Get what makes your heart go a flutter. Off you like brass, get brass. You ain’t hiding’ from injuns.
Thanks, this IS after all about wants and itch scratching vs "need". That said, I actually prefer steel furniture to brass but kits are what they are. I liked the Santa Fe kit due to its light weight and smaller caliber but a 50 cal Gemmer isn't off the table completely. ( I've got a bad shoulder and am a little recoil sensitive.) If I do a brass kit, I'll darken it up vs polish it anyway. No rush I guess, I'll be working on my SMR for some time to come. The metal work is a slow process.
May wanna rethink the Santa Fe if weights a issue my production model weighs 9.7 pounds.
Thanks, I'm already rethinking it. The near complete lack of owner info on these rifles scares me. Their website is as useless ass teats on a bull as well. The muzzleloaders.com site says the rifle weighs in a 7.6# but reports here are touting 9#. Given the barrels are listed the same 15/16 diameter as the 9.1# 50 cal gemmer, I have no doubt your right on with that figure. I think I'll wait to see what Kibler puts out later this year. At least there, I know I'm going to get exactly what I expect.
I have two T/C Hawken flintlocks, which are very similar to Investarms, they're serviceable, and usually reliable, the only issues have been the tiny fly tends to work itself loose during long shooting sessions, and fall out causing the hammer to fall to half-cock when the set trigger is used. This was a frustrating until I figured out what was happening, now I recognize what's happening and know what to do. Also, I think the spring is a bit stronger than it needs to be, which is hard on both flints and the Frizzen. Am sure a skilled and experienced gunsmith could probably tune the lock to correct these issues. I have debated whether to have it tuned, replace it with an L&R or other lock, or just enjoy it as is, until I can eventually get a Kibler kit or custom gun.
If that's a pic of your rifle, then you have the "old style" T\C Hammer. Look at that pic in post #2 on this thread: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/flintlock-t-c-renegade-54-questions.131361/ and you can see the difference in old vs new hammers.
Looks like I have one of each.
Both have the fly issue, the top one is noticably worse about it though. bottom one has both the new style cock, and a lighter coil spring, it is much easier on flints, and scores about 90% of Frizzen surface, the top one only scores 50% of Frizzen surface. The top one is a .45cal, the bottom is a .50cal, the .50cal has a home made breech, and has a flash hole placement issue.
The fly being a tiny little part with a pin that slips into a hole supposedly kept in place with the edge of a cover plate, with repeated firing tends to work its way out from under the edge of the plate and out of the hole, fortunately it is usually captured within the inletted space, usually I just pull the lock, loosen the cover plate, and slip it back into place. I keep a spare in my kit just in case it is lost.When I put a GM drop in barrel on my T\C the pan alignment was a big wonky. I then installed a T\C flash hole liner....the one's you put in with an Allen wrench. As long as the pan goes "poof" the rifle will go "Bang". If you can acquire one of those flash hole liners you may wish to do that.
I've never had the fly issue you report. How do you fix this apparently constant issue?
