Thinking of a Kit Gun???

rafsob · 05-21-2008, 03:07 PM

I asked this in another forum, but I value the expertise of the floksat this one so here it is:

"I am thinking of getting a kit gun to keep me busy. Been retired for a short while and need something to keep me going.
Some info on what I already have. I have a tradtions Crocket, .32 cal. squirely gun. A Lyman GPR FL .50 cal, and a Lyman Hawkens Carbine in .54 cal. I shoot sabots from the Hawkens because it is a 1 in 24' twist. The GPR is a 1 in 66" twist and I shoot PRB's. I also shoot PRB's in the Crocket. It has a 1 in 48" twist."

"The idea of the kit gun is for me to put it together. This would make me bond more with the piece, I think. This would be the first time I am trying something like this. Do I need any special training?"

"So, who has the best kit gun available out there??? Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated guys."

Indiana SmokePole · 05-21-2008, 03:22 PM

I would go with a Lyman Kit ! you don't need any special trainning

Ron

frontier gander · 05-21-2008, 03:27 PM

.54cal lyman great plains. Possibly flinter?

Take your time with it too.
Maybe buy some books of the original Hawken Bro. rifle design and throw some of their woodwork into the lyman stock?

Lots of things you can do. Plenty of wood to work with.

I spent over 2 weeks browning my parts for my GPR.

Gotbuck · 05-21-2008, 05:47 PM

Check out here first. I too am looking for a kit and you can't get better than what they have to offer.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(qecyvmzndtwyyu55n4x1xj55))/categories/catList.aspx?catID=13

cayugad · 05-21-2008, 06:29 PM

Gotbuck.. I wish I had more confidence in my ability to do a kit like from Track of the Wolf... those are some beautiful kits. And for under $1000.00 for most of them, that is not too bad for a custom rifle...

nchawkeye · 05-21-2008, 08:36 PM

The best come from www.flintlocks.com

They are researched and follow the same lines as originals, nobody else comes close to making guns that look and have the balance of the originals...

rafsob · 05-22-2008, 07:14 AM

Thanks guys. This is a good start. I will go through all the info presented. I plan on taking my time and going slow. Will keep everyone up on my progress.

Gotbuck · 05-22-2008, 07:03 PM

Well Uncle Sam gave out some money so I'm shopping

nchawkeye · 05-26-2008, 06:06 AM

Have you given much though as to what style you want to go with or time period??? In the 1770s a Lancaster or Christian Springs would be nice...Later (1800) the rifles became slimmer and calibers smaller, that's where you go with the Southeast VA and TN rifles in .32-40 caliber with the cresent butt plates...

Still later (1850), you get into the Hawken era,with bores .50-.54 and the move to percussion guns, or the Vincent rifles out of Ohio, they were usually .36-.45 caliber...

So you might want to give some thought as to where your ancester's came from, if that's important to you, or what type hunting or target shooting you want to do...

lemoyne · 05-26-2008, 08:11 AM

rafsob
The first thing to do is if you dont already know how to black and inlet get a book or a friend that does and learn more kit guns have been spoiled by bad inletting than any thing else. Personally I dont put all that work in on a kit mostly because the wood in them sucks, you can get some decent wood some times but only on occasion.
If you do get some decent wood look up trminic acid [been used to bring out the stripes in tiger stripe maple and birds eye for hundreds of year] read up on these things and on hand shapeing wood before you start, be very precise on the position of trigger ,lock and nipple so you dont have to tear back into it after you finish. The kits mentioned by Cayquad and Gotbuck are among the best, and if you have never built a rifle from scratch then a kit is a good way to learn. Lee