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woodsman

36 Cal.
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I am thinking about ordering one of their rifle kits and I was wondering if any of you guys had built a kit from them and what your opinions of the products and service were. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Tony :front:
 
i've bought pre inlet stocks from them fer my T/C hawken and another inletted fer a rice barrel fer a lancaster i'm building from scratch and i'm very pleased with them....and i'm thinking of there pistol kit....so i think there kits would be good....hope i helped ya a bit..........bob
 
A guy named Zonie who moderates this site posted a photo of 8 rifles he built from Pecatonica components a few months back (see thread below). I'd say they sell a very nice set.

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/ubbthr...=true#Post89422

I still dream of those beauties every so often. In fact, I am about to build my first, a Haines Lancaster. Since I'm not an experienced carver, I'm getting the nicest piece of wood I can get and building a plain rifle. If it comes out like the 3rd from the left in this photo, the one with the half moon inlay, I'd be one happy wolf. Maybe Zonie could post a few photos of that one plain rifle.
 
I visited their plant about two years ago. Saw a lot of wood, though most of it was at Friendship! They have a good catalog. I recently completed their Beck Boy's rifle in .40 caplock. I built it exactly from their suggested parts, which were very good. However, I would change some of those parts (such as the butt plate) to better suit me if I did it again. I believe the triggers had to be cut down to fit the guard. And the powder drum wasn't drilled for the nipple. And the front sight was a blank. These things could be changed to make it easier for a beginner to build the rifle. But their stuff is good. I also bought the Muzzleloader Builder's Supply "Lebanon Borough Slim Style Longrifle" (Lebanon School - After the manner of C. Beck). This is exactly the same stock, but the way Suzie writes it up, you wouldn't know it. I have that well underway, but I'd change some of those parts, too. They are neither exactly like a Beck rifle, and could be made more user friendly. So what kits are you interested in?
 
I've only built one kit and that was a .62cal. Virginia smooth rifle from Pecatonica. I had no problems with anything and Dick is a good person to deal with. I'm waiting on a .54cal. Andrew Verner Bucks Co. kit from them now.
 
I bought the stock for the Leman full stock I'm currently shooting, and the stock for the Lancaster I've got sitting on the bench now from Pecatonica River. I was very happy with the quaility of the stocks. I didn't buy the rest of the componets from them for either rifle so I can't comment on them.
 
I built a Jaeger kit from Pecatonica, here are the links to a few pics. The stock is obviously not of the fanciest wood out there but I personally think it looks quite nice, though I am a bit biased. Only thing I'll mention is that the brass castings were totally unpolished so I had deal with the pits and so on from sand casting (I imagine it's the same with the other kits too) though I'd guess that you'd expect that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v393/Scharfrichter/Picture007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v393/Scharfrichter/Picture006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v393/Scharfrichter/Picture005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v393/Scharfrichter/Picture004.jpg
 
Pictures of finished guns will do you little good Woodman. They just make your eyes glaze over and your heart rate jump!

The flash and finish tell one nothing about how the grain ran through the wrist, if the wood splintered every time you touched it or was as hard as cast iron to work!

On top of that rest assured that the prettier the wood the more dificult it will be to work.

I have done 4 guns on Pecontica wood. I would not hesitate to pick up the phone and order any item they offer.

Pecontica will give you exactly the grade wood you paid for, or a bit better. Their componant parts will be good quality. Their services will be up to specs.

If this is your first build I would suggest you have all of the barrel services done by them: breechplug, dovetails, underlugs. These services are cheap at twice the price!(plus just those three services will save one full workday[one week of evenings] on the build)

You will still have to build the gun. The parts are only a general style. Lots of filing, drilling, rasping and scraping go into a build.

They just furnish the map, you have to walk the lonesome valley by yourself.

:front:
 
Thanks guys. Packdog, I'm looking at the Virginia rifle.I want something that would be realistic for my area and practical to hunt with.
Ghost, I already had in mind to let the experts do the barrel work and at their prices, thats cheap insurance.As for the rest of it, I look forward to the fitting,the filing and probably, the cussing.With that said, I sure am thankful for this section of the forum cause I got a feeling that I'm gonna have some questions. Tony :front:
 
Actually, many people don't realize but Pec River supplies stocks and other parts to many other sources. Some of Track's wood comes from Pec.

