Traditions Kit gun at Cabela's

[BJC]

For a few years I have noticed the Traditions Kit Rifle at Cabela's and am wondering if it is considered a serious rifle or not.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/sho...hotguns/_/N-1115738/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104641380

To me the two piece stock with a brass connector looks like a cheap toy not a serious rifle.

Has there even been a real rifle made like this with the brass connector? Can a person make something out of wooden dowels for the connection and make it look a little nicer?

I am sorry if I have hurt somebody's feelings but I just do not understand how they can sell such an ugly rifle.

If somebody could trace out the brass connector part onto wood and add dowels and then blend in the section with a good stain job it may look ok. Has anybody here done that and how did it look?

 

[54ball]

I really have a soft spot for those rifles. I guess it goes back to when I was 15 and the old CVA booklet You Can Shoot It...featured their Kentucky. I thought it was so authentic from the angle it was pictured being held by a Mountain Man/Pioneer wearing a gigantic slouch hat.

They have always had a reputation for accuracy.

To answer your question....Yes there are some rifles that were made in the period that had two piece stocks some with a brass spacer. Was it common?...Nope.

A brass wear plate(Very common on early 1800s rifles) along the bottom of the fore stock would help disguise the spacer.

Honestly I would love to do one one of these days and build it like real longrifle. It does have some limitations. From the wrist to the butt it's thin and smallish. From the lock panels forward to the muzzle it's overly robust and heavily built. By far the greatest fault in architecture on these rifles is the web (wood between barrel and ramrod groove) is too large making the rifle somewhat slab sided no matter how it's reshaped.

I have seen some built that you would not recognize as a CVA /Taditions Kentucky. One that sticks out had two brass eagles incorporated into the spacer, was thinned down and reshaped on the front, had rococo carving and a sculpted wooden cheek piece was inlet and glued on the left side. It looked like a real Kentucky longrifle. I believe it was member Captchee that built that one.

It's C a p t c h e e not Capt Cheeze ???

Really they can be a blank canvas.

 

[Zonie]

To each their own, as they say.

Yes. At least one rather famous full stock rifle with a brass strip connecting the front and rear stock exists and it was far from a toy.
More than a few men and beasts died from it.

Joe Meek (1810-1875) a Mountain man owned a gun he called "Old Sally".

Scroll up or down a bit to see it in this link
https://books.google.com/books?id=...ge&q=Joe Meek + mountain man + Sally&f=false

The gun you mention is made in Spain by Ardesa.
They were imported by CVA back in the 1970-1990 era and are currently imported by Traditions.

The rifle is a plain no frills gun and the recent ones have evolved from a rather crappy gun in the 1970's with their very poor locks into a fairly good one. At least as far as the quality of the barrel and lock is concerned.

The stock wood is hard and it doesn't take oil based stains well.
Alcohol based stains work quite well on the wood.

As with all of the "kits" produced by the big makers like Ardesa, Pedersoli, Uberti etc, they are production guns that were taken off of the assembly line before they were finished.

They usually take between 15 and 35 hours of work to build, depending on how good of a job is done.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

A brass wear plate(Very common on early 1800s rifles) along the bottom of the fore stock would help disguise the spacer.

What do you mean by wear plate, and how would that disguise the spacer?

Thank you.

 

[coloradoclyde]

For a few years I have noticed the Traditions Kit Rifle at Cabela's and am wondering if it is considered a serious rifle or not.

What it may lack in aesthetics, it makes up for in affordability, dependability, and accuracy.

The brass spacer becomes less noticeable as it ages...

The CVA, Traditions, Jukar, Pedersoli, etc...Kentucky style rifle is still one of my favorites to shoot. And I have no shortage to choose from.

 

[54ball]

A brass wear plate(Very common on early 1800s rifles) along the bottom of the fore stock would help disguise the spacer.

What do you mean by wear plate, and how would that disguise the spacer?

Thank you.

Sometimes these go from trigger guard to entry pipe and shapes vary. It could help draw the eye away from the spacer.

 

[BJC]

But what is the point of adding a section of wood to the barrel if it is not connected to the back half?

 

[necchi]

Silly, it wouldn't fit in the box.

 

[mooman76]

Also easier on a manufacturing stand point. I'd rather have a whole piece of wood too but I don't think it really looks all that bad. If you are that much against it, don't buy it.

 

[S.Kenton]

But what is the point of adding a section of wood to the barrel if it is not connected to the back half?

 

[S.Kenton]

Silly, it wouldn't fit in the box.

 

[S.Kenton]

I had a few of these and done away with the brass spacer on one of them. I simply made thin spacer out of wood, stripped the stock lightly sanded the whole thing with 300 grit and stained it very dark with an alcohol based stain/ concoction, defarbed the barrel, browned it and tarnished all the brass. It did turn out real nice.....but in the end it was still just a CVA Kentucky rifle. I guess what I'm saying is that even after I done all that work to it, I didn't really increase the value and I think I may have broke even when I sold it.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

Ok, thank you.

 

[coloradoclyde]

\

Sometimes these go from trigger guard to entry pipe and shapes vary. It could help draw the eye away from the spacer.

Looks to me like a way to repair a "Bust out" from drilling the ramrod hole.... :hmm:

 

[DickS]

I have never done this, but have seen the results.
The splice is covered with a piece of veneer. Dress the stock down over the splice, a few inches either way. Epoxy on a wrap of veneer that is a close match to the stock. Wrap the area thoroughly with rubber banding, to get the veneer in close contact from end to end. Dress the veneer down to the original contour. Stain and finish. If the ends of the reduced area of the stock are a bit uneven, the joint will be wavy, and look like grain.
I saw this technique used to cover the splice when an antique had its stock "stretched" to original length. It was a very effective repair.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Personally, yes it's a serious rifle! Just as deadly as the next.

Allot of people look down upon them, while they certainly are not my favorite rifle to look at they are darn accurate. One of the most accurate guns I have is built off a traditions barrel, wouldn't trade it!

Honestly for the price you can find them at they are neat little rifles to build with allot of potential for adding custom touches. My dad and uncle built two back in the 70's before I obviously was even here on earth. That old CVA was one of the first black powder memories I have.

Guess I need to build one for my daughter... Ole shucks! :grin:

 

[Cowboy]

I love my CVA Kentucky!

Nothing fancy about it and I don't mind the brass spacer neither!

I hit anything I aim at. Never has failed me. What more can you ask of your rifle?

Respectfully, Cowboy :hatsoff:

 

[azmntman]

CVA KY .45 kit was my first as well. I LOVED IT! And as a 10 yr old I didnt know dan'l boones rifle gun didnt have a spacer so I didnt care. One memory is the first range day. The pressroom foreman (who was my "pusher" and got me hooked) and I had a HECK of a time getting it to fire the first time. Course I dont recall we ever cleaned it before loading (he probably thought I did and I didnt cuz it had never been fired). Likely a heck of alot of grease burned good n hard in there that day. Once it fired it never did misfire. Dont recall where it ended up but as per most of the ones that got away I wish I had it back. Been considering another .50 in kit form (flintlock).

 

[frogwalking]

I guess the answer to your question depends on who is answering. When I was first getting into shooting muzzle loaders. I would have traded my little brother for one of these. Today, if I had one, I would be happy to give it to you if you promised not to bring it back.

 

[uno676]

I did one of these kits it was fun to do perfect for a beginner. Mine turned out good and shoots well. I would suggest doing it for low cost starter. Impresses city people when you tell them you made it.