Track Of The Wolf Gun Kits

[PaulAllen]

Hi Everyone,

I am brand new to the world of muzzleloading and want to buy a Quality flintlock rifle. I was thinking either GPR or Austin & Halleck mountain rifle. Both rifles get mixed reviews on this forum, which scares me. So I am thinking of getting a kit from Track Of The Wolf as it seems their kits are of quality componets. I mean, why start off with some junky mass produced sub-rate factory rifle? I have rebuilt several car engines and also done some woodworking, so I think I can do a fair job of assembling a kit gun. So the question is: Would a kit gun be a good way to start if I want a decent quality gun? My thinking is spend a couple hundred dollars more now and have a good gun that will not be a pain to learn how to shoot. Any advice appreciated.

Paul

 

[Birddog6]

No........... Buy a GPR kit & build it & go from there. Kinda like buying a small block Chevy engine kit ya assemble & learn on..... Don't go for the $250,000. NASCAR engine right off the bat to learn on..... And the GPR is the Best Buy for the Money in a low priced manufactured rifle. IMHO

Also, the GPR, T/C, CVA, etc. Kits are rifle Assembly kits. You just sand, brown, stain & finish. You basically need no tools & can do it on the kitchen table...... The "Parts Sets" offered by Tracks, MBS, & etc. are not plug & play kits, these are a bunch of parts that Can Be made into a rifle it properly built Into a rifle, but not even close to the same thing as the Lyman or CVA assemply kits..

You need to learn about BP & about shooting a BP firearms & the basice & etc. Get that under your belt & then if you want more of a challenge, go for a parts sets.

:thumbsup:

 

[mark fish]

I have been building and shootin muzzleloaders for only a couple of years.My first was a GPR kit.It turned out to be a good quality shooter. Then I took the plunge and built a flintlock from scracth. If you are patient and interested in building, buy the blanks and parts then plan on spending 100 plus hours. If you want to shoot soon, the GPR kit is a good quality shooter in about 30 hours. I never tried TOW kits but I assume they would be somewhere between these two extremes.I am discovering that gun building requires me to SLOW DOWN. If you are anxious you will be dissapointed in the results. What ever your choice have fun with it.

 

[mikelange]

I agree with Birddog and Oldguard. I, also, came into muzzleloading with experience in rebuilding motors (motorcycles), woodworking, and having been a gun nut all my life. I still destroyed two handmade stocks in the process of creating my first rifle, then had to buy a new frizzen to replace the one I ruined with repeated heat-treatings and applications of Kasenit, trying to get it to spark. When the gun was finally done, it was, to put it kindly, butt-ugly, so it wasn't long before I rebuilt it -- then rebuilt it again. You indicate you're going to build a percussion gun, rather than a flinter, but there are still a multitude of things to go wrong that, without some experience under your belt, you won't even be aware of until after they've happened. A factory kit like the GPR saves you all that. The time I spent trying to figure out how things were supposed to fit together -- and then how to get them that way -- was time I could have been spending at the range, enjoying a gun that actually worked at the same time I was learning what made it tick.

 

[Swampman]

The Chambers kits aren't that hard. At least you'll have something when you're finished.

 

[rich pierce]

I understand the Chambers kits are not that hard as far as actual assembly is concerned- fitting the parts into place and making a working gun. However almost any kit will have "extra wood" that allows the maker some leeway for style. Without study and experience it's really easy to turn a $800 kit into a clubby, awkward-looking rifle, but at least it would work fine. I'm only working on rifle #9 as far as scratch-built guns are concerned (didn't count 1970's and '80's kits) and am still learning and improving on getting the lines right.

All the advice above is good. Start with a GPR kit or if you really want to "build" then get a simple gun, like a NW Trade gun, that was always quickly assembled and made sturdy, with lines that are not too subtle. Then work up from there. BTW, traditional Hawkens are probably the hardest guns to build, so save that for somewhere down the line.

 

[rudy parnell]

You might want to do a search of this subject. It has been discussed many times. The suggestion that stands out in my mind is, that you might want to consider starting with a pistol. I believe that a flintlock kit that could be assembled quickly and fired would "wet you whistle". Good Luck.

 

[qcml]

I got a pistol kit from this company and I'm very pleased with it. Great people to work with.


Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading, Inc.
14 CR 521
Corinth, Mississippi 38834

Or call us at: 1-662-287-6021



Send $5.00 for our complete catalog

 

[jdixon]

Paul:
The starting small idea that everyone is telling you here is the way to go. In fact, I would take it a step lower, start with a Lyman GP pistol, even cheaper, less cying if you mess it up. Then, when you finish a rifle later on, you have your hunting back-up gun already done.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

You've gotten some good advice from folks who know what they're talking about. However, I do see your point in choosing to start with high quality components. A Lyman GPR, no mater how skillfully assembled, is still a GPR. It will function and shoot OK, not great but OK. It will be kinda sorta correct for a fur trade rendezvous but half the guys there will be shooting the same thing. Assembling a GPR kit really doesn't teach you much about rifle building, so, I'd recomend you jump right into the deep end and sink or swim.
My first build was from not even a parts kit but just a collection of parts. It turned out darn nice, even with a bit of relief carving. I had researched enough to be more or less PC and you can never be PC enough for everyone.
It was a reliable, accurate, unique and attractive rifle, one of a kind and I built it. :grin:

 

[jdixon]

One observation about Track kits should you decide to go with one. I have one with a maple stock - the stock seemed prone to taking dings and scratches. I don't mind much, its my hunting gun, not a pretty wall hanger and it shoots like a dream. A buddy of mine was talking with a custom gun builder down in Tennessee the other day about building him a flinter in the white. That guy made the comment that he would not use Track maple stocks as the maple wood they use was in his opinion "so soft a heavy fly walking across it leaves a mark." Now these are just two isolated comment/observations. Others may have a different opinion, just something to think about when ordering a kit from Track if you do.

 

[Cherokee]

I have one of these stocks right now IM working on and it does seem soft.
Now as kits go I wouldnt build one from the ground up like a TOTW kit.
Theres so many little things you dont think of when buying the parts they call a kit.
I have been an experienced gun smith an modern guns for years. I have built guns from parts kits timed them fitted parts headspaced etc.
Building this kit is like pulling teeth.
Plan on buying some of the parts 2 time sjust because of fitting issues or bolt types not working when you need another bolt head design to look right etc.
I would rather buy something in the white witht he stock cut for the butt plate already.
IM cutting dovetails and drilling and tapping the lock and trigger.
I knew there would be some of this but man it gets old when you wish you could be shooting haha

 

[aragorn]

Some factory guns are quite good, and the advantage of a factory gun as a starter is that you get stuck into shooting straight away, and learn the ins and outs of muzzleloading and flintlocks before going the the drawing board and making a gun. My experience of shooting and cleaning my factory rifle has informed my building in a number of ways. I starting muzzleloading exactly a year ago with a Pedersoli 45 flint Kentucky, shot it a lot and learned a lot, then got a Chambers kit about six months ago which I'm still working on. Doing it that way also meant I had a lead-up period of several months to beginning my build when I read the basic books and spent a lot of time on the Builders forum - there's lots to learn and absorb, which takes time, and that probably saved some blunders (not all!) when I began building.

 

[riarcher]

Wow! "Factory,, sub rate" that's cutting it hard! :bow:
But you're right,,, sorta,,,, ie, some "Factorie's" are more "sub-rate" than others.
If you think you've the "savy" go for it. Get a componant set from TOW and get the curly maple blank.
Guarrenteed,,, give you something to cuss about. :hatsoff:

 

[SquirrelFlinter]

When I was 17 I got my first kit. It was a T/C Hawken. I was very impatient and worked on it till it was done. It turned out all right but as I look at it today there are a lot of things that could have been done taking time. But none the less I was shooting it in a few days. I just started building a Chambers kit this week (now I’m 26) and it is a lot different with some inletting and all that. It is a major change to the TC kit. It is getting the fit right that is beating me. But I am learning. If your doing this to get into shooting go for the GPR kit. If your going into it to Just go shooting with a nice rifle have someone make one for you. And if your going into it for shooting and to build more I would still start with the GPR kit and learn the basics and to see how everything goes together then move on to the component sets.

 

[PaulAllen]

Thanks guys for all of the feedback,- I am still mulling this over and have decided to do more reading here on the forum before making a decision.

Paul