Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Considering building. From scratch or buy a kit?

I'd like to get back into traditional ML'ing and would like to build my own gun. My dad hunts with a couple that he put together, but that was back in the 70's. I like the looks of some of the kits, but I'd rather do something different than the Lyman, or TC kits. Do you guys have any suggestions on how to make the gun "mine" or any places to find parts? The only real places I've looked is The Track of the Wolf and Dixie Gun works.

might take a look at what the hawkens shop has for working over a TC .
if you capable with wood working and have the tools , then you might consider getting one of the part assemblies from ToW or Muzzleloader Builder supply.
But keep in mind these are not kits like the TC or lyman kits

Track of the wolf has some some what kit guns and they are nothing like TC

Good luck

If you want to build a Hawken that's true to the real gun. It's hard to beat a Don Stith kit. A little pricey.

http://www.donstith.com/muzzle_loading_rifles.html

That is almost exactly what I'm looking for. It looks like he just put a parts list together for one. I'm thinking about doing that same thing from one of the other parts/large supply stores, or just going with a "kit" from a place like this.

if your looking for a parts assembly type of project , there are a lot of places to go ..
But remember , these are NOT KITS in the since of a production gun kit .
For the most part , unless your looking at a piece from Jim Chambers , you better be able to inlett , drill , file , tap threads ��.
a lot of times even if you pay a company like ToW who provides a drilling fee and sells pre inlet stocks , your going to do much of the needed inletting EVEN if you pay their fee because they do not do drop in final finish inletting OR drilling .

But anyway .
You have the companies Mike posted , which supply assemblies or parts for the assemblies they carry .
You could also look at North Star Wests , Sitting fox, TVM, the Hawkens shop ������
Jim chambers IMO is the highest quality in that market .

You also have the choice of much broader suppliers like Pecatonica River , Muzzleloader builder supply , , Muzzleloader emporium , The Rifle Shoppe Track of the Wolf �..

You could even break all that down into specific parts suppliers . That specialize in just triggers , locks, castings , barrels , stock blanks , sights ��..

But as I said unless your have some wood working experience and a few tools , your most likely going to struggle with such a project .

The other choice you may look at is whats called : buying in the white/ a gun in the white .
What that means is you get a rifle that�s stock has been shaped to some degree . All the parts are inlet .
So what you end up doing is the finish work of final shaping of the stock and finish . In some cases finish work on the castings .
So basically what you get is a KIT like what TC , Lyman , Traditions , Pedersoli all sell .
IE it�s a drop in but with more of the basic work for you to do .
Jim chambers sell guns in the white � or used to � . Ray franks from sitting fox does . So does North Star west , TVM�.. Not to mention just about any quality builder or gunsmith could also provide you with that option .
One thing I would recommend though when looking into that option is to be sure and ask ; at what level does the supplier consider their gun to be �in the white �
What Matt at North star west calls in the white , is not the same as Jim chambers calls in the white .

Same goes with myself . However what I do is when a person asks me about a in the white gun , I ask to what level they want me to complete it . Which dictates the actual costs .
But if that same customer wants me to do a gun that�s done to my standards of �In the White � then your looking at basically a completed gun but for stock finish work �..

The reason im tell you this is because I have had people bring me guns to finish that they bought and could not finish . I have had people bring me guns they have bought that were sold as �In the White , that ranged from nearly completely done . All the way down to a gunstock plank with the parts inlet , yet no shaping done .
So again if you consider that option , be sure to ask so you know what it is your going to get

Cap................What are your feelings about the Don Stith kits I posted? You didn't mention him, and i've never heard anything but positive feedback on his stuff.

It's the kit I want to build, and I use the word kit loosely. I'd be proud to take the gun to rendezvous, and BP shoots.

If you want a real challenge build one from scratch.
I purchased a extra fancy curly maple stock blank , L&R lock and a trigger. I tried making a trigger and could not get the look right for what I wanted so I bought one.
I made the 10ga. Blunderbuss barrel .788 bore out of a piece of water well drill rod , ram rod out of a piece of drill rod and a piece of 3/4" round rod. Blacksmithed the butt plate out of an old horse shoe rasp side plat and trigger guard out of old double cut files the ram rod thimbles are made from an old deed center from my lathe.

If I put 80 grs. of FF and 2 .760 patched ball in it and shoot it with moccasins on it slides me back a full step 10 shots of single ball and my shoulder is done for the day

I was almost unemployed and wanted a smooth bore for rendezvous.$200 in parts and about 800 hours (I kept track of the time)this was about 18 to 20 years ago. I have a pistol to match it that is not finished yet. I have at least 30 hours let to go on it and I can not seem to get the trigger guard the way I want it.

If I could figure out photobucket I would post some pictures.

This one is my dog Ruffien trying to teach me how to shot my 50 cal.



Hey I did it now if I can only remember how for the next time.

well myself i dont have any experience with is guns . so i cant really comment and would have to leave it up to others .
His prices on parts seem to be right in there thought and rather reasonable .
The only question I would have is that from his web site , it looks to me like his assemblies prices don�t include locks.
Now this could be that he uses Davis and L&R locks as an up grade .
If not then your looking at another 120.00 to his listed price so as to get the lock
not really much diffrent then the way Dick at pecatoncia River shows his prices , which doesnt include the stock .
that being said depending on the gun , it would put him above the price of that Dick offers depending on the wood choice