Many of the kits come in the "white." This means all the blue needs to be done and they tell you only minor woodworking needs to be done (which is and is not true). Then of course the sanding of the stock, the hand rubbing of the oil into the wood, and finally the waxing. Its a lot of work, but for a winter project, if your good with your hands, you can produce a beautiful rifle.

Some of the better kits out there are the Lyman Great Plains Rifle or Great Plains Hunter. They produce a quality product. Also bluing is not as hard as you might think. Some peoplelike to brown the barrel to really be PC. All a matter of preference.

If your thinking seriously of this and want an original special rifle, then by all means. If you price out the kit, the sand paper, the tongue oil, the wax, the blueing, and all the other stuff like steel wool, don't figure your time in there, then check the price of the pre assembled. They start to look real good, your shooting right away, and if there is a problem the factory has to fix it.

I built a couple rifles about 20+ years ago. While it was an experience, and they turned out excellent (my father was a master cabinet maker..) it was a lot of effort. Now I just buy them and let someone else do the work.

Good luck with your decision.