CS
 
My first component gun was from Pecatonica River.
Of the 12 rifles I've built, only two came from other suppliers. My last 4 were from them.
Their stocks are great, the wood is great and their prices are better than most.
If you haven't built a gun before, I would recommend having dick install the underlugs, mill the dovetails for the front and rear sight, and install the breech plug. They do a great job of all of these tasks, and their machining prices are so low it's almost not worth considering doing these tasks yourself.

All of his trigger guards and butt plates are sand castings so they will need a lot of filing and sanding.
The locks and set triggers are finished products. This is typical of all of the suppliers.

The only thing I've found that isn't top notch is their responce to snail mail. On the other hand, if you call them, they answer right away and they will go out of their way to do whatever they can to help.

This is one company I would put my blind faith in to deliver the right parts for the gun in a timely manner.
I cannot say enough good things about them.
 
Nice looking rifle you did good for your first one. Can I ask how long of barrel did you use and is it a swamped or straight barrel ? :front:
 
Thanks, I'm pretty proud of it myself, though those scratches above the patchbox that showed up when I began to finish the stock REALLY irked me, at any rate.. It has the 36" straight barrel though the swamped would've been nice but it was a birthday present so I ain't complainin'. I also thought about cutting the barrel to 24" but decided against it as it would've caused some problems with thimble placement.

All in all the only thing I can really say is that Pecatonica sure has my business for life.
 
Woodsman- Pecatonica's parts look OK to me. That rifle seems to be most like one built by Adam Haymaker of Frederick County, Virginia. Pictures on page 174 of Gunsmiths of Virginia by Whisker. Also very good detailed photos of all sides of the gun in the book "Rifles of Colonial America, Vol II", by George Shumway. Track has both. But if you don't want to spend $40 or $60 on a book, order if from your library as an interlibrary loan.
 
Well, let me wade in here with :m2c:.

Going under the assumption you, as I, have never built one before:
1. Their service is terrific.
2. Do have them do all the gunsmithing options.
3. My stock request was for cherry wood and while I'm not experienced enough to determine what good grained cherrywood looks like, the grain didn't excite me.
4. Ask for some cuttings from your stock so you can try out different stains on your stock.
5. Make sure you get Dixon's book, if you don't have it already.
6. The only bad thing was in trying to remove the breech plug. I couldn't budge it and had to take it to Dixon's ML Shop. He said there was no grease on the plug and to always lube the plug.
7. Take your time.
8. Take your time.
 
Just a note about Cherry.
With a few notable exceptions, like the pictures posted a few months ago, Cherry is a rather plain wood. It usually doesn't have any remarkable grain pattern.

As was mentioned, you can ask for the strip of wood which was cut off of your stock blank, but you don't have to if your dealing with Pecatonica.
They have always sent this piece of wood with their stocks with every stock I have ordered from them.
Anyway, I suppose it is a good idea to ask for it, not only to test your stock stains, but to use as material if you are making an older gun which has a sliding wooden patch box cover. :)

Here's a few links to Cherry Wood Posts:
Cherry Stock Post
Cherry Wood
Cherry2.jpg

Stolen from Stumpys Cherry Girl post ::
 
Woodsman- One thing I'd change on any Pecatonica "kit" is that front sight. Note that they all (almost) cost $3.50. See on page 80 of their catalog that this is a blank. This means you have to saw out that nice graceful rounded shape (long point to the front) and saw off the ends of the base. The blank is shorter than the others they sell, so it is not as graceful to me. Also, the base is .062 thick, I'd prefer a thicker one. And by the time you file it down to bring the point of impact up where you want it, there was no reason for that tall sight. Mine usually wind up about .040 lower than the rear sight. That blank is more work than its worth, but I got the same thing from Muzzleloader Builder's Supply on one of her kits. I have used that steel flower leaf design and I like it.
 

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