Anyone have dealt with pecatonica river kits
- Thread starter Shive62
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some years ago I put a Southern Mountain Rifle together ”¦ the stock and if I remember correctly some of the other furniture came from Pecatonica. They were great folks with whom to work, and their prices are really reasonable. Wouldn't hesitate to deal with them again!
Good luck with your build, and remember, we love pictures.
Good luck with your build, and remember, we love pictures.
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I have dealt with them 4 maybe 5 times over a several yr period. Great folks to deal with an every piece of wood I bought from them was a better piece than they described to me. If I needed something that they had I would not hesitate for one second to deal with them :thumbsup:
Shive said:
No personal experience. But, with any supplier of 'kits', do be sure to discuss with Pec what degree of skill is required to build a rifle from what they send you. Building a rifle on even a well inletted stock is often beyond the skill level of many people. I am one of those who is very capable of turning a $1,000.00 'kit' into a $200.00 rifle. :shocked2: :redface:
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I've built one from Pecatonica wood. The inletting was good and the overall shape needed minimal work to finish.
Turtle Dave
32 Cal.
My best friend just finished a lehigh valley kit for me and did a beautiful job. Pecatonica even built a left handed cheek peice when their equipment are not set up fo this. They went ahead and specially set their epuipment up just for my kit. That is how good their service is and how they take care of individuals and their orders.
I've built over 10 rifles from Pecatonica River.
Each one is a different style (Lancaster, Reading, Bedford, etc.).
The curly maple they supply is consistently excellent.
Most of their "kits" come with straight octagon barrels but on many of their models they offer swamped barrels and they will cut the stock for it.
The prices they charge for doing extras like cutting sight dovetails, installing breech plugs etc. are very reasonable and are always less expensive than the local gunsmiths in my area charge for similar work.
The parts they supply are in their rough condition. That is, the castings are "as cast", often showing their sand cast surfaces.
All of the parts will require work to get them to a usable condition.
None of the threaded holes exist so you will have to locate them, drill them, tap the threads and enlarge the clearance holes.
The only things that are in a "usable" condition are the lock and the set triggers.
Even these will require the screw holes that hold them in the stock to be made by you.
In other words, these are not the easy kits available from Traditions, Lyman, etc that take 20-30 hours to finish.
Typically they will take over 150 hours of work.
Each one is a different style (Lancaster, Reading, Bedford, etc.).
The curly maple they supply is consistently excellent.
Most of their "kits" come with straight octagon barrels but on many of their models they offer swamped barrels and they will cut the stock for it.
The prices they charge for doing extras like cutting sight dovetails, installing breech plugs etc. are very reasonable and are always less expensive than the local gunsmiths in my area charge for similar work.
The parts they supply are in their rough condition. That is, the castings are "as cast", often showing their sand cast surfaces.
All of the parts will require work to get them to a usable condition.
None of the threaded holes exist so you will have to locate them, drill them, tap the threads and enlarge the clearance holes.
The only things that are in a "usable" condition are the lock and the set triggers.
Even these will require the screw holes that hold them in the stock to be made by you.
In other words, these are not the easy kits available from Traditions, Lyman, etc that take 20-30 hours to finish.
Typically they will take over 150 hours of work.
I’ve double thumbs up for Pec, Pec and Track would both be my #1 recommendation for a build.
Opinions may vary (when don't they? :wink: ) but I believe proper breech plug installation is the most important single step in building an ml rifle. Other mess-ups can be ugly or just not allow the rifle to shoot well. An improperly installed breech plug can be a very dangerous matter. And, for the novice, it is not an easy thing to do. Pay the experts to do it. Money well spent.
That’s a truism, on the other hand you have to inlet the tang plug and breach all at the same time. Six of one half a dozen of the other
I always inlet the barrel breech to get a nice fit on the breech end, then install the breech plug and lower the plug and tang into the wood.
Sorta like I inlet a plain ramrod pipe into the ramrod groove at the entry pipe position then change over to the entry pipe and inlet the return down into the wood.
But.... I am a beginner and have only made 5 guns.
Sorta like I inlet a plain ramrod pipe into the ramrod groove at the entry pipe position then change over to the entry pipe and inlet the return down into the wood.
But.... I am a beginner and have only made 5 guns.
Col. Batguano
75 Cal.
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I built that gun as my first build. I picked out the stock in person from Track, but Pecatonica does all their carving for them. I had Pecatonica drill and tap the rail for me and they did a really good job. I was more than happy to let them, as, drilling holes only part way in to a barrel makes me nervous, especially on a first build. You will probably need to inlet the barrel deeper and move it back.
Pay particular attention to making sure you get your drill bit at a perfect 90 degree angle for the drum. That thing has big shoulders and if you're off even slightly one of the edges may get proud.
As I said, it was my first rifle, and is far and away my most accurate one too. I actually sort of wish it would have been a clunker, so I wouldn't have been tempted to make another, and another, and another.........
Pay particular attention to making sure you get your drill bit at a perfect 90 degree angle for the drum. That thing has big shoulders and if you're off even slightly one of the edges may get proud.
As I said, it was my first rifle, and is far and away my most accurate one too. I actually sort of wish it would have been a clunker, so I wouldn't have been tempted to make another, and another, and another.........
