Shopping for a finished Flintlock Rifle

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Bowhunter57 said:
It appears that anyone can purchase an inline and at any location.
However, finding a traditional full stock long rifle in a flintlock is entirely another matter. :rolleyes: I've looked at the Pedersoli rifles, but all of them appear to be a 1:48 twist. A slower twist would be preferred for patched round ball shooting. I've read entirely too many articles on the Hatfield rifles having poor ignition problems...so, I'm staying away from that issue.
I was hoping to purchase a finished rifle, instead of a kit. I just spent a couple of days at Friendship, Indiana and there were a lot of finished rifles there, but they were mostly custom builds and had a price tag to match of $1600+. :oops:

Does anyone have a website to some companies that produce finished long rifles?
Flintlock or Percussion is fine and 45 or 50 caliber would be nice.
I appreciate any information and direction that you may provide. :cool:

Bowhunter57
Click to expand...

Without getting into one of my Anti-Patent Breech Rants, most of the Italian guns will have one, and few custom guns do.
 
Bowhunter57 said:
It appears that anyone can purchase an inline and at any location.
However, finding a traditional full stock long rifle in a flintlock is entirely another matter. :rolleyes: I've looked at the Pedersoli rifles, but all of them appear to be a 1:48 twist. A slower twist would be preferred for patched round ball shooting. I've read entirely too many articles on the Hatfield rifles having poor ignition problems...so, I'm staying away from that issue.
I was hoping to purchase a finished rifle, instead of a kit. I just spent a couple of days at Friendship, Indiana and there were a lot of finished rifles there, but they were mostly custom builds and had a price tag to match of $1600+. :oops:

Does anyone have a website to some companies that produce finished long rifles?
Flintlock or Percussion is fine and 45 or 50 caliber would be nice.
I appreciate any information and direction that you may provide. :cool:

Bowhunter57
Click to expand...
i'm in Utah. and i have decided after turning 80 years old to sale my gun collection. i have about a dozen muzzleloaders that i am gonna sale. flint and percussion. custom made and some factory made
. all are of quality. 3 kit carson hawkin rifles all in 54 cal and some flinters, tva poor boys and all kinds. even pistols. been building for years. call Lew at 801-889-5055 if interested.
 
I am kind of in the same search mode, but I want something in 36 or 40 cal for plinking and small game. If you are thinking of buying a flintlock, than it is important to buy a quality lock which bumps up the price. For example, if you purchase a Tradtions, which is at the lower end of the price curve, its OK, but you eventually may want to upgrade the lock. which will cost you $250, to $350 after everything is done. All things considered, you are in that 1,100 to 1,200 price range. So my thinking is biting the bullet, pardon the pun, and getting the gun you want from the start. Track of the Wolf, Jim Chambers, Dixie, Lyman et al, if you compare apples to apples, and quality replacements locks, they all are around $1,200 (shipping etc), or more by the time you make everything right. So I plan to go with Kibler long rifles. You can get the kit in 36, 40, 45, or 50 for, I think, $850 and than purchase the lock after you have completed the kit, which brings the total price up to around $1,200 or so. But after that you have a top quality reliable flintlock! Hope my thought are helpful.
 
I have always found a great selection of both factory-made and custom long rifles at The Gun Works in Springfield OR. I usually buy a load of things here that are a lot more expensive here in UK, but don't rock the boat, customs-wise, like a 5000-count bag of patches, ROA nipples for folks over here getting royally ripped off by dealers, nipple wrenches and so on. I recall one year buying an English-made flint knapping hammer for half the price it cost in UK. Go figure.

However, I also spend a goodly amount of time fondling all those beautiful flintlocks and percussion rifles that we just don't get to see over here. Back when I had my Lancaster county long rifle, made by Peter Gonter, it was the 'star of the show' whenever I took it out - nobody here had ever seen a real-live American long rifle that was not a modern replication.
 
Well, I shot this rifle and as it turns out the flintlock pan and flash hole don't match up correctly. :rolleyes: It takes 4 or 5 times of priming the pan and firing it to get it to fire the charge. The flint throws plenty of sparks, the pan charge flashes very well and 4F is what I'm using.
I talked to a local friend that has worked on this rifles for 40 years and he says he can fix it. He thinks it's a matter of lowering the flash hole in the thimble, to get a better ignition. Currently the hole is above the flats of the pan and it should be much lower.

The next issue is with me. 🤔 After spending over 2 hours with my friend that currently owns this rifle, I think I'm done with flintlocks, period. My local friend says he can easily switch it over to a caplock....and do so at a very reasonable price. When the rifle did fire, it was very accurate. :)

I'm going to have to think on this for a few days before making this decision.
* I'll either return the rifle, to my best friend. (it's on loan, until I decide if I like it or not)
* Have it switched to a percussion rifle and buy/keep it, from my best friend.
* Make an outright purchase of a new Pedersoli (caplock), in a Pennsylvania, Kentucky or Blue Ridge rifle.

