Anyone have a TRS Baker flintlock rifle?

[John Spartan]

All this Baker talk around here lately has me fired up.
Planning on getting a Baker as the “last gun I’ll ever buy.” The question is which one - not that there are (surprisingly) a lot of Baker manufacturers.
The only ones I am aware of are Indian imports (smoothbore), Pedersoli (tentatively in 2023) and finally TRS though someone said they had to wait two years(!).
Anyone own a TRS Baker? How do you like it? How long did you wait?

 

[Penske]

On youtube British Muzzle Loaders channel Rob has a rifle shoppe Baker. He does a whole segment on the rifle and one on the ammo.

 

[John Spartan]

Sweet. Thank you!

 

[Rock Home Isle]

A tale of 2 Bakers Pts I & II

 

[Tobee]

Have built a TRS Baker myself. Paid extra for the assembled lock, soldered bayonet lug and cut dovetails. If I recall, I waited two months for the extra work to be done as a kit happened to be in stock. The second kit ordered, a 1756 artillery carbine was a 2 year, 5 month wait. Got it early this year. My opinion is TRS are artisans making a one of a kind product. So you need to be patient and not let ignored emails and phone messages bother you. I'll order from them again, older/clumsier as I am. My two kits were kind of rough; metal and wood. Here's a pic of my 1756 artillery carbine so you can get an idea of what to expect if you go down this road. There are no parts diagrams or instructions. Was it worth it? Yes. I'll always have more time than money.

 

[John Spartan]

Thanks for the pic.
I guessed what was meant by “gates on the metal” but its nice to see it. Was the barrel exterior polished?

 

[Tobee]

Thanks for the pic.
I guessed what was meant by “gates on the metal” but its nice to see it. Was the barrel exterior polished?

Found a pic of the Baker build. At this point just used steel wool and cold blue to prevent rust. Barrels looks smooth.

 

[TobJohn]

Have built a TRS Baker myself. Paid extra for the assembled lock, soldered bayonet lug and cut dovetails. If I recall, I waited two months for the extra work to be done as a kit happened to be in stock. The second kit ordered, a 1756 artillery carbine was a 2 year, 5 month wait. Got it early this year. My opinion is TRS are artisans making a one of a kind product. So you need to be patient and not let ignored emails and phone messages bother you. I'll order from them again, older/clumsier as I am. My two kits were kind of rough; metal and wood. Here's a pic of my 1756 artillery carbine so you can get an idea of what to expect if you go down this road. There are no parts diagrams or instructions. Was it worth it? Yes. I'll always have more time than money.

Do they contact you when the item ships?

 

[Birddog1911]

The Baker is probably the only military arm I'm interested in. Wish there were more around.

 

[andy52]

A Baker is just a knock-off of a Jeager hunting rifle put to military purpose. the Jaegers had been around about 60 -70 years before the Baker. There are lots of Jaegers out there.

 

[Penske]

The baker is a continuation in development of the British pattern 1776 rifle. The pattern 1776 was developed during the AWI by the British and used throughout the war.

 

[Tobee]

Do they contact you when the item ships?

Yes, via email with the cost of shipping. They had my credit card info and asked permission to use it. Cost for the artillery carbine, if I recall correctly was $120 to Oahu via USPS. Imho, they are experts at packing stuff.

Like to recommend a book: British Military Flintlock Rifles 1740-1840. Author is Dewitt Bailey.
Got mine from amazon.

 

[TobJohn]

Yes, via email with the cost of shipping. They had my credit card info and asked permission to use it. Cost for the artillery carbine, if I recall correctly was $120 to Oahu via USPS. Imho, they are experts at packing stuff.

Like to recommend a book: British Military Flintlock Rifles 1740-1840. Author is Dewitt Bailey.
Got mine from amazon.

Thanks!
I ordered a small kit from them and am currently past the window they gave me, but it had seemed very optimistic. I do not mind waiting, but am worried about it being porch pirated if I am not around and did not have a warning it was on the way.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

A Baker is just a knock-off of a Jeager hunting rifle put to military purpose. the Jaegers had been around about 60 -70 years before the Baker. There are lots of Jaegers out there.

