New to flintlocks

[Bad Karma]

If that's the only choice than I guess I am stuck with TC...

I wouldn’t put it that way exactly... I’ve drooled over the pricier custom and semi custom rifles too but I suspect that given the chance, a hunter from 1840 would have been pretty happy with the TC if they would have made them back then. I’ve enjoyed mine immensely, and now they’re priceless.

BTW, I just picked up a.58 CVA Mountain Rifle from a forum member and while many folks would consider the cva a bargain basement type rifle, I think it’s better looking than I expected, the lock sparks very well, and if it shoots half as good as it looks I’m gonna be a pretty happy camper. For $400.00. And I see the mountain rifles on gunbroker all of the time, sometimes for less than I paid.

 

[Ames]

" but I’m glad my wife talked me into getting the almost three times more expensive musket"
Holy cow, Nickel. I think you won the lottery there!

 

[Stumpkiller]

Yeah!

Shooter's worst nightmare is to find out his wife sold his guns for what he told her he paid for them. ;-)

 

[mrstang01]

The Blue Ridge rifles are shooters for sure. I've owned two and they are very accurate rifles. The forestock shape leaves a lot to be desired, but then every production gun has way too much wood on it. Personally, I'd take a blue ridge over a GPR or TC, but each person has their own style they like. All of them will kill things with a properly worked up accurate load in the right hands.

As another newbie, what would you change on the forestock of the blue ridge please?

 

[EC121]

Way too much wood left on them.
I lost a lot of matches to CVA Mountain rifles. They have good barrels.

 

[Spikebuck]

As another newbie, what would you change on the forestock of the blue ridge please?

Here's a link to a Flickr photo album of mine that shows everything I did to mine step by step. You can ignore the cap to flint conversion as well as the fact I had a rebore done from .36 to .45 and the changes because of that. But take a look at all the stock work I did and the end result. When you go into the album, clicking on any picture will enlarge it and allow you to see any building comments I made about what I'm doing in the picture. A person would not need to do everything I did in this major conversion, but the stock work will give you ideas and clearly show how much extra wood is on those stocks.

Be careful....viewing this might cause you to take on a big project with your Frontier/Blue Ridge!!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/100435142@N08/albums/72157650877821348

 

[Spikebuck]

Here is the post I made back then, along with comments from others, that tell the story and toward the end clearly show before and after pictures. Might be better to look at this post first, then go to the Flickr pictures if interested.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/pedersoli-frontier-rebuild-underway.98605/

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

I started with a TC, it was a good gun but it didn't take long to get rid of it and make a step up. All in all it was a waste of money that I could have put toward a custom gun or parts for one.
Never had a blue ridge, some of the guys in my club did but not for long. They sold them off and bought a good custom gun so they could be competitive. Had a lot of those blue ridges come through the shop, they have a lot of built in problems. the locks were poor and stocks screwed to the barrel aren't good things. Besides that they're ugly as sin.

 

[Critter Getter]

Besides not being historically correct why is the stock being screwed to the barrel “ not a good thing”? I have two Hatfield’s and a couple of Frontiers and have never had a problem with anything from any of them. As far as looks go, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I love the looks of my Hatfield’s. ( for those that don’t know, the Hatfield and Frontier are basically very similar rifles.) Btw...... I also own a CVA Mountain Rifle ( a cap gun) and enjoy the looks and accuracy of that gun as well. Greg

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

The barrel and wood need to be able to move independently. Changes in temperature and humidity make wood move and will put stress on the barrel. Barrel stress is good for accuracy. "Normal" barrels are pined or keyed to the stock. the lugs that hold those pins or keys are slotted and allow movement.
Ugly is ugly, there's just no way around it.

 

[Critter Getter]

Thanks for explaining that to me. That makes sense about the wood moving but in all reality I have placed or won every shoot I have entered but one that I can recall with my Hatfield and don’t remember the size of the group or the poi changing with that gun. All of my other rifles are pinned or have wedges and they shoot good too. I just haven’t noticed any ill effects from the system that my Hatfield’s and Frontier rifles have. I will admit that my Virginia rifle that Mike Brooks did for me is a better looking gun but the ugly Hatfield/Frontier squirrel rifles sure are purty to me!! . Greg

 

[Rockvillerich]

Nothing wrong with a T.C. with a good touch-hole, and it is something you won't mind dragging around the woods for hunting. Best thing about shooting flint is it forces a shooter to follow through during the slight delay, and ignore the pan going off. Once you've mastered shooting a flintlock all your shooting will be improved.

