Crockett rifle-just because!

[oldwolf]

Nice looking rifle. I really like the finish you gave the stock. How did you do that?

 

[digger6581]

Sorry for delay!

Stock is beech and didn't turn out they way I had hoped but what can you do with beech? LOL

I finished the rifle loosely following Mike Brooks tutorial on American Longrifle. http://americanlongrifles.org/PDF/tutorial.pdf For what it is it turned out OK but I'm never satisfied with my end results.

All metal parts were brown. The barrel needed a heavy sanding to remove the high polish so the browning solution could do it's job. The lock plate and hammer are heat treated (guessing) and didn't take to the browning very well.

The stock was reworked a little, the forearm end out by the ramrod guide was lower then the position of the front of the hand guard, kind of ran at a slant....just didn't look right so I leveled it which kinda made it slimmer and more appealing.

The top of the stock comb had a curve to it which I leveled. The brass buttplate was very thick so I thinned it down quick a bit.

The trigger and trigger plate had to be shimmed to drop the trigger down more into the trigger guard bow, if I hadn't done that not much of the trigger would have been showing. Also, the triggers were filed thinner to give them a better look.

I bought the kit to have a winter project and it's been fun. As of now, the bench is empty and trying to decide my next build.

Thanks for looking.

PS-Forgot to mention the aluminum ramrod that came with it was canned, I bought a hickory rod that worked much better.

 

[jimbobber]

Has anyone here had experience with this rifle?
https://crockettlongrifle.com/

 

[crankshaft]

Has anyone here had experience with this rifle?
https://crockettlongrifle.com/

No...and for $9,000 I won't.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

I have to agree. The maker uses a LOT of deceptive marketing. If it were accurately described as a reproduction of a rifle made by the original maker - Lt. Andrew Crockett - it might be valued at about half that price. Tossing around the name of Davy Crockett has no bearing on the value of this reproduction other than "bling".

 

[hanshi]

Sorry I missed your question, digger6581, but here goes. While any charge from 20 grains of 3F to 30 grains was very satisfyingly accurate, 30 grains of 3F with a .311 (Lee mold) ball and a .015" to .017" patch lubed with Hoppes BP Lube was my "gold standard". That load produced 5 shot, 1/2" groups at 40 yards, on my best days. But the load was always good for a consistent 3/4".

 

[robinsroost]

Congratulations on finishing a beautiful rifle. Mine is a factory build but yours is much nicer. My most accurate load is 20 grains of 777 and a 15k patch. It shoots cloverleafs at 25 yards, from the bench. This is my favorite rifle. Keep yer powder dry...……..robin

 

[stewart.leach]

Just finishing building up a Crockett kit to have a small caliber rifle for use at Trapper Days celebration at historic Fort Lupton, Colorado. Fort Lupton Muzzle Loading Club hosts a "Try it, you'll like it" event at the range. Brief safety talk, sight alignment instruction, and individually supervised loading and firing. Targets are steel or paper at 25 yards.

Encountered some problems with the kit, but was able to solve them. The stock came with the escutcheon plates installed, and the wood and metal sanded down to where no decoration was left on the plates, and screw slots were vestigial. Had to use engraving tool to recut slots in the brass screws to get them out, will substitute my own screws for final assembly. The fit of the nose cap was sloppy, and one of the screw holes was double drilled. Would have been better if not drilled at all. Built up the wood on the nose with sawdust and epoxy. The ramrod retaining spring was held in place with a Phillips head machine screw that stuck up so far that the barrel rocked back and forth over it. Inletted a bit deeper, filled the screw hole and supplied my own flat head screw. Had to do a little work to inlet the lock plate, am a bit concerned with how the machining left little support for the plate.

Good points of the kit: I took the lock apart, did very little smoothing, would have been fine as supplied, Same for trigger group. Front and rear sights, and wedge loop all fit well. Unique barrel/ plug/tang group sat perfectly into the stock. Buttplate and toeplate came factory fitted nicely. Thimbles and rail all lined up well. Wood was tapered down to entry thimble profile.

Oddly, the factory wood widths at the top of the barrel channel were very different, the left side being about four times the width of the right. Both were so wide as to offend my sensibilities, so out came the micoplanes, rasps and sanding blocks. As I did not want to go to the trouble of re-inletting the escutcheons, all I did was taper the wood from the top line of the escutcheons to an eighth of an inch at barrel contact. Makes for a fore-end that has an odd profile, a bit fat and squatty.