Decisions, decisions...😒
 
Bowhunter57, before you do anything rash, try picking the flash hole after loading the charge. see if you can get a pick almost the full width of the bore. I have a .45 with a Green mountain barrel that requires me to pick it every shot. would irritate me if it didn't shoot so darn good. this was 150 yards, 6x10 plate. 20220624_180958.jpg
 
Last edited:
Bowhunter57 said:
Well, I shot this rifle and as it turns out the flintlock pan and flash hole don't match up correctly. :rolleyes: It takes 4 or 5 times of priming the pan and firing it to get it to fire the charge. The flint throws plenty of sparks, the pan charge flashes very well and 4F is what I'm using.
I talked to a local friend that has worked on this rifles for 40 years and he says he can fix it. He thinks it's a matter of lowering the flash hole in the thimble, to get a better ignition. Currently the hole is above the flats of the pan and it should be much lower.

The next issue is with me. 🤔 After spending over 2 hours with my friend that currently owns this rifle, I think I'm done with flintlocks, period. My local friend says he can easily switch it over to a caplock....and do so at a very reasonable price. When the rifle did fire, it was very accurate. :)

I'm going to have to think on this for a few days before making this decision.
* I'll either return the rifle, to my best friend. (it's on loan, until I decide if I like it or not)
* Have it switched to a percussion rifle and buy/keep it, from my best friend.
* Make an outright purchase of a new Pedersoli (caplock), in a Pennsylvania, Kentucky or Blue Ridge rifle.

Decisions, decisions...😒
Click to expand...
Sorry you had such frustrations. That can ruin an outing, having a gun that just won’t function properly will leave a bad taste in your mouth for sure.

I tell you what…You find a flintlock with a properly located flash hole and a nicely tuned, or even nicely functioning, lock…you’ll never go percussion again.

I started my flintlock travels with a Brown Bess Carbine. I hunted upland game and waterfowl exclusively with it for 2 years…It was a fun adventure, very nuanced education; been shooting flintlocks now for most of 27 years.
 
deerstalkert said:
Bowhunter57, before you do anything rash, try picking the flash hole after loading the charge. see if you can get a pick almost the full width of the bore. I have a .45 with a Green mountain barrel that requires me to pick it every shot. would irritate me if it didn't shoot so darn good.
Click to expand...
I tried picking it and that didn't work either, but I appreciate your encouragement. :)
Oddly enough, what did work every time, was filling the pan with 4F powder, then tilting the rifle, while bumping the stock to get the powder to fall into the flash hole...2x, then heaping the powder into a pile in the pan. Then and only then would it fire. :rolleyes:

I've had some more time to think about it and I'm reasonably sure I'm going to take this rifle back to my best friend and leave it in his hands. I wasn't interested in a 54 caliber or a flintlock, when I was presented with this offer. So, I'm going to continue my search for a 50 caliber, in a percussion rifle. 🤔
I'm leaning towards a Pedersoli Kentucky rifle in 50 caliber and in percussion. :cool:
 
Brazos is right. someday you will get your hands on a flintlock that will make you sweaty and panicked thinking of letting go of it! like your best girl! :ghostly: we all must travel our own journey. and Black powder and muzzleloaders is a journey. wish it would be longer.

just remember caps are tough to obtain. Rocks aren't.
 
deerstalkert said:
Brazos is right. someday you will get your hands on a flintlock that will make you sweaty and panicked thinking of letting go of it! like your best girl! :ghostly: we all must travel our own journey. and Black powder and muzzleloaders is a journey. wish it would be longer.

just remember caps are tough to obtain. Rocks aren't.
Click to expand...
Well, I recently bought a beautiful flintlock from a forum member. I do not sweat or panic, but I have to keep wiping slobbers off the carving. :doh: Polecat
 
Here's another issue... 🤔 Bass Pro Shops/Cabelas has both the Pedersoli Kentucky and Blue Ridge rifles in stock....but they're both flintlocks. :rolleyes: I would like to think a brand new flintlock rifle would not have any issues, but I'm currently at "2 strikes" with flintlocks. So, I'm a little "gun shy" at this point and afraid to "pull the trigger" on another flint.

Does anyone own either of these rifles to give me a push, one way or the other?
 
All you have to know is if you buy that rifle, you are buying a problem. If it was me and I had all the negative feelings that you are having I'd opt out. There are a ton of other guns out there of both systems.
 
Bowhunter57 said:
It appears that anyone can purchase an inline and at any location.
However, finding a traditional full stock long rifle in a flintlock is entirely another matter. :rolleyes: I've looked at the Pedersoli rifles, but all of them appear to be a 1:48 twist. A slower twist would be preferred for patched round ball shooting. I've read entirely too many articles on the Hatfield rifles having poor ignition problems...so, I'm staying away from that issue.
I was hoping to purchase a finished rifle, instead of a kit. I just spent a couple of days at Friendship, Indiana and there were a lot of finished rifles there, but they were mostly custom builds and had a price tag to match of $1600+. :oops:

Does anyone have a website to some companies that produce finished long rifles?
Flintlock or Percussion is fine and 45 or 50 caliber would be nice.
I appreciate any information and direction that you may provide. :cool:

Bowhunter57
Click to expand...
Friendship is too far for me to want to go even though I'm a one-of-one thousand member of NMLRA, but the Gun Maker's Fair (formerly at Dixon's) is re-starting this July, last full weekend of the month. You should consider subscribing to Muzzle Blasts magazine. Good luck with your search!
 

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