Flintlock Rifle for plinking for fun

[oldhunter1954]

Just curious if it's worth buying a 50 cal flintlock rifle kit. I really want to build a kit just not positive I have the expert wood working skills. I just looked at some kits from Jim Chambers. Favorite was the Early York Pennsylvania Rifle. Any help or ideas are appreciated.

 

[TreeMan]

These kits aren’t for the faint of heart. I have minimal skills and it took me at least 100+ hours to build a pecatonica kit many years ago. I’d never do one again. No patience and my woodworking is lacking. Some others will chime in I’m sure. If you’re unsure if you’ll turn $1000 kit into a $300 pile of parts maybe try a way easier Pedersoli kit or something from Jim Kibler. They are way easier to hone your skills with. I’ve done numerous traditions and Pedersoli kits and all have turned out good. The hard parts are mostly done for you.

 

[Musketeer]

Kibler was my first thought too. I have not assembled one, but it sounds like they're about as "easy" to put together as you will find. The NMLRA has several videos on youtube to give you an idea of what you'd be looking at. Here's one to start:

 

[oldhunter1954]

Thanks so much.

 

[TFoley]

To watch what it takes to build any ML these days, I recommend that you taker a look at the latest series on Youtube by the NMLRA - the builder makes an excellent job of a Traditions Hawken-style rifle, but you still, IMO, need a deal of physical prestidigitation to achieve the same results as he did. For a more agonising experience, watch Mike Beliveau [duellist1954] doing a much less easy build. (Spoiler alert - he makes a fine job of it in the end.]

 

[grey8833]

I just finished the early York. Did it in the style of George Schroyer. Two piece patch box, plain pre-Rev carving. Still, my third gun. Chambers kits keep the architecture correct, but there is a lot of work to make them pretty. Killer looks more the first gun type of kit, although I have not done a Kibler.

 

[grey8833]

Sorry, not Killer- Kibler.

 

[Spikebuck]

I have done kits from ToTW, Chambers, and now a Kibler.

Without a doubt, the Kibler SMR kit was the easiest to put together. I would not even refer to that as a "build"....it's more of an "assembly." Barrel/tang...snap fit...and I mean a SNAP fit. Went in well with excellent inletting with no gaps. Lock plate, a tiny amount of scraping on the mortise. Lock internals....a tiny bit of extra wood removal for a couple screw heads. Butt plate....filed the contacting surfaces a bit...then fit with no gaps. The set triggers required a little more work to inlet....just use some inletting black. Trigger guard a small amount of inlet touchup. You do have to do filing, sanding, finishing on metal parts. Without sanding or finishing, I had the SMR assembled in a few evenings and a Saturday. It took me longer to put in the patchbox I added, which included making my own springs, than the basic assembly! Of course, it was about a week and a half for final shaping, which isn't much, and finishing due to drying times etc.

Two of my three Chambers kits were not very good from the standpoint of the stocks...some inlets too BIG, burned wood because of dull power tools, etc. The results can be great...just a lot of work. My third Chambers was the Haines kit...very nice. I'd rate that a better than average kit...in the end I didn't build it because I decided I wanted a lot of carving and engraving to match an existing Haines, and I don't have the skills for that. Dave Person did the actual build and had commented that some parts were not really correst for what would be seen on a Haines.

ToTW kits are what I would call average kits....at least the two I have done. I'm sure I had over 200 hours into each of them, but I'm kinda slow.

Net...the Kibler is the way to go if you want the least amount of work to get a fantastic result.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Kibler Colonial all the way. You won’t be sorry!

 

[Spikebuck]

One more thought for you would be to call Cabin Creek. They have a York (if that's what you like) that I think they do in a kit as well, and you might be able to have them do some of the harder things (for a price) to make it comfortable for you to do the rest. Just a thought.

 

[MSW]

for true- it's not a tab "a" into slot "b" proposition... with the exception of the Kibler, there's a good bit of fitting and filing and cussing involved. You may want to check out The Gunsmith of Grenville County - here's a link:

The Gunsmith of Grenville County, Building the American Longrifle illustrated instruction manual, revised edition, spiral bound, by Peter A. Alexander - Track of the Wolf

Good luck with your project!

 

[tnlonghunter]

I'd definitely steer a new builder towards either Kibler (first choice) or a Lyman GPR, Pedersoli, or Traditions. I've done one Chambers build 12-13 years ago when I had practically no experience with chisels and hand tools. Boy, does it show. I'm doing a Dunlap build now after several more years of building guitars and other woodworking, and while it is MUCH better so far, there are still several spots where it's a little sloppy looking.

 

[S.Kenton]

It depends of what your looking for, if you looking for a specific “ style”And have the skills and tools, then a chambers or TOW is the way to go. If Kibler has the style your looking for, then, hands down that’s the way I’d go. As others have stated... kibler kits are more of an assembly and very consistent Good quality... the other two mentioned... more labor intense and quality control is lacking in some cases. My 2 cents

 

[oldhunter1954]

for true- it's not a tab "a" into slot "b" proposition... with the exception of the Kibler, there's a good bit of fitting and filing and cussing involved. You may want to check out The Gunsmith of Grenville County - here's a link:

The Gunsmith of Grenville County, Building the American Longrifle illustrated instruction manual, revised edition, spiral bound, by Peter A. Alexander - Track of the Wolf

Good luck with your project!

I am going to order this book.

 

[oldhunter1954]

I do appreciate all the replies. By watching the videos I realize I am not ready for a Jim Chambers kit.

 

[oldhunter1954]

I noticed most of the kits from Kibler, Chambers, etc are 4 -6 month delivery time.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

I had a Pedersoli flinter new in the box, got 8 shots out of it before the frizzen broke and it took Dixie Gun Works 10 months to make me another.
I will never own a production gun again.

I bought my parts/kit from Muzzle loader Supply out of Arkansas. I had been a wood worker, I was not ready for doing this. I enlisted a pro builder (RIP Mr Doliver) and it was worth it. He made everything look easy. It was after you get over the fact your about to wreck a nice piece of wood. You got it made!

Just the price of the lock was worth it. Besides being the fastest lock time, the Chambers Late Ketland is a wonderful machine.

 

[oldhunter1954]

1 more dumb question. Kibler Colonial kits are available in 6 weeks in 54 and 58 caliber and 5 months for 50 cal. I know each shot will cost slightly more than shooting a 50 caliber rifle. I would like to deer hunt with this rifle if Covid-19 every goes away. Any reason I would not go for the larger caliber.
Thanks so much!

 

[simonbeans]

Weight difference.

 

[Critter Getter]

No reason at all...........54 or 58 will do the deer hunting job just fine plus if you would want to go after elk and other larger game you will appreciate the larger calibers. Greg