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Post by HighCotton on Nov 29, 2011 21:29:15 GMT -5
My son and I are talking about building a muzzleloader. We are looking at some of the basic kits like the Traditions Kentucky Rifle from Bass Pro for starters. We are looking to spend some time together, learning and working through the process mainly for the experience. We would then intend to hunt with it the following season.
Has anyone here built a rifle from a kit? Any recommendations? Other thoughts, concern, advice?
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Post by HuntMeister on Nov 30, 2011 7:30:51 GMT -5
I will not be much help here as my kit was built around 1979 or 1980 I'm guessing. It was a T/C Hawken...I'm not sure if they still offer them in kit form and if they do I'm guessing not the quality of those from back in the day. A great rifle that I still own and will pass down to my kids one day. Just as you intend to do, Dad bought one for him and one for me and we had a great time together building them over the winter time then learning to shoot them that following summer. Many fond memories building, shooting and hunting with those rifles!
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Post by stevein on Nov 30, 2011 11:07:34 GMT -5
I helped out on two Pecotoncia River kits. They are far more advanced than this one. I have stick built 6 rifles from the plank. This kit will be a basic assemble job. If there is any inletting involved it would really surprise me. You can put it together, sand, stain, and finish if you want. There usually is a lot of extra wood you can remove to give it a slimmer profile if you want to go for that. For another $25 to $35 you can add some inlays and a patchbox to give it a more custom or personal look. +side The 1-66 twist barrel is suited for patched round ball. In .50 cal it will be more than adequate for whitetails. Downside is I do not care for the 2 piece stock, but my next build I will spend more than it's price on the barrel alone. Check out ALR they have some mods to kit guns there. www.americanlongrifles.org/forum/Track of the Wolf for parts www.trackofthewolf.com/index.aspx?as=1Good luck and have fun on this project.
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Post by parson on Nov 30, 2011 13:09:33 GMT -5
I've put together a couple from kits, but it's been 25+ years. My kits were from CVA, and are no longer available. If I remember correctly they were less than $75 per kit.
One is a KY long rifle in 45 cal. with a 1-66 twist. Shoots round balls very accurately. In fact, I took my first deer with this rifle.
The other is a Mountain Carbine, 50 cal., with 1-48 twist. This is also a round ball gun. My son built one from an identical kit that shoots conicals very well, but mine wont. I have taken deer with this rifle also.
The kits were in very rough semi-finished condition, barrels were not blued. I've refinished them a couple of times over the years, and they look pretty good.
That sums up my experience with kits. I'm not familiar with what's available today.
I'll try to get some pics posted.
I'd encourage you to go for it.
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Post by TagTeamHunter on Dec 5, 2011 18:01:23 GMT -5
Lyman kits; available from Midway USA and other gun stores. While I have not built one of these kits, I've shot against them in our club matches and everyone the owns one loves them.
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Post by parson on Jan 5, 2012 12:11:06 GMT -5
I remembered that I'd said that I would post pics of my kit guns, so I'll post 'em up. I do need to get a new camera, but here they are.
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Post by HighCotton on Jan 7, 2012 7:47:49 GMT -5
parson: those are sweet. I really like the looks of the Kentucky rifle.
Thanks for the input guys. I am still exploring my options. My current interest has revolved around setting up a 'yote rifle so the ML kit has taken a bit of a back burner.
I've not read the best reviews on the Traditions kits but I like their price. I do like what I read about the Great Plains Rifle kits from place like Track of the Wolf and others. I'm just not sure I want to spend $600+. Within the next few weeks I will be hooking up with a fella on the north side of Indy who has a ton of experience building black powder rifles to further explore my options.
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Post by stevein on Jan 8, 2012 12:51:34 GMT -5
I just got my reminder for the Conner Longrifles Show at the Hamilton Co fairgrounds. Feb 18 & 19. Go check them out. There usually is a dealer or 2 with at least high end kits to give you an idea of what is involved. I have seen the lower entry kits there but it is not in my area of interest so I don't really pay attention to them.
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