Starting a pecatonica early lancaster - help?! :)

[brightboy]

Well, I just got in my early lancaster "fully Inletted" kit from Pecatonica, and I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. The kit is "inletted" so I have some pretty good guardrails but would like some wisdom on the steps you'd take to make sure all goes together well. Barrel, lock, then trigger? Any major pitfalls to avoid? Considerations regarding touch hole?

It goes without saying this will be my first build so I'm all ears!!

Good news is I have full support from my two boys

 

[Pete G]

Get a good book (or two) and do some reading and studying before you do anything else.

 

[CuNosecap]

I agree with Pete and can’t stress enough that at least one book on the subject of building the PA long rifle is critical to a successful build. You have chosen decent material to start but these parts sets don’t just fall together (unlike another prominent kit).

 

[akroguy]

With the pre inletted stocks, you have to check the barrel setback, specifically the breech plug face vs. center of the flash pan. If not careful, you can get the touch hole too far aft, interfering with breech plug. One can groove the plug face a bit (not uncommon in original specimens, so I've read). You have to pull the breech plug of course to do this. Just a gotcha to be aware of that I missed on one of my builds. There's a lot going on in this area and having the lock already inlet means you have to justify the barrel to it. Think through your moves before you cut into anything. You WILL make mistakes, we all do. The masters get better at hiding them!

After doing a couple of pre inlets, I'd rather start with a roughed blank with maybe just the barrel channel and maybe the ramrod hole cut but little else. It's an adventure! Take your time and do read relevant books. The "Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle" is mighty good. Helped me a LOT.