Howdy, I've been looking into kit guns lately. I want one that will look nice and shoot well, and I realize both depend on me to an extent. Anyone have one they made and like or a favorite? Looking for a 50. Hawken or something a little more fancy like that. Perhaps a kentucky type.

Kits can be very simple or very complex. Also depending on who puts the kits together can run a couple hundred bucks to a thousand dollars. Frontier Gander put a kit together a while back and I think he did an excellent job on it. Also it appears to be an excellent shooting Hawkins style rifle. You might want to contact him for more information in that department.

Lyman also makes some nice kits in their plains rifles. While they do not have all the fancy brass, they are a great looking, great shooting rifle with some very traditional lines.

The kit i built is Deer Creek Mountain Rifle in .45cal The rifle was somewhat scary when i first opened the box and took notice to the carving and sanding that was in store but at the end, I finished the rifle in 4 days. Traditions and Lyman are pretty much the only 2 makers that offer affordable rifles to the average man. I own a Traditions kentucky classic flintlock " pictured below" that i bought and refinished, Beautiful shooting rifle and very easy to handle in the woods. The deer creek mountain rifle is a hell of a shooter. I personally would go with a rifle kit, you can do so much more with it and do it the way you want it. Shaping, finish, what ever way you want, a kit is the way to go if you want a rifle built to your personal liking.


Heres the deer creek below.


Heres a good place to look at kits they offer and see what you like. cayugad bought the traditions hawken and has had good success with it so far.
http://www.possibleshop.com/lymangunkit.htm

Also, the cva mountain rifle is exactly like mine, except my rifle has a Douglas barrel and is a .45, Great price on the rifle.

http://www.possibleshop.com/cva-rifles.htm

Depending how how much $$ is in the birthday card today, i may have another mountain rifle on my way in 50cal

Depends on how zealous you are but www.TrackoftheWolf.com is an outfit that I use for parts to build my toys and they sell "kitted" parts. Basically means you do the style selection then select grade-type wood, barrel quality, locks and such with them putting together what you want in a box fer you to put together... Usually requires a fair bit of metal working-finishing, wood working but it does yield a decent piece provided your're up for the challenge...

Keep yer powder dry,
D.