 

[Rockvillerich]

The barrel and wood need to be able to move independently. Changes in temperature and humidity make wood move and will put stress on the barrel. Barrel stress is good for accuracy. "Normal" barrels are pined or keyed to the stock. the lugs that hold those pins or keys are slotted and allow movement.
Ugly is ugly, there's just no way around it.

Yes, properly pinned barrel rifles will have slots of about 1/8" for the pins to ride in rather than holes to allow the stock and barrel to change length without affecting each other. I've taken the pins out of a rifle to let it settle into its unstressed position, re-drilled the lug in that location, and then carefully filed between the holes to create a slot. Makes a big difference in some cases, and worth doing.

 

[Cowboy]

Say what ya will about the Blue Ridge but I took 1st place in both July and August last year out of 30 shooters. Besides, as was already mentioned. “ Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder! “ and I happen to really like the looks of my Hatfield and Blue Ridge.

Yes, I have a few custom flinter’s too, but when I compete I’ll grab that .54 Blue Ridge every time!

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[PluggedNickel]

For more info on my David Pedersoli 1766 Charleville, see my post #15 in the below thread.
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...cleaning-bess-and-charleville-muskets.112893/

 

[PluggedNickel]

Say what ya will about the Blue Ridge but I took 1st place in both July and August last year out of 30 shooters. Besides, as was already mentioned. “ Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder! “ and I happen to really like the looks of my Hatfield and Blue Ridge.

Yes, I have a few custom flinter’s too, but when I compete I’ll grab that .54 Blue Ridge every time!

Respectfully, Cowboy

Hard to argue with success ain't it! Well said Cowboy!

 

[skyhigh315]

Here is the post I made back then, along with comments from others, that tell the story and toward the end clearly show before and after pictures. Might be better to look at this post first, then go to the Flickr pictures if interested.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/pedersoli-frontier-rebuild-underway.98605/

Wow

I admit that I THOUGHT I liked the look of the original Blue Ridge better, but your craftsmanship is damned impressive and making me give mine some side-eye! Bravo.

 

[anaconda44]

TC sold out to Smith and Wesson. S&W does not service TC life time warranty nor do they carry parts. I’ve upgraded a TC stock to an L&R lock and GM barrel.

Look at the Lyman GPR for a traditional MLer still in production.

For those that dont know if you have a tc flinter the lock parts will interchange. You can use the hammer from lyman and rmc has modified frizzens for the tc. What he does is take the lyman frizzen and wher the hole tab where the bolt goes to atrach the frizzen it is ground down a little thinner to fit better. Also a tc hawken and lyman trade rifle the barrel lock tang triggers are all drop in swaps.

 

[anaconda44]

I wouldn’t put it that way exactly... I’ve drooled over the pricier custom and semi custom rifles too but I suspect that given the chance, a hunter from 1840 would have been pretty happy with the TC if they would have made them back then. I’ve enjoyed mine immensely, and now they’re priceless.

BTW, I just picked up a.58 CVA Mountain Rifle from a forum member and while many folks would consider the cva a bargain basement type rifle, I think it’s better looking than I expected, the lock sparks very well, and if it shoots half as good as it looks I’m gonna be a pretty happy camper. For $400.00. And I see the mountain rifles on gunbroker all of the time, sometimes for less than I paid.

I ssen the one that was forsale on here. I missed it. I have been looking fir one for quite some time. But when i did find one the barrels were trashed. If you ever decide to part with it or find something else you might want let me know.
i would be interested in yours. Maybe add me to your contacts.

 

[Bad Karma]

Nothing wrong with a T.C. with a good touch-hole, and it is something you won't mind dragging around the woods for hunting. Best thing about shooting flint is it forces a shooter to follow through during the slight delay, and ignore the pan going off. Once you've mastered shooting a flintlock all your shooting will be improved.

One of the best things to happen to my shooting was learning to shoot spring powered airguns. And for the same reasons, the fundamentals of the bone foundation, hold and sight picture, follow through, and follow through.