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First Kit

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I ordered this kit from DGW, going to build it first to get my feet wet...

Link to Kit

Anybody have any experience with this kit and would like to offer some pointers?

Eventually, hopefully later this year, I would like to start working on one of these:

ArmstrongRifle.jpg


Not necessarily from TOTW, but that's the best picture of one I have seen. I know Pecatonica River sells an Armstrong kit as well.

Thoughts? Will I be biting off more than I can chew?
 
Although it was a .45 cal, I built one of these kits about 11 years ago.
Because it was so long ago, I don't remember any good pointers for you except to say it was a very nice pistol when I finished it.

As I am sure you noticed, it is a level 1 kit. It is basically a production gun which has not had the lock, trigger, trigger guard, sights etc installed and the wood is semi-finished.

You shouldn't need much in the way of tools except perhaps a few drill bits to true up the holes to match your parts, a small file to true up the rough spots on the castings and a lot of sandpaper for the wood.
When sanding the wood, keep trying the metal parts often to get a good match between the wood and the metal. If you remove too much wood, you can't put it back.

When installing the nosecap, one technique is to get the cap to fit the mortice in the wood well making sure it seats on the shoulder of the wood.
Then sand the wood down to be flush with the metal. It will scratch the metal part, but its outside surfaces are still in the as cast condition so, no harm done.
After the wood and metal are flush, then go to work on the metal, finishing it with black wet/dry sandpaper.
You will not be removing much material, and finish sanding the wood to match the small amount that does come off of the casting is easily done.
This method can be used on the other parts as well.

The other tools that may be helpful are a #2 Exacto knife with blades, a few good screwdrivers and perhaps a 1/4 chisel.

Before putting a finish on the walnut stock, take the stock outside on a bright day and wet it with water. That will tell you exactly what color it will be after oiling it.
If it is too light, consider staining it to make it darker. I would suggest Birchwood Casey Walnut stain but one coat would probably be as much as you would need.

Although this is a 95+% finished kit and you haven't built a gun before, don't be afraid to ask us questions about anything you are not sure of.
You will find that some of the best builders in the country are on this forum, and all of them will be more than happy to answer any question you may have.

Happy building, but beware!! Building these things gets in your blood and you won't be happy until your working on your next one and dreaming about the one to follow. ::
 
Thanks Zonie. I have the sandpaper, and I bought a few artgum erasers to use as sanding blocks. I also got a bench vise from Santa that I can mount on my Black & Decker Workmate bench if I need to vise the gun while working on it. I need to pick up some files, and I have a good wood chisel, but it's large, probably 3/4". I'll pick up a smaller one of those too, as well as a good Xacto knife.

I'm thinking I don't want to stain the wood, just leave it natural, but I will do the wet test before oiling it. I will also post photos of progress as I go along.

Warning heeded... but it's already in my blood. I'm settling on building the pistol just to get started, and it's taking all of my will power to not just order up a big complicated longrifle kit and dive in head first! ::
 
I completes a Kentucky kit from Traditions about 3 years ago. Pretty simple, I used a pen knife, sandpaper and steel wool. Turned out nice and shoots good out to 25 yards. This year I resucued a CVA Mountain Pistol from a baggie of ruty parts, someone bought it and decided he could not finish it after ruining the stock, new stock from CVA and away we went. Have fun and ask questions as needed. Oh yeah, I used a home brew stain on both, dissolved iron in vinegar (takes a while) then used like Aqua Fortis. Cheap easy alternative.

Waya
 
Hey now...!!That is shore gonna be a HONEYPIE OF A SWEETHEART when ya git er done! Iffin ya dont like her
after your done workin on her jest send er to my cabin!

***WEST VIRGINIA SCROUNGER ***
 
Cool. I'm looking for "pretty simple", to get the juices flowing and get me started.

Question: How will your home-brew Aqua Fortis stain look on walnut? I've seen lots of examples of AF on curly maple on here, but haven't heard of anyone using it on walnut. Might be something interesting to try...

WV Scrounger, if'n ah don't like 'er when she's done, I'll keep yer jinerus offer in mind! :redthumb:
 
WOOHOO! Santa came today!

I went home for lunch and the big brown truck arrived while I was there! Gotta love it.

Kit looks pretty decent. Inletting is 99% there... it's definitely going to take very little to get the lock and sideplate inlet. Looks like the triggerguard has already had most of the filing done on it as well, so I'll just need to polish it. Do a little bit of sanding and polishing on the ramrod thimbles, and the barrel, finish the stock, and she'll be ready!

I'll be sure to take and post photos of the process. This doesn't look very difficult at all, so I don't foresee it taking me very long to finish. Most of the time will probably be spent waiting for stock oil to dry.

:RO:
 
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