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- Thread starter dm8690
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Pete G
76 Cal.
Two problem areas: buttplate & rear rr pipe. After that every thing else is pretty basic.
Buy and study some books. The one from MBS is one of the best.
Buy and study some books. The one from MBS is one of the best.
rafterob
62 Cal.
You will need some sharp carving type chisels to clean up inlets. Patience and the ability to know when to stop for the day before you screw something up. Otherwise pretty straight forward. Plan on it taking a couple, three months. Do not try to hurry through it. You can dooo eet!
Col. Batguano
75 Cal.
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It is one of their most popular / best selling kits if that gives you any indication. A cap gun is slightly more tricky to do than a flint gun, namely because the placement of the drum is so critical (it needs to be supported by the groove in the lock). Likewise the nipple location. When drilling in the drum, it is CRITICAL you get a perfect 90 degree angle to the barrel flat. Otherwise, one shoulder of it will be low and the other proud to the flat. If you just bull ahead and crank it down anyway, you will crack it at the neck and create a dangerous situation for gas to be able to escape. With a heavy load it could wind up blowing off of there too. More danger!
I would suggest getting a stock without the lock pre-inlet though. The steps you will need to go through in the build are normally to get your barrel inlet first, then your drum location spotted, and then to inlet the lock. With a pre-inlet lock, your lock goes in first (there is more inletting to do) then the drum, and then the barrel location finalized. A pre-inlet lock makes things trickier to get placement of all the parts "just right".
I would suggest getting a stock without the lock pre-inlet though. The steps you will need to go through in the build are normally to get your barrel inlet first, then your drum location spotted, and then to inlet the lock. With a pre-inlet lock, your lock goes in first (there is more inletting to do) then the drum, and then the barrel location finalized. A pre-inlet lock makes things trickier to get placement of all the parts "just right".
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Would you suggest a flint lock first? and if so what kind/builder etc
Col. Batguano
75 Cal.
- Joined
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A flint gun is more forgiving of touch hole location. As long as it's somewhere within the semi-circle of the pan it will work. (There is of course, the "ideal location".) If it's less than ideal (due to liner or breech plug location, the interior of the pan can be filed and altered in order to make it work better.
With a flint gun you only have one machining operation to perform. Installing the touch hole (or liner if you choose to use one--and most people do because main charge ignition is faster and more certain).
The down side of flint is they are slower in their lock time and longer barrel in total barrel dwell time for your projectile, which makes them less accurate in non-rock-solid shooting positions. They are finickier in getting to work reliably. Not any LESS reliable, but there are just more things to have to pay attention to or could go wrong. Usually the fix is pretty apparent (dull or misaligned flint, or clogged touch hole).
The down side of cap guns is that caps are not always in abundant supply. Caps can often burst on the nipple sending little pieces in different directions. You should ALWAYS wear shooting glasses anyway, but the fence on flint guns tends to contain most of the flint shards and directs most of the flash away from you. Flint sends a jet of hot gasses to your side, so pay attention to the guy next to you on the shooting line, or, let him know when you're going to shoot so he can be prepared.
Most all the cap guns that you see have a flint version, as, cap guns really only came in to common usage after about 1820 or so. Many many flint guns were converted to percussion after that time and up until the cartridge era.
As far as which one? That's really up to you. I would suggest you make a list of features you find attractive, (slim / robust overall dimensions, hooked butt, narrow butt designed to be shot off your arm / wide designed to be shot off your shoulder, shorter / longer / mid length barrel, half stock / full stock, straight barrel / swamped barrel, Patch box properties / features, wedges / pins, etc.) and use those preferences to narrow down the search for yourself to help decide what styles you find personally appealing.
One thing about cap guns and the era though; If you find carving (and particularly raised carving) personally attractive, that really went out of vogue during the cap gun era. After about 1820 or so, builders tended to use metal inlays more to decorate their work, rather than using intricate carving as the focal point of their embellishment features.
Engraving is a whole other subject, but most metal inlays were engraved to some extent as well. The certainly don't HAVE to be, but on the finer guns they usually were.
I would suggest going with a pinned gun first rather than one with wedges, because those can be every bit as tricky to get right (actually more so, and there is usually more than one of them) than a cap gun drum installation.
The Jim Kibler kits get very very rave reviews, because a lot of the decisions and critical locations have been done and made for you already. The Track / Pecatonica parts sets leave a lot more work for you to do (and enjoy). The down side of the Kibler kits is that they are very very popular. Slower lead times, and a LOT of guys are building them,(you will still be the "first kid on your block. and neighborhood", but not the first one in town) but still far fewer than the Investarms / TC / Lyman "sand and assemble" kits.
With a flint gun you only have one machining operation to perform. Installing the touch hole (or liner if you choose to use one--and most people do because main charge ignition is faster and more certain).
The down side of flint is they are slower in their lock time and longer barrel in total barrel dwell time for your projectile, which makes them less accurate in non-rock-solid shooting positions. They are finickier in getting to work reliably. Not any LESS reliable, but there are just more things to have to pay attention to or could go wrong. Usually the fix is pretty apparent (dull or misaligned flint, or clogged touch hole).
The down side of cap guns is that caps are not always in abundant supply. Caps can often burst on the nipple sending little pieces in different directions. You should ALWAYS wear shooting glasses anyway, but the fence on flint guns tends to contain most of the flint shards and directs most of the flash away from you. Flint sends a jet of hot gasses to your side, so pay attention to the guy next to you on the shooting line, or, let him know when you're going to shoot so he can be prepared.
Most all the cap guns that you see have a flint version, as, cap guns really only came in to common usage after about 1820 or so. Many many flint guns were converted to percussion after that time and up until the cartridge era.
As far as which one? That's really up to you. I would suggest you make a list of features you find attractive, (slim / robust overall dimensions, hooked butt, narrow butt designed to be shot off your arm / wide designed to be shot off your shoulder, shorter / longer / mid length barrel, half stock / full stock, straight barrel / swamped barrel, Patch box properties / features, wedges / pins, etc.) and use those preferences to narrow down the search for yourself to help decide what styles you find personally appealing.
One thing about cap guns and the era though; If you find carving (and particularly raised carving) personally attractive, that really went out of vogue during the cap gun era. After about 1820 or so, builders tended to use metal inlays more to decorate their work, rather than using intricate carving as the focal point of their embellishment features.
Engraving is a whole other subject, but most metal inlays were engraved to some extent as well. The certainly don't HAVE to be, but on the finer guns they usually were.
I would suggest going with a pinned gun first rather than one with wedges, because those can be every bit as tricky to get right (actually more so, and there is usually more than one of them) than a cap gun drum installation.
The Jim Kibler kits get very very rave reviews, because a lot of the decisions and critical locations have been done and made for you already. The Track / Pecatonica parts sets leave a lot more work for you to do (and enjoy). The down side of the Kibler kits is that they are very very popular. Slower lead times, and a LOT of guys are building them,(you will still be the "first kid on your block. and neighborhood", but not the first one in town) but still far fewer than the Investarms / TC / Lyman "sand and assemble" kits.
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Buckskinn
45 Cal.
I would go with a flinter, far more fun than a cap gun! I was in your shoes a couple years ago. It is an intimidating project, but nothing a person with some amount of mechanical and woodworking skills can't handle. I had very limited woodworking experience and both of mine turned out pretty well. Lots of experts here to help you along the way and a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips using the search tool...
