Kits in the Great White North

[chawbeef]

Does any body know where I can find rifle kits in Canada?? I'm sure I could get one from the States if it was shipped to a gun dealer but then it would go through an extra set of hands and therefore "up" the price..............Daniel

 

[Paul R]

If you stick with flint, there is absolutely no problem having kits shipped in from the States direct to you. Both the US and Canada do not consider flint lock rifles to be real guns, so there is no restriction on ownership. And, if they are of U.S. origin, there is no duty. You will have to pay PST &GST. There isn't much problem bringing any gun parts into Canada as long as it isn't a receiver for an automatic weapon. Of course, for any thing but flint, you must have a PAL card. Except for flint, the US does have pretty stiff firearm export regulations & it may be difficult getting someone to ship to you.
For the complete lowdown, go online to check the Canada Customs gun import regulations. If you still have questions, phone the gun registry people. I have always found them to be very pleasent & helpful.
Most of the ML dealers it the US are familiar with what they can do as far as Canadian regulations are concerned, because they already have experience shipping to Canada.
So, no more excuses. Jump right in & welcome to the dark side.
Paul

 

[fusil de chase]

Contact Clark Industries right in your neighbourhood. IIRC his long rifle kit is 750 cdn, and his Lancaster RIfle a bit more. His kits come with much more work completed then the USA competition and feature a 'made in Canada' Lock, ontario maple and green mountain barrel. Smooth bore fowlers due out in the new year.
His website gives details on his kits but in a nutshell they are pretty much in the white guns
If you want to build a flintlock rifle save yourself some border hassles and go with Clark Industries.

Very nice fellow to talk with and I have it on good authority that he is doing as good a work now as he was 40 years ago.

:thumbsup:

 

[Vtsmoker]

There was a post on here somewhere about Clark Ind. kits being junk! Do some research before ordering a kit from any supplier. It's a major investment, and take it from me, you can easily waste alot of money on parts that don't fit together not only HC/PC but phisically as well. good luck and I also welcome you to our addiction.

 

[fusil de chase]

If your gonna slander a man you should at least have some pretend facts. Just saying something is junk is pretty snakey.

Startin to ge the impression that this place has a bit of an agenda, if it aint the right acromen it aint cool.

 

[Vtsmoker]

Not intened to be taken that way sir and I'm sorry if you took it that way. Was meerly stateing what I read on another thread from someone who had purchased one of these kits.

 

[fusil de chase]

If you say a man's lively hood is crap you should at least back it up with some smoke.

I spent 45 seconds on the search function to make sure you were not right and I was not mistaken or mislead

FROM MLF:

2-18-05 04:31 PM - Post#208126


In response to Brian Rice

I've seen his work and it is top shelf stuff.
He uses first rate hardware and wood in his kits.
I plan on building a kit of his soon.I've also been to his shop and spoke with him a number of times he is very direct and sincere.


12-15-05 03:56 AM - Post#206276


In response to Brian Rice

I have bought locks from John Clark since the early 1980's. I think his locks are first rate., It was the Lock that L & R copied for the Durrs Egg. John is honest , prices are a little high but the lock anyway is worth it . He can also supply them with Brass or German silver plates , I await a tuned brass model as we speak . He is an Honest good craftsman.



04-18-06 02:27 AM - Post#263683


In response to Stophel

J&W Clark made a "Factors rifle" circa 1780
John Clark Industries make a repro I think he is a direct desendent.
I've shoulded one and they are very well made and balance well.


07-05-09 08:13 PM - Post#735303


In response to Easternhunter

Based on two locks I've seen, I would say that Mr. Clark offers a fine product. Might seem a bit pricey, but since you won't have to go through the bother and costs of importing the kit, you might wind up ahead. And he offers some rifles that I've not seen anywhere else.

07-15-10 04:32 AM - Post#878122


In response to dyemaker

I do believe that the owner of Clark Industries makes that lock. I have heard that it is a quality lock, but at $250, IMHO, you can get the same or better quality from Bob Roller.


If the Original poster wants more info there is currently a thread over at CanadianGunnutz in the Black powder forum where some of North America's Oldest and most knowledgable BP gunsmtihs give in sight on Mr Clark.

 

[fusil de chase]

I did not get this photo to post properly but the address is there for anyone interested

 

[GANGGREEN]

It's good of you to defend the man if you've done business with him and gotten a good product but I remember the recent thread as well. Let the buyer beware and the previous poster was simply insuring that the OP did his due diligence before putting out some hard-earned cash, there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[chawbeef]

Thanx all for the great info. Mr. Clark is practically around the corner from here. I will have to save for at least another year to afford one of his kits. I had no idea they would be so dear...............Daniel

 

[fusil de chase]

$750 is by no means dear. Are you looking at the long rifle or the lancaster? The long rifle kit is pretty much a gift while the lancaster gets a bit closer to being fairly priced.
If you are that close I'd stop by his shop and see if maybe he has some chores that could lighten the bill if cash is a concern. I once rebarreled a target rifle with my wife's pea soup and a bit of gutter cleaning. Learned to cut threads and turn a reamer in the process.
He is busy so maybe there is some grunt work outstanding. Who knows what a guy might learn hanging around a master builder.

 

[fusil de chase]

I remember the recent thread as well.

Can someone please show me this thread?

