Well I got back from Friendship at 8 p.m last night. Let me tell you, I've never had more fun in my life! I'm going to suggest,nay demand, that if you are considering building a kit and have never done so, GO TO FRIENDSHIP.
I went with an idea of what I wanted (PA stock, Siler Flint Lock, .50 Rice or Colerain barrel, brass, and a single trigger). But, I had an open mind as to who I would my kit from.
All of the major suppliers were there. Pecatonica, Chambers, Dunlop, Curtis, Muzzle Loaders Builders supply.
There were several well known builders there that were more than happy to answer questions. I wrote down some questions I wanted answered Friday night just to kind of think things over, though I didn't pull the list out and ask if they could answer question number 206 for me.
Right inside the gate was Pecatonica River. They had a Dickert style kit that had an absolutely beautiful grade-4 curly maple stock on it. The kit had a .54 "C" weight Green Mountain barrel. They didn't have any .50 "C" weights with them, but were willing to ship one to me. While I thought it over I looked at some of the GM barrels they had in stock. Man, the quality of barrel was pretty random. Some had no crown to them, some did. Some were finished pretty nice, some weren't. And the breech plug was not installed, which is something I wanted. I was worried about the quality of barrel so I decided against the kit. Which is sad because that was one beautiful piece of lumber! If you're looking for a high grade stock, check them out.
I walked on down the line and saw a gentleman that had some Colerain barrels. I took a look at them and inspected the quality. I had not handled any Colerain, GM, or Rice swamped barrels before, so I wanted to get a feel for each one. He wanted $185 for a barrel. Same price as TOW.
I walked on through the sheep sheds and came up on Tiger-Hunt Gunstocks. They had a Rupp-style finished rifle on display. I explained to the shop keeper that I was wanting to build a rifle. I asked if I could shoulder the Rupp to see how it fit me. He said sure thing! So, I grabbed her up and shouldered her and lo' and behold, my thumb was about an inch in front of my nose and blocked my sight line! I had to hold the rifle in an uncomfortable way to keep my hand out of the way. I laughed and said that stock wasn't for me. I don't want a bloody nose each time I fire my rifle. Tiger-Hunt also had pre-carved Indian ball clubs of various shape and quality. I think I might buy one of those in the spring. They had a few styles of stocks, but I just wasn't happy with them. They didn't seem as nice as the Pecatonica wood.
The next shop of major importance I came to was the Rice Barrel Co. That's right they had company representatives on site! They had dissected barrels showing the mirrored polish finish on the inside. I asked about a .50 "C" weight barrel and they had one in stock. The Rep. practically begged me to handle the barrel. I of course obliged him. The quality of the Rice barrel is amazing and is just one of those things you don't see until you inspect the details of them and compare them to the Colerain and GM. First off, the outside finish is very close to being perfect. Some slight draw filing and you're set! The breech plug was fit so well that I couldn't tell were the plug ended and the barrel began. After getting to look at the barrel first hand, I was convinced that Rice was the way to go. Out of curiosity I asked the Rep. what he thought of coning the barrel. He basically said that he’s neutral. The way he explained it, as long as there the rifling stays in contact before there are any nice or such things, accuracy shouldn’t be affected. He said the guy in the next booth, Mike Miller, cones barrels just about all day. He told me I should go over and look at them.
So, my next stop was Mike Millers place. Mike was talking to another gentleman when I walked up. I wanted to see what the barrel looked like so I just kind of peaked in at it. I was looking at the very pretty design and Mike told me to pick up the Jeager and take a look at it. This is the same rifle that was featured in the current Muzzle Blasts. I looked it over and found it to be very ornate and a fine piece of workmanship. I asked Mike about his finishing techniques and he was very helpful in explaining the procedures for the different style of finishes on the rifles. Then we talked about finishing barrels. I probably talked to Mike for about 45 minutes. I told him I was interested in building kits, and he told me the only kit he would even bother to mess with was Chambers.
I walked on down the row of the sheep shed to Homer Dangler’s booth. Homer was busy talking to a pair of gentlemen but his wife was still very interesting to talk to. Homer has a couple of DVDs that I was interested in. One on building long rifles, the other on carving long rifles. Homer also had one of the most beautiful pieces of wood I have ever seen, gunstock or other. It was bird’s eye maple that had figure on every single inch of the rifle. BEAUTIFUL!
Well, the next booth of interest I came to was Jim Chambers. When I approached, Jim was busy selling one of his Jeager books. The book itself was $145, and then the translation was another $35! Expensive. When Jim had sold the book, he came over to me. I asked to look at a finished York rifle. It shouldered perfectly for me. The balance of the 42in “C” .50 was excellent. Jim showed me the unfinished stock. Now, by this time I had looked at the pieces from Pecatonica and Tiger-Hunt. Jim’s stock had the best inletting done of any I had seen. The one stock he had there had a wooden patch box inlet in the stock. I didn’t really want to mess with a patchbox on my first stock. I was conscerned about screwing it up. Jim showed me the state his Rice barrels come in. The dovetails were cut for the front sight and all three underlugs. TOW charges $15 to cut a single dovetail! The rear sight is not done because everyone’s eyes are different so the rear sight location will be different. I asked him if he had one without the patchbox. He said that their stocks were from Dunlop and there were a box of stocks in the back of their truck. He wasn’t sure what was in it but he would go at take a look to see if he had one.
Well, while I was waiting I walked down to Tip Curtis to take a look at his kits. I looked at some of his kits in various stages. He had some nice stocks, but the kits just weren’t to the level of the Chambers. I went back to Chambers to make sure I got my pick of stocks if there were any more Yorks in the box he brought back.
Jim went and brought back the box. There wasn’t a York in there. I asked how difficult the wooden patchboxes were to fit. Jim told me they were pretty simple. He showed me that the patchbox had the dovetails already inlet. He showed me the finished wooden patch box on the finished York and explained that all I would have to do is sand the dovetail a little, cut off the extra wood and shape the lid. I was quite excited. It would be simple. While I was standing there trying to decide whether I should buy the kit, Mr. Chambers cut $50 off the price. I was still trying to decide and he then through in one of his DVD’s on building his kits! I was excited. So, I decided I had to have it. While my father was writing a check (I forgot my checkbook) he added that he wanted one of Jim’s mainspring vices. Jim threw it in for free also! Jim Chambers will definitely work with you. The only downside is, he has to mail a barrel, a ramrod, patchbox spring and trigger guard. Barbie said it would be 6-8 weeks for the barrel to get shipped, bummer. I brought the stock and parts home. I’m going to get started on everything but the barrel. Jim told me that if I get stumped on something, to not be afraid to call him and ask a question.
About 2 weeks ago I called Track of the Wolf and asked if they were going to be at Friendship. The guy on the phone laughed at me! He said that the owners do all of their business through the internet and they have no need to go to Friendship. Well, my experience has shown me that I need to support those who go to Friendship and allow people to get their paws on the products before they buy.
Go to Friendship if you can. You won’t regret it!
) and that is allowing your lack of confidence to lead you to thinking that having the lock inlet, vent hole drilled etc. will make it a more manageable project. Truth is, it makes it harder because now you are stuck with those parts locations and they probably won't fit.
