I have been thinking about an earlier gun than is usually available from other sources, so I was looking at The Rifle Shoppe. How the devil are you supposed to know what the type of gun looks like when they don't have pictures of many of them posted? I inquired about a printed catalog but I don't get any response.
The Rifle Shoppe
- Thread starter Trot
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Yep, first thing I tried but came up with many totally different guns, and I don't know which the Rifle Shop parts set is supposed to replicate. I know years ago I had a printed catalog and I believe it had pictures of each gun.
Comfortably_Numb
The Evil Mike Brooks
Nothing but a wish book in my opinion.
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Forget the catalog or webpage. Ask what they are currently making. Decide if you want one. Ordering something that is not in stock is a mistake.
TRS parts sets, consist of very rough parts and a very sketchy stock. IF you are a very advanced builder you may be able to make a rifle of it, you may not. The stocks are often unusable, the metal parts are rough castings. Due to shrinkage the locks do not assemble as expected. The indicator for the screw holes are wrong. It will require much more work and skills than others' parts sets. They are not "kits" as such. If you have not made a bunch of rifles you will probably have insurmountable problems. I am personally 50/50 on the stocks. All there stocks had the same pantograph errors. I gave up on case hardening a frizzen and let them do it. I had to try them out of curiosity. A friend wanted a rifle they had really bad. I gave in to my better judgement. I will not do it again.
TRS parts sets, consist of very rough parts and a very sketchy stock. IF you are a very advanced builder you may be able to make a rifle of it, you may not. The stocks are often unusable, the metal parts are rough castings. Due to shrinkage the locks do not assemble as expected. The indicator for the screw holes are wrong. It will require much more work and skills than others' parts sets. They are not "kits" as such. If you have not made a bunch of rifles you will probably have insurmountable problems. I am personally 50/50 on the stocks. All there stocks had the same pantograph errors. I gave up on case hardening a frizzen and let them do it. I had to try them out of curiosity. A friend wanted a rifle they had really bad. I gave in to my better judgement. I will not do it again.
Do it when there is no alternative and you must have that gun.
I agree on their stocks. Even if the inletting did not present serious obstacles, you’re stuck with the architecture of the original they copied. It’s a little secret but most kits that are closely modeled after specific originals have been tweaked to fit the average shooter of today. For shooting that is a great thing. With TRS you get what the original was like.
Some of their castings are the equal of any sets of castings. But on their lock sets there are no instructions and they don’t even say what the screw sizes are. 6-32 on the one I’m working in now.
I agree on their stocks. Even if the inletting did not present serious obstacles, you’re stuck with the architecture of the original they copied. It’s a little secret but most kits that are closely modeled after specific originals have been tweaked to fit the average shooter of today. For shooting that is a great thing. With TRS you get what the original was like.
Some of their castings are the equal of any sets of castings. But on their lock sets there are no instructions and they don’t even say what the screw sizes are. 6-32 on the one I’m working in now.
Comfortably_Numb
The Evil Mike Brooks
Yep, the stocks suck. I only used one and learned that lesson. I have probably made a dozen guns from rifle shop castings. I was always furnished parts by the customer. I have no idea how they managed to get them. It's too bad you can't get parts from them in a reasonable amount of time as I'd have made a bunch of their guns.
Sam squanch
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You might as well commission someone to forge out the type of lock you want, buy a plank of wood, and adapt a current barrel for the gun you want. You will get it faster. I had an old catalog, they showed most of the guns they offered. One good thing about some of the early guns is that they were kind of crude, so if you are not an expert gunmaker, you can still do a passable job. I’ve pretty much given up on them getting me parts….
Sam squanch
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One more thing, there are original locks out there, you need to just look online and look at larger gun shows , especially those that concentrate on historical arms.
Sidney Smith
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Good luck getting somebody on the phone there. I ordered a matchlock kit from them two years ago. Took 4 months and about 12 phone calls before I could get an idea of when aid get it. Once I did get hold of somebody, the lady was helpful and I got the kit a week later. No directions whatsoever, just a stock, barrel and a bunch of lock parts that I've got to figure out how to assemble..I started working on it then other projects took precedence, and it's been sitting on my work table for months. I'll finish it one day.
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