I'm thinking of getting a Lyman Great Plains Rifle kit (in flint), as a first flint kit. (Built a CVA Hawken caplock from a kit a couple of decades ago--wasn't pretty, but it goes "bang".) I don't know anything about how the Lyman kits come; I figure I'm going to need some kind of finish for the wood and the barrel. If it's feasible, I'd be interested in making the finished gun look as "period correct" as possible, at least to the degree of making it brown if the old Hawkens were brown, or blue if they were more ordinarily blue--but I'm willing to cheat and use, say, cold blue rather than funny toxic hard-to-get chemicals if the end result will look and behave roughly the same. Intention is to have a user piece that I can also use for wall-hanging.
What's the best way to go about this? What do I use for stain and finish for the stock? And is there some kind of good browning compound for the barrel and other furniture? Where can this be gotten most readily and cheaply?
Thanks!
What's the best way to go about this? What do I use for stain and finish for the stock? And is there some kind of good browning compound for the barrel and other furniture? Where can this be gotten most readily and cheaply?
Thanks!