need help choosing my next rifle

[Ole Frog]

guys I need some help choosing my next rifle
I have a Tip Curtis Lancaster I bought 2 years ago
The rifle is beautiful and shoots as good as it looks. I use the rifle for SAR Color Guard Events and Living History events. I portray a Rev War rifleman.
Ok enough back ground
Here is my dilemma
When I bought my Tip Curtis it was my first longrifle and I had to scrape up the money for it. I bought his entry level rifle. (decent wood no patch box barrel and lock in the white)
Things are better now and I have saved the money for his top of the line rifle
As my dream rifle is a Jacob Dickert rifle, I wanted another Lancaster with a brass patch box and pretty wood (browned barrel and lock is a plus as well)
I called Tip to see what he had and learned he has everything I want except it will have a wood patch box
When I research the wood patch boxes I find they are early and the brass patch boxes are part of the evolution to a truly American longrifle
Now we all know the advantages of a Tip Curtis rifle (looks great, shoots even better, light weight, cost is awesome for the work)
My question is should I wait and find another rifle maker? or accept the wood patch box?
or simply save the money for something different? are the two rifles too close together for the money?
This is the rifle I have now:

 

[nwtradegun]

if mr. Curtis fulfilled your wants in this rifle , stay with him. you know his work and you are pleased with it. remember you can go later with a earlier degsin but u cant go back in time with a later one.
ie I shoot a brown bess I can portray from 1765 to 1840. I could not do that with a hawken rifle.

 

[Blackbruin]

Get what you want, just like a car lot they want to get current inventory gone. Settling seems the current practice in the gotta have it now society....order what you want!

 

[Dewey]

That is a really nice rifle!

If it were me, I would get something different - say a nice smoothbore in your time era.

But if you GOTTA have that patchbox, there are other good gunsmiths:
http://www.billshipman.com/1780_Dickert_Gallery.htm

 

[wattlebuster]

Beautiful rifle :thumbsup: From one poor boy to another my advise is DONT SETTLE. Get what you want the first time even if you have to wait on the gun or have to save a few more bucks and you will be happy. If you settle for something else you will always say I should have done this or that. I had my heart set on a Don Bruton iron mounted southern rifle an I raked an scraped to get it. I have had it a couple of yrs now and dont even think about hunting with something different. Get/order what YOU like and want.

 

[EC121]

Since you live sort of close to Lexington, save your money and go to the CLA show in August at Lexington. You can handle the rifles and find one you like. Even if you don't buy, you can do research with real rifles instead of pictures. Since it is a members event, it will cost you $20 at the door to join for the first year. Worth the money to do the looking.

 

[Snakebite]

Just one thought, maybe contact some rifle makers before hand and see if they would install a patchbox on a rifle you made from Tip Curtis. That way they could also engrave it and maybe do a little wood carving. Maybe check out a couple books like "Rifles of Colonial America" Vols 1 or 2 (I think vol 1 has the Lancasters in it) or Kindigs book, "Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle in Its Golden Age" to give you some ideas.

 

[Ole Frog]

Just one thought, maybe contact some rifle makers before hand and see if they would install a patchbox on a rifle you made from Tip Curtis. That way they could also engrave it and maybe do a little wood carving. Maybe check out a couple books like "Rifles of Colonial America" Vols 1 or 2 (I think vol 1 has the Lancasters in it) or Kindigs book, "Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle in Its Golden Age" to give you some ideas.

Actually that is my problem
I have read and read those books and really know what I want
However the value that Tip offers is incredible and half of what I have been pricing Dickerts at
plus the first TIP I bought just feels right when I go to shoot it

I did not know you could add something like a patch box after the rifle was done. I always thought the chances of screwing it up were too high. I like this idea if it is possible

I do like ec121's idea of going to Lexington in August.
That certainly will give me an idea of how other guns feel

 

[ZUG]

I also agree with Snakebite. Buy the rifle from Tip sans patchbox and line up a good gunsmith to install one you like with engraving. Make sure to line up the gunsmith BEFOR buying the rifle this way if the gunsmith has "heartburn" you are not stuck with doing the patchbox install yourself - unless you CAN do the install :thumbsup: . P.S. have the rifle sent to the gunsmith from Tip this way you don't have to worry about shipping it only receiving it :wink:

 

[Dane]

First of all, buy what you want. Don't take a rifle that one guy built complete, have another guy tear it apart, and rebuild it.

If you put in a patch box after its complete, it'll have to be refinished.

Seems like a damn shame. A wood box would however be more appropriate for your time frame.
If you want a later rifle, buy one already the way you want it.

