New guy

[FLYBYU44]

I've never had or shot a muzzleloader before, but I was looking at flintlock guns on the net and became fascinated with this particular firearm. I would love to get one just for target shooting. I really like the history and significance that this firearm carries with it. I was looking at TC and Lyman guns on the net, these appear to be the two main players in the type of gun. I noticed that Lyman offers kit versions of their guns for sale quite cheap compared to the whole version. I thought it would be a cool project to buy a kit and build it. I would have a pretty good understanding of the gun after as well. My main point here is I was wondering if anyone else has built a Lyman kit, are they difficult to assembly or require more tools then just average basic hand tools. I'm pretty handy and have many, many different handtools, I was just wondering what is involved. If the stock comes unfinished that would be awesome as I really love doing woodwork as well. Thanks for any comments guys, this forum is pretty cool.

 

[Steve A.]

Well i can't rightly answer your question,since i've not built from a kit. But i did want to welcome you to the board. This site is awesome.Everyone here is more than helpful. The lyman is a quality rifle for the money. I have one in .50 ,but i bought it already assembled.I'm sure someone else can answer your question shortly.

 

[Bubba45]

Welcome to the fire . The Lyman kits are pretty straight forward and easy to assemble with simple hand tools.Metal finish can either be blued with cold blues or a variety of browning agents.
Have Fun :winking:

 

[xxgrampa]

welcome fly by.

sounds like you mite have an interest in aero-planes.

howsomever, did build a tc kit gun many years ago. came out very very nice. the only diff between the old kits and the new is. the new kits come with a blued bbl. too many people were screwing up the bbl trying to sand the metal.

and a very hearty welcome to the forum.

..ttfn..grampa..

 

[FLYBYU44]

Thanks for the replies guys. I used to be really into planes, when I was in high school I flew with air cadets all the time and stuff like that. But the FLYBYU is actually a personalized license plate off the very first Corvette I ever saw, I love Corvettes and one day I may actually be able to afford/justify one. The number 44 is just my favorite number, I added it on after the name because it seems that FLYBYU is a popular forum name, but with 44 after, it isn't so bad. Thanks for the info on the Lyman kits. It sounds easy enough. Are the stocks finished too, or do you have to finish them?

 

[Swampman]

I like the Lyman GPR. You have to finish the stock yourself. Good luck, and good shooting! :thumbsup:

I sent you a PT.

 

[MikeChapin]

I have not done the Lyman kit but have built many others from other manufacturers. Most of them are pretty easy to put together. You will probably need some small chisles to finish inletting some of the furnature. It doesn't take much but you usually have to do some final fitting. The next item is lots of sandpaper to take down the extra wood on the stock and give it a final finish.

If you do a search on the site for Lyman Great Plains or GPR there are a lot of members going through what it took to build one of these kits.

For the money and more they are the best buy of the production guns.

 

[George Holton]

I never built a "kit gun" always started from scratch,it took so long to do . When it was done,it was yours to love or hate. Times they are a changing. Bob

 

[kansas_volunteer]

Which kit are you most attracted too?

 

[Zonie]

I'm sure you will not have a problem building one of these factory kits. Any questions you have, you can post here and you'll get more answers than you could want.

There are basically two kinds of "kits".
The one(s) you looking at are copies of the production guns offered by the company. Makers of these kits include Traditions, Thompson Center and Lyman.
The parts included in these kits are simply production parts which are at various stages of being finished.
The locks and triggers are finished. The barrel (and under-rib) just needs blueing or browning.
The wood will need sanding to reduce its size so that it matches the metal parts.

Sometimes, things like the lock and trigger and the trigger guard needs to have wood removed to get it to fit correctly.

The second kind of "kit" is made by companies who put together a box of parts. These parts are top quality and the stock is roughly cut to shape.
Kits of this type are labor intensive.
Nothing is done for you (unless you pay the supplier extra money to do things like installing the barrel tang, cutting the sight dovetails, installing the underlugs on the barrel, installing the butt plate etc.

Where it would take the average person 10-30 hours to finish a Lyman or Traditions kit, the second kind of kit can easily take 150+ hours.

As was mentioned, the first kind of kit is a modern factory reproduction of a gun that looks a bit like an original old gun. The second kind of kit can be used to build an exact copy of a rifle that was made 200 years ago.

A word of caution here: If you build one (or more) of the modern kit style guns it will turn out as good if not better than the factory gun but, it will give you a deep urge to build one of the "custom" kits. Once your hooked, you may end up with a dozen of them. :grin:
zonie

 

[FLYBYU44]

Thanks for your replies guys, now I just have to save up some money, anyone know a good cheap place that sells Lyman kits? I live in Canada so I would prefer something here so I don't have to deal with customs, but I'm open to US sites too.

 

[xxgrampa]

really old bob, mentioned building a gun from scratch. be carefull if you do.. really old bob started his when he was 19. and in a few more years it will be finished enuff to shoot.. :grin:

..ttfn..grampa..

 

[tg]

Old Bob would have been finished a long time ago if he would not have stopped and started over every time he realized he had done something PC on the gun....

 

[davy]

really old bob, mentioned building a gun from scratch. be carefull if you do.. really old bob started his when he was 19. and in a few more years it will be finished enuff to shoot.. :grin:

..ttfn..grampa..

Thats why he's really old too! :shocked2: :grin: :youcrazy:

Davy

 

[cdg]

I might also jump in and suggest that bluing or browning is not necessarily required your first time out - many period pistols were "white" and look darn good at that.