 

[Vtsmoker]

Found it! http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...239685/post/1072674/hl//fromsearch/1/#1072674

 

[fusil de chase]

OK I see the comment that is refered to above, it seems that the customer was very happy with the kit upon receiving it and for a couple days following. He then packed it away for 2 years! After digging it out from somewhere he began struggling and discovered that the RR hole was misaligned ( or he sanded off one side of the forearm LOL)
He then emailed an old grey haired guy (who always picks up the phone BTW) and did not get an instantaneous response. The complainant never followed up to let the board know what the outcome was.

Is this the kind of evidence that is sufficient to justify slander?
When if ever has any new builder ever made it through a 'kit' project without at some point (justifiably or not) finding some complaint with the seller?

Maybe the RR hole was askew but I find it very unlikely that the seller would leave a purchaser out of luck even after 2 years had passed.

As to the stock crack the complainant correctly identified that a piece of wood from ontario moving to the most BONE DRY region in Canada (northern alberta in winter) is likely to suffer. When I moved to this region from the coast stocks that had been stable for decades and centuries suffered miserably.

So in conclusion one person in all of recorded internet history, gun show gossiping and rendezvous comparing has found a problem with Mr Clark. Way to reach out and grab the one negative thing said about a guy who has maintained a reputation for 40 years.

 

[chawbeef]

$750 is by no means dear. Are you looking at the long rifle or the lancaster? The long rifle kit is pretty much a gift while the lancaster gets a bit closer to being fairly priced.
If you are that close I'd stop by his shop and see if maybe he has some chores that could lighten the bill if cash is a concern. I once rebarreled a target rifle with my wife's pea soup and a bit of gutter cleaning. Learned to cut threads and turn a reamer in the process.
He is busy so maybe there is some grunt work outstanding. Who knows what a guy might learn hanging around a master builder.

$750. may be a fair price for a quality rifle but $750. for anything is out of my budget at this time. I am working for min. wage at the moment and the company I did work at for 35 years burnt us for our pension. (My sad story)

 

[Zonie]

Please stop using the term "slander".

Slander is intended to cause malicious damage to someone.

Merely saying that they have read some information that raises questions about someones product and urging others to do research to determine the truth is far from slander.

If you ask me, it is what a friend does for another friend.

 

[ryzman]

:shake:

 

[fusil de chase]

I think that the above bears out there is no evidence of the:
"Kits being junk"

Calling his kits junk is malicious and will cause harm. Saying that a kit was shipped with a RR hole misaligned and reporting accurately the subsequent events to their conclusion would have been the right way to help out the Original poster.

If every kit supplier that ever shipped a machining error was labeled as a Junk seller then we'd all be out of luck until we learned to run a forge, carve wax and saw a tree with the grain.
I have read just about every one of the 300 plus posts in the builders forum and there are not many if any suppliers who have not suffered rightly or wrongly a few complaints. I have also noticed that working from the same data set of complaints there is a disproportionate amount of re-reporting of some incidents by some members.

I'll stand by my accusation of slander and take the ban button like a man.

Thanks to the forum members here for distributing such a wealth of data, instruction and encouragement but it aint worth silently watching injustice perpetrated in exchange for saving the bother of reading Foxfire. Keep your stick on the ice and your head up in the corners.


To the OP: Yeah there aint much meat left on a minimum wage check for luxuries. We stretch dollars around here by harvesting every edible thing that is legal, planting every square inch of ground and never buying anything processed. got it down to a 1000 pound delivery of flour a year, 5 gallon pails of honey, bulk yeast, spices, etc. Frees up a few thousand dollars at least and keeps everyone healthy. Good luck and remember if you use that Fusil in the field it will pay you back to the tune of at least a grand a year in fur and fowl.
The other thing is that a years high speed internet/cable pays for a fusil...................... cut the line and use the time /$ to build. If your toting a cell phone to that job there is another 800 dollar pile of parts to be had in short order.
You cannot live cheaper but you can live better.

 

[chawbeef]

To the OP: Yeah there aint much meat left on a minimum wage check for luxuries. We stretch dollars around here by harvesting every edible thing that is legal, planting every square inch of ground and never buying anything processed. got it down to a 1000 pound delivery of flour a year, 5 gallon pails of honey, bulk yeast, spices, etc. Frees up a few thousand dollars at least and keeps everyone healthy. Good luck and remember if you use that Fusil in the field it will pay you back to the tune of at least a grand a year in fur and fowl.
The other thing is that a years high speed internet/cable pays for a fusil...................... cut the line and use the time /$ to build. If your toting a cell phone to that job there is another 800 dollar pile of parts to be had in short order.
You cannot live cheaper but you can live better.

[/quote]
That is sound advice, Thankyou Tetsa for that...............Daniel

 

[fusil de chase]

Daniel, if you are gun less and just need a flinter to get out and bout with let me know I come across some serviceable low cost guns once in awhile and have a variety of cast projectiles I'd donate to help a guy get hunting. Being left handed the right hand deals are not of any interest to me.

BTW check kijiji ontario a while ago there was a (low voice) Middlesextrading fusil for sale for 60 bucks. Not the first choice by any means but would get you making smoke. Search for flintlock. I'll look again and see if I can find it. It was an add from someone who had no clue what they were selling, maybe a prop house.