24hourcampfire.com
24hourcampfire.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,138
M
miguel Online Content OP
Campfire Regular
OP Online Content
Campfire Regular
M
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,138
I would really like to try my hand at a black powder rifle kit, and TOW's offerings seem to be just what I'm looking for. I like the H.E. Leman Indian Trade Rifle Kit. My preferences would be a curly maple stock, 36" .54 caliber Cole barrel, patchbox delete, and iron trim. Their services offer installation of the breech plug, installation of front and rear sights, and installing the underlugs. I think I would opt for all three, I have never done a rifle kit before, and this is all new territory for me. I do have good woodworking skills, and a fairly well stocked shop. What do I need to know before getting into this? Any books or videos anyone could recommend? Thanks, Bill

BP-B2

Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 4,259
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 4,259
Track of the Wolf has most or all of the books you would ever need to accomplish building a kit rifle..
One thing to remember though, a TOW kit is much more technical than a store bought kit like Thompson Center etc..
The thing is, if you spend a lot of money on a kit like you are talking about, you don't want to get in a hurry and screw something up..
I started out with a CVA mountain rifle kit, and later built a few rifles from scratch.
But, finishing and shooting something you built with your own hands is very rewarding.

Ken

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,340
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,340
Be sure to inspect the stock blank closely upon receipt and prior to working it. They shipped out one to a builder I was using and he missed the repaired toe until after he started work. They would not accept a return unfortunately. Pecatonica Arms sells some nice stuff.

Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 56
M
Campfire Greenhorn
Offline
Campfire Greenhorn
M
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 56
I own 2 of the CVA Kentucky Rifle kits. I built both of them from the kit, then had to rebuild them again after a house fire. With a little time, some woodworking and patience these kits are a great starting point.

Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 6,435
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 6,435
Jim Kibler makes the best kit available now. He also has good videos on youtube. If I were going to do one, that is what I would do. Track of the Wolf kits are pretty difficult.

https://www.jimkibler.net/rifle-kits-overview.html

IC B2

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 9,089
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 9,089
I have built from kits and planks. My problem is lack of skill and too little practice to produce the quality I desire. I know just enough to know where all my mistakes are, and that is the first thing I see when I pick up any of the guns I've built. So I have come to the realization that I will never develop the talents to build a gun I can appreciate. But I do have enough experience to recognize quality and historical accuracy in a builders work. Now I own a few custom guns that I will never tire of looking at and shooting.


"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke 1795

"Give me liberty or give me death"
Patrick Henry 1775
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 644
M
Campfire Regular
Online Content
Campfire Regular
M
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 644
Id agree with Terry.


Kiblers kits are pretty much finish and assemble at this point. And the rifles are top notch and pretty historically accurate.


Chambers kits are probably next. Require a little more work but everything is top notch.



Everything else...pretty much a crap shoot. I've seen guys have all sorts of issues. Inlets not where they should have been is pretty common. Which in turn creates more work...and inexperienced builders typically won't find the issues till its far too late.


They can be done. They can turn out great. But if I were buying kits it'd be Kiblers or Chambers.

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,138
M
miguel Online Content OP
Campfire Regular
OP Online Content
Campfire Regular
M
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,138
Thanks for all of the replies. I checked out Kibler and Chambers. Neither have anything similar to what interests me. I’m really set on a Trade Rifle, or possibly Hawken percussion. I looked at the CVA and Traditions kits, but they are a little too “generic”, for me.

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,340
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,340

Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 644
M
Campfire Regular
Online Content
Campfire Regular
M
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 644
https://www.thehawkenshop.com/Products/Hawken-Rifle-Kit__H1.aspx


They are supposed to be the best Hawken kits on the market...as far as coming close to an authentic Hawken....which the production guns called Hawkens lack severely.

