New York kit!!!

[tnlonghunter]

I just got the York kit I ordered from Chambers in Jan. (insert maniacal laughter here)! I wiped a little water on the stock to see how it'll look when finished and it's gorgeous. And the cool part is it's only supposed to be the plain grain. There's a few parts missing I think. Are the kits supposed to have ram-rod tips, all 3 ramrod pipes (there's only one), toe plate, and the brass barrel pin inserts?

At any rate, I'm getting totally psyched about building this. It's going to be my first build, and I'm doing it as a Christmas gift for my dad, who gave me my TN rifle. I have to say that the stock has many more parts of the inletting done than I expected. Yipee!

 

[richardn]

You should have all of the pipes and Chambers will make good on ensuring the missing ones are provided. The ramrod tip must ordered separately however.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Keep us posted on the progress!

And here I was all curious about what a New York rifle might be. :haha:

 

Yep, you should have gotten three ramrod pipes, but if you want ramrod tips and a toeplate, you'll have to order those separately from Track of the Wolf or similar vendor. Not sure what you mean when you say "brass barrel pin inserts"... you should get pin stock for pinning the stock to the barrel, but they're not brass.

Check everything out before you get up with Barbie... believe me, if there are any problems they will make it right, and fast too.

If you ordered their "standard" stock grade, it's usually about a grade 5-6, so yeah, it's gonna be pretty. Mine is standard grade, I didn't pay extra for "fancy wood", and it's got great curl the entire length of the stock.

You're gonna love it! You got a great kit... take your time, be patient, and you will end up with a gorgeous rifle you'll be very proud of. Of course, lots of folks on here to help you with any questions or problems you run up against... and you will, trust me. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

 

[tnlonghunter]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I saw last night on their website that the ramrod tip needed to be ordered separately. I was also meaning the underlugs for pinning the barrel, but I lost my words and couldn't remember what they were called (grad school is frying my brain; isn't it supposed to be the other way? :shake: ).

 

[rich pierce]

I didn't know they made a New York kit. Maybe they make a New Jersey kit too? :rotf:

 

[hollandbriscoe]

I agree with all of the above about the quality and service you will get from Jim and Barbie. The only thing I have had a problem with is my kit did not come with enough pin stock. However for about a buck I got some 1/16th clevis pins and fixed that problem real quick. :thumbsup:

Jack

 

[twhrider2]

Do you guys that have Chambers kits think it's worth paying extra for fancy wood? Sounds like standard grade is pretty good, I'm thinking about a smooth rifle from them.
Thanks, Ken

 

You should definitely have gotten the underlugs, but they're not brass, they're steel. They look like little metal "T"s with angles at the edges of the top of the T if you look at them from the side.

As far as paying the extra for the fancy wood... well, that would be up to you. Their fancy wood is going to have very fine curl through the entire stock. If you can afford it, by all means do it. I've never heard of anybody buying wood and wishing they had downgraded it to a lesser grade... but you always hear guys say they wished they would have upgraded to a higher grade. That being said, their standard grade is definitely a very nice piece of wood, mine has curl through the entire stock, it's just not really fine curl. (In other words, the stripes are larger and farther apart.)

 

[tnlonghunter]

Well, there's Tennessee and Kentucky and Pennsylvania rifles. I thought some of the other states were feeling left out :blah:

I called Chambers the other day. Even before I explained exactly what was missing, he told me that I needed ramrod pipes and underlugs, so I guess they were short on all of that for many kits and wanted to get them out sooner rather than later. Also, when I said I needed to add a ramrod tip to the mix because I didn't order one the first time, he said he'd just throw it in without charging me for it! To coin a phrase from my generation, Chambers is da Bomb! :hatsoff:

 

[quinnconner]

A New York kit would come with a 9mm barrel and a switchblade knife wouldnt it??? :grin:
J.J.

 

[hollandbriscoe]

Ken,

I am in the process of finishing a Chambers smooth rifle. It's a great gun and it has turned out pretty well considering that this is my first build. I go the up priced wood and it has a great deal of curl to it through out. If you have the option I would recomned going and picking your kit up from Chambers, it was nice to be able to really look at stocks and parts before buying.

Jack

 

[twhrider2]

It will be a few weeks before I can get around to it but I might just try to get up there and see them,I think that would be neet.Also don't forget photos when your finished
Ken

 

[BLAHMAN]

Keep us posted on the progress!

And here I was all curious about what a New York rifle might be. :haha:

And take some pictures of your progress....It's really amazing, but years from now when your building your umteenth rifle, you can look back and say: "Ah yes, I started with this one!"

You could also share them with us!

 

[tnlonghunter]

I'll be sure to post pics when I can. I don't have a digital camera, so they'll be sparse (usually when I can get my in-laws camera for a few minutes). It'll take a while anyway, what with church, school, and the rest of life going on, but I'm looking forward to the project.

 

[aragorn]

That's what I was going to say - I didn't have enough pin either, so I went to a welding supplier and bought a lifetime supply of 1/16 rod for five bucks (Canadian!).

I bought my ramrod tip from TOW, and some copper rod to pin it in. Also if you're going to screw in the trigger guard and the brass back to the wooden patch box you might need to get some more small slot screws (I bought a batch from TOW).

The York kit doesn't come with a toeplate, which Jim Turpin recommends in his video and I've seen on other finished Chambers York rifles, but I researched this in Shumway and concluded that a rifle without a toeplate is more accurate for the 1770 period.