Should I reach out to builder or adjust at home? Gap between lock and barrel

[Splitear]

@ColonialRifleSmith , good on you. The world needs more folks like you!

 

[sturmkatze]

The repair, while neat, is unacceptable on a new gun. Glad @ColonialRifleSmith helped you

 

[Sidney Smith]

TVM....There's a shocker! I bought a kit from them years ago. They were having some sort of issues. This was when the "M" stood for manufacturing, not muzzleloading. The kit was sub par and missing parts. I made it work, but will never buy from any incarnation of TVM again!

I'm glad to hear the OP got a resolution to his problems with this rifle. Pathetic that a builder would sell such inferior products. I'm also glad the OP named the scumbags. Scam artists like these people should be outed at every turn. And that's what they are scam artists. To willingly sell a pile of manure like that is criminal.

 

[Joemolf]

I know it’s easy to say now, but I suspected it was TVM. It’s a dang shame you got stuck like this.

TVM not to good! Yesterday Sunday I finally got around to pulling the barrel from the stock to see if they shortcut not opening the barrel tabs. I also wanted to inspect the barrel channel and the forend inlet pipe. There’s a hair line crack. I wanted to see if relieving the thimble would take the stress away. So I take the barrel off; the barrel tabs not slotted no surprise. What did surprise me is the stock had been removed the base of the barrel channel from the the buttplug lug which has been enhanced with epoxy to the middle ramrod tube missing in action from the inside looking down at the inside of the ramrod channel the stock was reglued with im thinking a CA type glue. I guess in an effort to keep additional cracks from growing.. so they sold me a rifle full of defects. I have no respect for them this was the icing on the cake. Heck stock’s can be repaired and I probably would have still purchased it had I known in advance about the stock issues. But at a reduced cost. I was sold this rifle on the assumption it was a flaw free rifle. If you read my post about how the butt stock cracked just sitting in a closet and the use of filler to fit the butt plate I found that to be outrageous! For anyone one looking to purchase a TVM rifle I would say don’t! Unless you take the entire gun apart to confirm no flaws in workmanship! Of course while I had it apart I also disassembled the lock down to just the tumbler to clean and lube it. Even the lock they managed to managle. It works but they didn’t use the screws that came with the lock. The factory screws were either lost and other substituted. They were cut. I have never seen a lock where the screw were not chamfered. They cut them with a cut of wheel and left the cut edge. Most of this is subtle and would go unnoticed but why. Why they removed the barrel channel would obviously drilled through it and it gave them access to do shoddy repairs on the cracks. I am not anti epoxy in the breach area but a company of there status should be able to inlet the breach without needing to add epoxy. The thimbles all three for the ramrod were installed unfinished. The parting lines stand out like a sore thumb. They are wonderful just ask them! So if you’re looking for an overpriced shortcut taken Flintlock I can highly recommend them! If you’re looking for a quality shop around.

As far as I am concerned they stole from me and I doubt this is a one off!

 

[Joemolf]

Note: Video attached at the bottom of this post.

I’ve abstained from posting the builders name because I’m not the type of person to name drop without giving the chance to mend. I believe people are generally good including this builder. Unfortunately, I found another issue with the rifle that puts it in an area, where I think I need to mention the builder. Not out of emotion or a belief someone tried to pull one over me, but because the rifle really does seem to be “that bad.”

I’m saying this also from the context of being a person new to flintlocks, who surfed the web to find a builder and didn’t see anything questionable on forums about the one I chose. I want to also warn the next guy/gal, who if new to flintlocks like me, and doesn’t know the ins / outs to look at what they have much closer at the outset.

The builder is Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading / TVM out of Natchez MS (Matt Avance on the barrel).

The latest issue is the patchbox doesn’t even latch shut. See the video, where I can push it off. You will also see in pictures the latch itself is canted / torqued. I’m guessing that’s not normal and there’s some kind of nick under the patchbox too from the build that’s hidden by the patchbox.

View attachment 227457

View attachment 227458

I’m thinking I’m going to send them another email and let them have it with their phony niceness! What a bunch of hacks and then to scribe the owners name on the barrel is pathetic! Simply they have been scamming the community for who knows how long. TVM that is just to be clear. To think at the onset of my problems with the POS I bought I felt responsible for having the rifle sitting in a clean dry closet.

 

[Joemolf]

I want to publicly thank @ColonialRifleSmith for helping me today. This was a professional builder with over a dozen active projects in his shop. He stepped in to do all of this for free with me right in front of him in his shop. I learned a lot. He:

1. Performed various wood inletting so the barrel / lock gap is appropriately so. This included inletting to stabilize the lock in the stock given it could be wobbled by hand ever slightly in the stock.
2. Took off burrs beside the lock to further aid with the barrel / lock gap.
3. Filed down the front screw to keep it from applying pressure to the frizzen spring, which risked breaking the lock near the frizzen screw.
4. Took burrs off the cock to aid with flint orientation.
5. Rebrowned the cock after filing.
6. Corrected the dovetail cut in the front sight. The sight fishtailed left because the dovetail was cut slightly diagonally. Photographed here was the correcting measurement leveling it right ward.

View attachment 227544
7. Peaned the existing front sight to make it fit the corrected dovetail.
8. Pointed out that the stock was cracked by the builder and repaired before sending me the rifle. I didn’t know this. Here’s a clear photo of the cracked stock repair.
View attachment 227542
9. Filed relief in the patch box latch, so that the latch now works.
10. Stained and waxed the stock to address where the cock struck and took a gash out of the stock. The finish matches perfectly. It seems this issue of the cock hitting the wood originally came from the slight play / wobble the lock had in the stock paired with not enough inletting.
11. We sighted the rifle together, filing, setting the front site, etc. He taught me as a new guy a number of new things.

We sighted the rifle in given an ever slight cant of the barrel inside the stock. This is referenced in an earlier post. Also to ensure reliability given a high touch hole.

Separately, I’m definitely getting a build through colonialriflesmith in the future. He had a number of interesting custom projects going. For example, three wall guns in process right now.

Regarding, Natchez located TVM, I guess I’ll put the ball in their court and ask for a discount or partial refund. Sending a $2,400 rifle with a stock repair, barrel / lock gap, crooked front sights, and a patchbox that doesn’t latch is pretty bad.

Amazing it’s like looking at the POS they sold me and were so passionate it being heirloom quality! Dishonestly comes naturally to some!

 

[Joemolf]

@ColonialRifleSmith , good on you. The world needs more folks like you!

They are out there and would be a lot more if these losers Feared God Almighty! We have to get back to God! Forget the ETs and any other false Gods there’s only one the one that gave our forefathers the wherewithal to form this once great nation!
God Bless us all and America!

 

[smo]

TVM....There's a shocker! I bought a kit from them years ago. They were having some sort of issues. This was when the "M" stood for manufacturing, not muzzleloading. The kit was sub par and missing parts. I made it work, but will never buy from any incarnation of TVM again!

I'm glad to hear the OP got a resolution to his problems with this rifle. Pathetic that a builder would sell such inferior products. I'm also glad the OP named the scumbags. Scam artists like these people should be outed at every turn. And that's what they are scam artists. To willingly sell a pile of manure like that is criminal.

Two separate Companies, both still operating at this time.