 

[Birddog6]

You will find that most builders will not work on someone else's rifle. And most will not install a patch box on someone else's rifle. Basically there is no Money to be made in it. :idunno:

A good quality built Dickert from a known builder, carved & engraved will cost you 3 times what Tip charges for that rifle you show. It just is the way it is. If you want the fancy Dickert, it will cost you.

Tip's prices for a basic rifle would be hard to beat. If I did't build my own, I would own a dozen of Tip's rifles. Heck I bought a beautiful smooth bore from a guy, Tip built it & sold it to him, the guy got hard up, I bought it delivered & unfired for less than I can buy the dang parts for to build it !

Keith Lisle

 

[steve free]

I second the motion for the CLA show, you won't regret it. I plan on going myself, again this year. Its an unbelievable show and a great experience, but I've got to warn you, it will increase your muzzleloading addiction by at least ten fold, so proceed with caution. :wink:

 

[Snakebite]

First off, I'm not talking about a finished rifle. I know of at least one builder who would help a novice out if he felt the patch box was beyond your skill. They aren't going to "tear" it down, think of it as "in the white" where you've done every thing but the final finishing, the same point where you would do the patch box. You would just need to find a good builder who'd be willing to help you out. Just explain what you want.

Just a suggestion. :2

 

[azmntman]

Have you asked Tip if he would install on his own rifle? That's what I'd do. :idunno:

 

[Ron_T.]

Just one thought, maybe contact some rifle makers before hand and see if they would install a patchbox on a rifle you made from Tip Curtis. That way they could also engrave it and maybe do a little wood carving. Maybe check out a couple books like "Rifles of Colonial America" Vols 1 or 2 (I think vol 1 has the Lancasters in it) or Kindigs book, "Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle in Its Golden Age" to give you some ideas.

***********************************************

I agree with Snakebite!

The wood on the rifle you currently have is absolutely beautiful... I can't see how you'd improve on that rifle except that you want a brass patch-box... and I, too, prefer a brass patch-box to a wooden one.

If it were me, I'd find an excellent rifle-maker/gunsmith and have them install that brass patch-box on your current rifle which means I totally agree with "Snakebite" !!!

You really don't "need" two rifles that are almost alike, so why waste that money when you can use it to buy flints, rifle balls and real black powder?

Why spend the money for an "almost duplicate" rifle when you already own an absolutely beautiful rifle you really like?

That said, if that is really what you want to do (buy another rifle)... then do it. We only "go around" once in this life and if a man can afford it, he should always go "first-class" and be sure to fulfill all his wishes if they are reasonable.

Good luck in your quest... and keep yer powder "dry". :v


Strength and Honor...

Ron T.

 

[Ole Frog]

Well I have pretty much decided what I will do

I am going to drive over and see Tip Friday morning
Look at what he has and talk with him

While I like Lancasters, I have decided not to necessarily limit myself to them

If I fall in love with one, it will come home
If not my money will still be good come August and I will go to the CLA with a month or two of more savings

After thinking all of this out I have decided the value in Tip's guns are just too good to pass up
While I would dearly love a custom built Dickert, but I really can't justify a 3-5 thousand dollar gun

I have been blessed to have what I do have
and will be even more blessed what ever comes my way
Another Tip Curtis or something from CLA

Thank you all for your help, sometimes I just need to talk it out and reassure myself I am on the right track. especially when a good amount of money is involved

 

[don hepler]

I have one of Tip's," Late Virginia" rifles, and it looks a whole lot like your rifle. It is a great value. Would you mind bringing some pics back from Tip"s. I'd be interested to see what else he has. Do you know if he does Hawken rifles? All I remember seeing at Dixon's Gun Fair was long rifles, but maybe that's all he brought. At that time I wasn't interested in another rifle. Be interesting to see what he has, and might answer your question, also.

Gun fair should be coming up soon.

 

[Critter Getter]

Hadden, last time I stopped at Tips he had a Hawken that he built. Nice looking. Greg.

 

[Ole Frog]

you are not the first to ask me about Tip and a Hawken
It is on my list of things to ask about
I will get some pictures if he has one

 

[Ole Frog]

Well I went to see Tip this morning
3 1/2 hours over and I came home empty handed
He didn't have what I wanted
Said He would be glad to make me one but it will be a year in the making

I held off
I am gonna go to CLA and see what I can learn or find there

Learned a few things
He doesn't do brass patch boxes anymore because he can make two wooden ones for the time it takes to make one brass one
And he doesn't do Hawken's
He has done them in the past and they dont sell well. He said the last one he had took forever to sell

He does have several rifles already done and ready to sell, He just didn't have the one that suited me