I got a Traditions Kentucky Rifle kit for Christmas, along with a Deer Creek Hawken Pistol kit.

The rifle, as most of you probably know, has a two-piece stock with a thin brass spacer between the pieces. Doing a test fit, it became painfully obvious that the forend part was about 3/16" too short.[:@] Rather than send it back for a different kit, I went to Lowes, bought a poplar 2X2 and made a new spacer. Since I never liked the looks of having a brass line in the middle of the stock, I pitched it and made the spacer thick enough to bridge the gap.

I just finished the rifle last night. After staining and about 10 coats of TruOil, it wound up looking pretty nice. I've got two dark glue lines in the middle of my stock but they aren't nearly as obvious as a line of yellow brass.

I'd post some pics if I could find the cotton pickin' lead to hook up my camera to the 'puter. It hasn't been seen since my son reported for basic training, so I think he took it with him.

I just wondered whether or not the problem I ran into with this kit is the norm for Traditions kits.

By the way, the pistol went together with no problems at all, except the blotchy way the wood took stain. I reduced the amount of blotchiness on the rifle by using Minwax PreStain, but it still blotched up a bit.

I gotta get out and make some smoke now.