IC B3

Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,299
P
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
P
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,299
My first kit was a TOW English Fowler and I was in much the same position as the OP. I paid them to fit the breech plug and underlugs. The whole enterprise was rife with issues. The underlugs were all off center in different ways from each other, and I later found out the plug was installed incorrectly. The barrel required a trip back to them and then yet another trip to an experienced builder who graciously helped me out and fit the plug properly. In retrospect, I know now that the wood they sold me is pretty much garbage. It's rife with soft spots and made my first efforts at inletting all the more difficult. Knowing what I know now, I should've sent the whole steaming pile of turd back to them as soon as it arrived.

For your first effort, you should get a kit/component set which allows you to build and learn in the easiest manner possible. The style or school of the gun is certainly of secondary importance. You want to be able to learn and accomplish things with as little unneeded frustration as possible. If you like muzzleloaders, other guns will follow. For your first, choose one which allows you to best succeed and learn. You should also go somewhere where you can handle a bunch of guns and talk to the guys who do this alot. The traditional muzzleloader community is very helpful and friendly to beginners who can take constructive criticism and want to learn. You should definitely go to the Dixon's builders fair in PA before you do anything else. That would be a great place to get some hands-on perspective and learn a bunch.

TOW has a great selection of parts and accoutrements, and they ship things fast, but I'd look elsewhere for a first-timer's kit. A Kibler gun would be the easiest/fastest to assemble, but much learning would still happen. Chambers or Dunlap woodcrafts would be more involved, but you'd still have a quality foundation to build from.

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,138
M
miguel Online Content OP
Campfire Regular
OP Online Content
Campfire Regular
M
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,138
Lots of great info. Thanks so much. I am very interested in what Pecatonica Rivers offers, especially their full stock Hawken. I see that they also offer a full range of gunsmithing services also. I have read in the past that they are very good people to deal with. I think a phone call to them next week would be a good first step.

Last edited by miguel; 01/08/21.
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,709
C
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
C
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,709
Originally Posted by Terryk
Jim Kibler makes the best kit available now. He also has good videos on youtube. If I were going to do one, that is what I would do. Track of the Wolf kits are pretty difficult.

https://www.jimkibler.net/rifle-kits-overview.html



A buddy bought a Kibler kit. Very, very nice. I'm tempted.


Old Corps

Semper Fi

Get off my lawn.

FJB
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 56
M
Campfire Greenhorn
Offline
Campfire Greenhorn
M
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 56
If you haven't gotten your kit yet, here's how my CVA kits turned out.

Attached Images
. 45 Twin Kentuckys.JPG (20.95 KB, 0 downloads)
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 584
D
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
D
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 584
I am looking at some of the Jedidiah Star Kits https://www.jedediah-starr.com/closeup.asp?cid=39&pid=3445&offset=0 These are kits rather than a bunch of components like TOW and some others. The Lyman Great Plains Kit by Pedersoli is good and very easy to assemble. This in kit form would be a good place to start, https://www.jedediah-starr.com/closeup.asp?cid=6&pid=3443&offset=0 Maybe not as historically correct as some but a nice shooter.

I am with the others that if you just get a parts package you might be in for a frustrating experience. The wood part is easy for me as long as I don't get in a hurry or have too many beers while working on it. Some of the metal work can be tricky especially on a flint lock, it all has to work together and you won't know if it is right until fully assembled and then it might be un-fixable.

I am also considering one from Dunlap Wood Crafts but theirs is a little more on the side of a box of components rather than a kit per say.

Last edited by DBoston; 02/23/21.

Moderated by  RickBin 

Link Copied to Clipboard
YB23

Who's Online Now
815 members (1234, 12308300, 10gaugemag, 10gaugeman, 12344mag, 007FJ, 83 invisible), 3,245 guests, and 1,334 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums81
Topics1,187,710
Posts18,400,186
Members73,820
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023


 







Fish & Game Departments | Solunar Tables | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA
Hunting | Fishing | Camping | Backpacking | Reloading | Campfire Forums | Gear Shop
Copyright © 2000-2024 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.3.33 Page Time: 0.094s Queries: 15 (0.006s) Memory: 0.8595 MB (Peak: 0.9886 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-29 01:27:38 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS