there are Kits , then there are parts assemblies and then guns in the white

If your wanting a kit your looking for a production line like the Lyman , Traditions or Thompson Center .
What you get is a gun in the white , that�s already built ,. Then its disassembled and boxed up for you to put back together and do the stock and sometimes barre and hardware finish work .
So what you end up with is one of their production models

With an assembly, your looking at a far larger market . Just to name a few and in no certain order . Track of the wolf , Muzzleloader builder supply , TVM, Chambers , Pecatonica River, the Rifle Shop, North Star West , Sitting fox ��� the list goes on and on .
With the Assembly you get a far larger choice of styles ranging from fusils , Long rifles , half stocks ��.. So basically the possibilities are from mid 1600�s all the way through the late 1800�s . so were talking , matchlocks , wheel locks , Snaphence, flintlock , and percussion .. Top that off you get choices in barrels like Green mountain , Colerain , Rice , Getz, Oregon barrels as well as others . You also get a choice of barrel lengths , barrel profiles , rates of twist and rifling types . Not to mention an endless choice of hardware�s
As well as Locks made by the likes of L&R , Davis and Chambers . so if you not looking to be correct to a given style of rifle , you can basically pick and chose or do your own research and pick the correct parts or just accept the assembly that the company is listing
Then you have the stock woods . Most provide a choice of at least cherry , walnut and maple with 3-5 grades of each ,.

With the assembly your also going to be doing most of the work unless you pay to have the company do it . So your going to be dovetailing the barrel , fitting the breech , inletting , drilling , taping not to mention bring the hardware castings down to a finished product that you can then inlet to the stock .
The stocks themselves while most commonly shown as a pre -carve are for the most part only in a general shape . So your also going to be doing a lot of shaping , scraping and sanding

When it comes to guns in the white , what you have is a company or builder who is building you a gun from an assembly. This can range from all the parts inlet to a plank that you have to shape and finish , all the way up to a gun that�s finished in the 80-90% range . Leaving you with something like a production kit to finish up.

Cost wise
For a production kit your looking at a cost of 350.00-500.00 depending on where you buy . The Lyman GPR normally run, give or take , right around the 400.00 mark . Traditions depending on the model , 250-300.00
TC is real close and sometimes more then the Lyman kits .

For the assembly you looking at 450.00 and up . Again depending on what your wanting and how much of the work your willing or can do yourself .
For in the white guns . Your looking at 800 and up . Depending on who is doing the gun for you and what the gun is .

Cottonstalk...

Captchee gives excellent advice. Heed it and learn.

If you "build your own", you can choose what kind of locks and triggers you use plus the brand & style of barrel you use and the choice of nice wood ("tiger maple" aka "curly maple") and "hardware" (brass, silver, painted metal, etc.) plus the style of patch-box you find most attractive.

If you buy a kit, many of these choices are made FOR you... you don't have any choice in many of these things.

If you buy a used or new rifle, you take what the manufacture decides to use in making the rifle... but there is a wide variety of decent ready-made rifles available if you are willing to pay-the-price.

Lastly, there are custom-made "smoke-poles"... the most expensive, but possibly the best for you since you want one which was "personally made" by someone.

Each choice has it's "champions" as well as it's detractors. However, building one from a kit is "do-able" and not nearly as difficult or as much work as building a custom-made rifle from "scratch".

I recommend you check into the tools you'll need to get started and to complete your self-built rifle, regardless of which way you go if building your own either from a kit or from "scratch".

BTW, you also need the "skill" to build your own, a reasonably clean place to work and some knowledge of wood-working, staining, metal shaping & polishing, etc., etc., etc.

I'm NOT trying to talk you outta doing it... I'm only pointing out the "possibilities" and the relative difficulties of doing it each way.

Jus' my 2�...


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Dixie gun works have some great kits now

The full custom market is different even yet

But you can start out with a semi custom like one of the parts assemblies I mention above or go as deep as a complete hand made gun . Starting a blank and a set of lock castings. One can also do their own casting or do wax patterns and send those of to be cast into parts .
also there is the option of forging your own parts
Because your building from a Blank , you also get options of cast , drop , pull as well as complete design .

As to building from a assembly being easier then a plank . You will need the very same tools .
I cant say I agree with that . Frankly speaking for myself I prefer the plank I find it less difficult then repairing or dealing with issues found in precarves .
So if your interest in building your own gun , is to learn . Then I would start with a blank or an assembly . If its just to put a gun together . Then a Kit is probably going to be more to your liking

Okay you guys have definately given me alot of info, and I thank all of you. My budget is $500 and under. I think for my first try I want is a gun in white. One thats been put together and disassembled and needs bluing, some minor wood work, staining and small things. I think I want a Hawken style but I am worried about how difficult it will be to keep the brass in good shape. The muzzle loader will be primarily used for deer, and would like it to be accurate enough for deer out to 100yards or so,iron sights only. I have used a Knight in the past with a scope and all out to some longer distances but want to get back into the "hunt" part of it more. Definately percussion style as I am not sure I want to try flint lock or any other at this point and time. Some I have been considering are St.Louis Hawken and Frontier Rifle by traditions from The Possilble Shop, Lymans Great Plains Kit from Buffalo Arms, and Trck of the Wolfs Hawken kits(Jin Bridger or Kit Carlson), several choices from Dixie gun Works, are just a few I have came across. What do you guys think. I would go over my budget if it could be justified,i.e. a better product,more accurate,last longer etc. My first goal is accuracy,second function and dependability,third looks. Thanks again guys for all you info and help.

Pick up the book "Recreating The American Long Rifle" for a good read on rifle building - even if you plan on only staying with a kit gun. You'll certainly walk away with a better appreciation of the early firearms craftsmen.

I haven't done it yet, but I plan on some day building a rifle from a parts set. I'm slowly building up an assortment of hand tools..... and the ambition to undertake the project.

For 500 or less and by your description, I would go with the Lyman GPR kit .
The gun IMO is a good representation of a plains rifle . Its also accurate and well made .
Far better then what you will get with the traditions kits .
Again they Kits you see on track of the wolf, are not kits , they are assemblies and much more work then your saying you want to do .
"Recreating The American Long Rifle" IMO is a very good book . I have had my copy for some 30 years and still use it often .
Most folks today recommend the �The Gunsmith of Genville County� it has more photos and thus I guess more clear in the instructions . But I myself prefer shumways book .

But I would agree that either is worth the money and the read , even if you end up buying a kit because both will show you information which will help in the proper shaping of your chosen rifle . Not to mention if you get one of the books first and then decide you want to give an assembly a go , you will IMO end up with a much better rifle then what you would get in a Kit

Lyman Great Plains Rifle.

Decide if you are going to shoot patched round ball or conical bullets and get the version with the twist to match your projectile. The walnut stock looks fine with an oil finish, you can blue or brown the metal. There isn't any brass on it.

Those kits from Track (Hawken kits(Jim Bridger or Kit Carlson)are going to be much more complicated than you might think. Those are some of their most difficult kits to assemble. I wouldn't go there for my first build.