:haha:
Well what is available now, wasn't available back in the 1980's so even with my current knowledge, I wouldn't be able to take advantage of what I know now.
Since you've mastered a TC Hawken Flinter, you will probably really enjoy a rifle with an even better lock and trigger.
The only thing I'd suggest is first having a rifle assembled "in the white"....which is akin to what I first learned as the form of a "kit"...., or at least have the builder install a properly breeched barrel into the stock, as well as the lock and trigger...., as a first project for anybody who hasn't fitted metal to wood. Get Dixon's book on building a muzzleloader, and fit the rest of the metal parts by hand. If that goes well, then try an all parts kit.
Before you get into building from a set of parts, and Before You Start Carving..., do some reading and studying of the rifle types and extant copies. There are two fundamental mistakes that I often see, even on expensive, ornately carved rifles. Quite frankly, IF you can't correct these two fundamentals, you shouldn't be trying to carve a stock, and should not be charging more than $100 over the price of the parts - these two mistakes being present. (imho)
The first is a poor lock to stock fit in the mortise. Too many times I've seen consigned guns priced at say $2000 or more, and in the closeups of the locks you can see a gouge where the lock plate meets the wood, or worse, a gap to the interior of the mortise. :nono:
The second, is the rear of the lock mortise. I've seen obviously preshaped stocks, where the builder failed to shape the back of the lock mortise-flat to match the lock. They leave an extended bit of a < in the wood, which is as it came from the supplier. They are in too much of a hurry to get to the carving, they aren't completing the basics...then they charge an arm or a leg for the rifle. :nono:
Anyway, that's what I'd do when it comes to getting into rifle building, "knowing what I know now".
LD