Stock has been finished in Leman trade rifle style, with varying width faux stripes of dark brown stain
then thinned cherry stain and honey brown. Three coats of poly boat deck varnish, dulled down with 0000 steel wool. Actually looks pretty good. Waiting a week for full curing of the poly before final assembly.

The barrel group was supplied highly polished; I roughed it up a bit with 400 emery, and browned. Left all the lawyer language intact. Same for lock plate, hammer and screw. Waiting on fittings to make a wooden ramrod.

I saved some money, and some time, over buying a parts set from Track, Pecatonica or Tip Curtis. Didn't save as much time as I thought I would due to the repairs that had to be made.

 

[RAEDWALD]

I have done a couple of these Ardesa kits for others (not Crockett) and I got the impression that (bar the barrel/breech) they were made up of sub standard production rejects. Best sear arms, broken through inletting etc. They were not hard to rectify but I would pay the small extra to get the ones that at least met quality control and, if sub standard on inspection, gave you better cause to complain to the seller. I am still wondering why Ardesa are not selling their Crocketts in Europe these days.

 

[crankshaft]

I love the new Crockett. Very, I repeat very well built. They are not your fathers CVA/Traditions. Of all my guns, I think I now like it best. Fusils were #1.
did I say well built, every bit as good as a T/C.

 

[BlackHillsBob]

im a bit confused, is the traditions crockett kit a good buy? is it well made? im thinking of getting one and taking my time and give it my very best.

 

[Zonie]

im a bit confused, is the traditions crockett kit a good buy? is it well made? im thinking of getting one and taking my time and give it my very best.

People seem to think so.

There was a time about 5 or so years ago that some .32 caliber Crockett's were sold and they had poorly installed breech plugs.

Oh, they were safe to shoot. No problem there.
The problem was the front face of the breech plug was not installed tightly against the shoulder where the bore ends. This left a small gap there.

When people tried to clean their guns, the cleaning patch would get caught in that gap and do its best to keep the jag and ramrod from moving back up the barrel.

The company seems to have solved that problem because I haven't heard anyone complaining about it for quite a while but, if you are thinking of buying an older, used Crockett it's something to keep in mind.

 

[PluggedNickel]

I like it! Very nice job. That kit might make a really great entry level build kit! And if it turns out as nice as yours are real keeper to be proud of.

 

[user 31257]

im a bit confused, is the traditions crockett kit a good buy? is it well made? im thinking of getting one and taking my time and give it my very best.

I don’t think the quality of the Crockett rifles is great, but it’s okay. The stocks are beech rather than maple or walnut. That said, they are probably half the cost of most any other .32 kit on the market and they shoot pretty well. They also have just the right amount of drop in the stock for me and fit much better than my .32 Cherokees. They are really fun to hunt squirrels with and if you cast your own balls you can shoot them for next to nothing.

 

[BlackHillsBob]

if the parts are good, i look forward to make a beech stock look good also. it is a tough fiberous wood that has a lot of grain if done right.

 

[BlackHillsBob]

im more than entry level and i want to pour my heart and soul into it and use it in shoots up near rapidcity s.dak at their meets. im even going to cryo treat the barrel, may even do the ultra sonic treatment also. want this gun to be a one hole guns at meet ranges. the twist is a little slower for a 32 than it should be but will work. a 1/36 would be better for a target 32.

 

[user 31257]

im more than entry level and i want to pour my heart and soul into it and use it in shoots up near rapidcity s.dak at their meets. im even going to cryo treat the barrel, may even do the ultra sonic treatment also. want this gun to be a one hole guns at meet ranges. the twist is a little slower for a 32 than it should be but will work. a 1/36 would be better for a target 32.

If I were putting that much effort into a rifle, I’d start with higher quality components, but that’s just me.

 

[BlackHillsBob]

it is all a matter of how much dollars we have to spend. if the steel is right i can make the wood right. if i was with money, your right, im not. beside i like to make things that were ment to be average way beyond what they were ment to be.

 

[hanshi]

I love those little Crocketts. Mine accounted for oodles of bushytails. I'd even post how accurate mine was but I don't want to be accused of lying. They're not "fine" built rifles but I'd call mine, "very well" made.

 

[BlackHillsBob]

thanks, one is in my future.