Traditions Shenandoah

[Damascus]

What do you all think of this for a fairly inexpensive first flinter?

Traditions Shenandoah

What kind of reputation does Traditions have?



Damascus

 

For the price, I think you could get a Lyman Great Plains Rifle and you would be a lot happier with it. Some folks have had issues with Traditions guns, and I have an issue with their customer service and their advice given in relation to an issue with one of their guns, which was a flintlock.

If I were going to buy a new production flintlock today, I would be choosing from either the Lyman, a T/C, or a Pedersoli. The Pedersoli is the only one of the three that comes in a fullstock version, though there are companies that will sell you a replacement stock for the T/C to convert it to a fullstock. If you have your heart set on a fullstock rifle, the Pedersoli would be good.

Now, I'm going to say this: For what you'll pay for a Pedersoli, if you can stomach spending a little more, you can get a good, plain custom rifle from TVM. Something to think about. You might want to check out the links section and see what some of the builders have to offer.

:m2c:

 

One of my friends bought one of those models. I worked on it for several evenings.

Before you can force this gun to fire reliably you will have to remove the vent liner, cut it to half its length and drill the touch hole to twice its size!

The high comb on the stock prevents you from getting your eye in a position where you can actually look through the sights unless you tilt your head back to the edge of the but plate and hold the stock away from your shoulder about a foot! The classic "first shot with a B-B gun, head tilted back until you fall over" stance!

I could have built a good poor boy for the time, and money, spent trying to straighten out this gun's problems.

I am convinced that the only people that claim to have had absolutely no problems with their perdisoli flinters are the ones that never tried to fire them, never tried to look down the sights, and simply hung them on the wall when they got home from the store.

The best thing I discovered about this product was that someone else had spent their hard earned money on it instead of me!

:imo:

 

[Okwaho]

I agree with what has been written here. Joe Kindig Jr.once told me that one should sell all he owned and buy one pearl of great value and he was absolutely right.I'm not all that familiar with the TVM guns but I have seen numerous favorable comments about them.Two other builders whose guns I can recommend are Early Rustic Arms and Jack Hubbard both of whom are very competively priced but do have a waiting list which in and of itself should tell you something.I have been in this hobby for 21 years and have been a student and collector of Kentucky rifles for 41 years and one thing I always tell beginners in this area is to buy the very best you can afford and try to avoid anything you will have to defend.My first rifle was a half stock percussion Tennessee rifle Ca.1850 that I bought for $45.00 in 1961and sold later for a modest profit.I have have never sold a gun without making some profit but I seriously doubt the same would be true with the Traditions gun.If,however, all you want is a plinking gun then it would probably be OK. If you have any thoughts of reenacting then avoid it and others of that ilk like the plague.By the way the gun that Mr.Kindig offered me for $2,000 in 1962 and on which I passed because it was too expensive thereby prompting his quote above,would be worth about $12,000-14,000 today or maybe more.After all it was only an unsigned George Eister York County rifle in original flint.Just some thoughts on the gentle art of gun acquisition.
Tom Patton :m2c:

 

[john s mosby]

I had one of the Traditions guns, the PA model. It was a pretty rifle but it bruised the heck out of my cheek bone every time I shot it. The only way it didn't hit me hard was if I held my cheek way back near the end of the stock. I couldn't see the sights unless I held back that far anyway. I finally sold it.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Two of my friends have the Shenandoah flints. One replaced the lock with an L&R, which takes the enonomy out of the deal, and the other I converted to percussion which also would have been costly if I hadn't done it gratis for him.
The Pedersoli blue ridge is nice but pricy. As to getting a custom, besides the dollars there is the time, most will have you waiting 6 months to a year. There are some good deals on used custom guns but you never know how they've been treated. I'd never buy a used ML unless I get it cheap enough to afford replacing the barrel as most I've encounterd are pitted or ringed or both. External appearance may be like new but the bore may be a brick chimney.
Sorry for the gloomy outlook but you did ask. :m2c:

 

[Old Charlie]

Get the Lyman GPR. I have two of them and they are a good buy for the money.
Old Charlie

 

I have a Shenandoah flinter, and I have to tell you, I had a heck of a time getting it to fire. The lock was basically no good, and the flash hole was to low and to small.

As was mentioned in an earlier post, I finally changed out the lock to an L&R RPL and drilled out the flash hole a bit.

The rifle shoots great now, it is fast and very dependable. But as was also mentioned earlier what good is the orignnal cost if it doesn't work. I'd have to say either buy a used Shenandoah with a decent lock or save up a few more dollars over the next couple of months and go for a better rifle. I think you'll have a lot more fun in the end.

Rio

 

[ric]

Damascus, Big Brown left a lightly used,not abused,nearly new Trad. Shenandoah .36 flint on my doorstep this morning. It joins three other Trad. MLs,flint and caplock, and a GPR. They are all what I would call "store" guns. All were reasonably priced but only the Trad. Deerhunter was what I would call inexpensive. In the year and a half since I started muzzleloading I believe that all "store" guns must be tweaked or altered to some degree. The GPR needed a new part right out of the box as well as opening the vent a bit. This morning the Shenandoah needed to have the vent enlarged and coned on both sides, the front sight blade ran at a slight angle across the barrel and needed to be aligned. Tomorrow we see how she does at the range. And what else needs tweaking as well. Traditions ,and others, market good guns ; but they are not perfect and dealing with the imperfections and problems are part the fun of shooting these links between the present and past.