Agree to disagree…

 

[TobJohn]

Sean Bean wasn’t fighting the French with a jager.

 

[andy52]

Agree to disagree…

Here's some historical data on the baker:

Colonel Coote Manningham, responsible for establishing the Rifle Corps, influenced the initial designs of the Baker. The first model resembled the British infantry musket ("Brown Bess"), but was rejected as too heavy. Baker was provided with a German Jäger rifle as an example of what was needed. The second model he made had a .75 caliber bore, the same caliber as the infantry musket. It had a 32-inch barrel, with eight rectangular rifling grooves; this model was accepted as the Infantry Rifle, but more changes were made until it was finally placed into production. The third and final model had the barrel shortened from 32 to 30 inches, and the caliber reduced to .653, which allowed the rifle to fire a .625 caliber carbine bullet, with a greased patch to grip the now-seven rectangular grooves in the barrel.

 

[Dave Fox]

A compromise Baker? How about an Indian-made example with a Hoyt lined barrel?

 

[voltigeur]

.the 95th fight napoleon 's troop at waterloo.

 

[Larks]

I have the TRS Baker Rifle kit, partially built at this stage. I ordered it with the assembled lock but they sent the cast parts in error - they only charged me for the cast parts and I didn’t pick it up on the invoice before it was posted so partially my own fault. I’m in Australia and, as ToBee said, they had my credit card details and contacted me for permission to debit the card when it was ready to ship.

They had the full kit in stock bit it still took about five to six months from ordering to shipment but so far (other than my own errors with filing lock parts trying to build my own lock) the kit has proven to be good. The only part missing (so far) seems to be one screw for one of the lock springs and I was able to source one of the correct thread and size (either through Track of The Wolf or Brownells, I can’t recall which).

One of the options that was available and which unfortunately I wasn’t aware of at the time was to have the dovetails cut into the barrel. I really wish I had been aware to have them done as getting them right does worry me and that’s sort of my hold up point at the moment, I'm procrastinating over them before I can start fitting everything to the stock........ you don’t really get a second chance if you cut them too deep or too wide.

After receiving the lock set as cast parts TRS had said that they would send a completed lock, which I was happy to pay for additional to the cast parts set. Sadly that was in September 2020 and the lock did not arrive and they stopped responding to my emails so I really don’t know what is going on there. (My follow up emails were always pleasant and polite so I can’t imagine any reason for them to have taken against me....??).

I had also been emailing them to buy a Heavy Dragoon pistol set but got no response...???

 

[Tobee]

I have the TRS Baker Rifle kit, partially built at this stage. I ordered it with the assembled lock but they sent the cast parts in error - they only charged me for the cast parts and I didn’t pick it up on the invoice before it was posted so partially my own fault. I’m in Australia and, as ToBee said, they had my credit card details and contacted me for permission to debit the card when it was ready to ship.

They had the full kit in stock bit it still took about five to six months from ordering to shipment but so far (other than my own errors with filing lock parts trying to build my own lock) the kit has proven to be good. The only part missing (so far) seems to be one screw for one of the lock springs and I was able to source one of the correct thread and size (either through Track of The Wolf or Brownells, I can’t recall which).

One of the options that was available and which unfortunately I wasn’t aware of at the time was to have the dovetails cut into the barrel. I really wish I had been aware to have them done as getting them right does worry me and that’s sort of my hold up point at the moment, I'm procrastinating over them before I can start fitting everything to the stock........ you don’t really get a second chance if you cut them too deep or too wide.

After receiving the lock set as cast parts TRS had said that they would send a completed lock, which I was happy to pay for additional to the cast parts set. Sadly that was in September 2020 and the lock did not arrive and they stopped responding to my emails so I really don’t know what is going on there. (My follow up emails were always pleasant and polite so I can’t imagine any reason for them to have taken against me....??).

I had also been emailing them to buy a Heavy Dragoon pistol set but got no response...???