Do i need a custom flintlock rifle??

[SOLANCO]

"life, liberty and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS"

 

[smoothshooter]

Jim,
Pete G is right on! Get a good rifle and you will love flintlock shooting. Purchase a run of the mill and you be spending more time trying to make it work. It don't have to be top of the line, just one that has good components. If you are not sure you are going to like shooting a flintlock, then go to a shoot and ask someone that has a decent one to let you shoot it.
Larry

You can get away with going cheap most of the time with a percussion rifle.
With flintlocks, you have to cough up extra bucks to get something that works.
Just the lock on a good quality flintlock will cost as much as an entire lower grade import percussion rifle.

 

[Colonialnerd]

Two schools of thought.
1) drop a couple grand on a hobby you don’t know if you’ll like
or
2) start with a less expensive gun and risk less.

You’ll heard vocal advocates of each. Personally, I’m dropping $450 on a kit.

When I asked the same question one guy, **** you not, said flat out if you can’t afford and expensive rifle don’t bother with the hobby. I bet he’s also the kind that wonders why the hobby isn’t growing.

 

[waksupi]

One good point is, as far as I know, no production supplier uses swamped barrels. If you have never shot a straight barrel rifle, then a swamped barrel, you need to do so to understand the huge difference.

 

[mushka]

I'm glad that you are going to get a Kibler kit. Nothing but good experiences and press there. Which caliber have you decided on?

 

[BillyC]

FWIW here’s my story. I am fortunate to belong to a club that has a monthly ML shoot. Before doing anything I went to one and asked a lot of questions. Most of the guys were shooting Kibler or custom rifles. They let me handle their rifles, shoulder them and look down the barrel at the sights. I decided on a Kibler SMR in .45 and was very pleased with the results. Went back to the ML shooters, showed them my finished rifle, asked more questions then started working up loads and sighting in. I’m not ready to do the woods walk just yet, still figuring the rifle out and acquiring necessaries but I’ll do it soon.
All in, with the extra fancy maple stock, balls, powder, patches and various other sundrys I’m probably right around $1800 and do t regret a thing. I still need a possibles bag and horn but I am waiting until I can get to an actual rendezvous with vendors to put my hands on a few and see what I like, probably looking at another $200 or so.

 

[BillyC]

Well I have decided to save my money for a Kimbler, thank you all for great advice.

Keep an eye on their “quick ship” kits. The price is reduced due to minor stock flaws. I bought a second SMR for myself at $100 off due to a knot smaller than a dime.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

The answer to the OPs question is yes.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

In this instance the old saying you get what you pay for is very true. The so called entry level rifles are cheaper for a reason.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I want to get into shooting flintlock rifles, my question is; Do I need to spend big money to get started ?

It depends on what you call, "big money".

You're looking at about from $975.00 to $1050.00 to start. For what you can buy in stock today, I'd say you want either the less expensive Pedersoli Traditional Hawken in .50, or the .54 caliber Pedersoli Frontier rifle..., the more expensive of the two. I have owned a Frontier, and they have nice, robust locks, and shoot well. ALL flintlocks have their quirks, and you need to learn these when you get your rifle.

The advantages of either are, you can order it today and have it soon, which gives you all summer to work on learning to shoot it. They are not custom rifles, and will take some banging around in the woods, and you won't feel bad when doing so. Either one should shoot well, and will take large game. IF you'd prefer a .45 or a .36 the Frontier is available in those calibers too.

Used... if you can find a used Thompson Center Hawken or Renegade in flintlock, with a good bore, those will also do well. They may run between $450-$600.

Other than those options, yes you can get a more expensive rifle. Will it shoot better than any of the above..., it might, but it might not. Will it make deer any more dead than the factory rifle, NOPE. Will it be more historically "correct", oh without a doubt.

Only YOU can determine what you need in a rifle.

The more expensive semi-custom rifles, will have more attention to detail, so better wood to metal fit, usually, and probably a higher quality of "figure" in the woodgrain of the stock. Will the barrel be better? On paper, but will you be needing to take advantage of that? The Lock will be better but whether you notice that will be subjective. Which means if your factory rifle shoots inside a 6" circle at 100 yards, and my semi-custom Cabin Creek rifle shoots just about a 4" group at the same distance..., will the deer know the difference? It will make a difference at a shooting competition, but not in actual application (imho)


LD

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

@Rebel jim you posted this question in 2022 and this thread has come back to life! I'm curious what direction did you go?

 

[Johnny Tremain]

My first flinter was a production gun. Got 8 good shots to of it before it broke, and broke, and broke.
Over a year I spent $1100 in parts. Built my last rifle, and it has been flawless ever since it was built.
By me, that has 2 left hands.