TVM Early Virginia Kit build.

[silly goose]

Ok, folks. I received this kit for Christmas last year. I studied RAL, the Gunsmith of Grenville County, and the builders forum here for about a year prior. This kit took me about 120 hours to complete, to be honest, I stopped keeping track at about 70 hours. I'm not looking for accolades, because I know I screwed some things up. Some things I plan on correcting after this deer season. I learned a tremendous amount. All in all a great project.

Again, she isn't perfect, but she's mine. That means something to me. 50 cal with a 36" barrel. I am really hoping to seal the deal with a nice fat doe this season.

I'm glad that I took on this project, scary at times, but I got through it. I do have some things that I would like to correct a little later on. Overall I am happy with my effort. I'm getting softer in my old age, a couple years ago I never would have said that.

Can't wait to take her to the range.

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[silly goose]

Forgot to mention, I am most happy with my dealings with TVM. They are good people and put out a good product. I hope to see how much I actually learned when my .36 SMR kit gets here for this Christmas.

 

[jamesthomas]

That's a very nice looking rifle! :thumbsup: I really like the color!.

 

[Zonie]

Forgot to mention, I am most happy with my dealings with TVM. They are good people and put out a good product. I hope to see how much I actually learned when my .36 SMR kit gets here for this Christmas.

Ba-Hahahaha!

Another one hooked! :rotf:

This gun building stuff is easy to get started but it's hard to quit. :rotf:

 

[wattlebuster]

I think ya did pretty darn good :thumbsup:

 

[silly goose]

Thank you, fella's.

Zonie, I can't explain the sadness as I neared completion. That of not having such a great project to look forward to. I worked on this every chance I could from Christmas to May, and then from September until now. Too busy during the summer.

I want to get this .50 to the range and enjoy it for a couple months through deer season and even spend some time with it chasing bunnies with my beagle. Then take my time with this SMR, and try to do a real nice job with it. I'll have quite a battery after the .36, seeing as I now have the .50 and a .62 smoothbore.

Love making smoke on a frosty morning.

 

[TinStar]

Ya done good Goose!! Nice plain, "git er done" rifle!! I like it a lot. :hatsoff: By the way; there is no twelve step program for flinters!! :rotf:

How are you feeling lately? Didn't you have back problems for a while? Shoot me a PM, OK?

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

 

[gsday]

That's a nice looking first attempt.

You can always go back and fix the things that you don't like.

 

[silly goose]

Fascinating hobby isn't it?

Had two fusions in my neck last Sept, this rifle was good therapy. Just a little bit at a time.

 

[Roguedog]

Hey man, I think you done good! That is a fine looking rifle. This is an inspiration to me as I'm thinking of getting into the gun building game and will likely start with a kit myself. You can take satisfaction and pride in your accomplishment!

Jeff

 

[silly goose]

Wow! I just got back from the range. I only got 4 shots off before it started to rain. The first 3 shots were touching at 50 yards, and the fourth was about an inch to the left. Obviously this is the first load combo I've tried. I used 70gr ffg, denim patch .025 uncompressed and lubed with a 6/1 ballistol concoction and air dried, and a lee round ball that mic's out at .487. The ball takes just a little whack to start. I also swabbed with an alcohol patch between loads.

I'll tinker a bit even though I'm pretty happy with that kind of shooting. I'm not hunting x's, I'm hunting deer, and rarely shoot out to 50 yards.

I will probably have to file my front sight a bit as this group is about 7" low, and just off center, maybe a half inch. My mind is at ease, she's a shooter in my book.

 

[steved]

Nice work and nice shooting. Good luck with her in the field.

 

[MSW]

nice looking rifle!

now that you're hooked, I can only warn you that it's true: there is no recovery program. the recidivism rate on flintlock building is 100%!

good luck, and

make good smoke!

 

[bpd303]

I think you are being a tad too critical of your build. I would be proud to own her.
Be safe & have fun.

 

[S.Kenton]

I honestly don't see anything really wrong with that rifle... I really like the color! :thumbsup:

 

[silly goose]

Most of my life I have been overly critical of my work. It is a big drawback for sure. In fact there was a point with this rifle that I considered sending this rifle back to have TVM finish for me. I had to remind myself that when I decided to build this gun, I said outloud "its not going to be perfect, but I will do the best I can." Overall I really like the rifle, but heres the dinger.

I had her finished once... and then came the ramrod which I should have included in the "in the white" build. Nope, it was an afterthought, what could go wrong with the ramrod?

Well... I found that my entry thimble was a little bit cocked, and decided to reinlet. Yup, now I have to take the wood down to match. Hmmm, I may as well resand the whole rifle so it turns out evenly. This is where the dumb comes in.

I should have left it all together to bring the wood and metal down evenly. Foolishly, I took it apart and sanded with only the entry thimble in place. I refinished the entry thimble. Upon reassembly I now found the hardware to be a little proud. Not the end of the world, but a bonehead maneuver, and something that can still be fixed.

So there you have it, my biggest drawback to this build. Like I said earlier, I didn't post this gun for a pat on the back. Some of the builders on this forum have the talent and the eye to tear this gun up, I know, and I'm ok with that. I posted this to show some of the folks who have been sitting on the fence, debating to try their own hand, and to give them the incentive to give it a whirl. I had no prior gun building experience. But I did also study, online and through books for a year or better before giving it a go.

And, this is a biggie, TVM makes a great kit in my opinion, with a lot of the real difficult work completed for you. Trust me, a lot of work needs doing, but dollar for dollar, a TVM kit is a great value. And you should end up with a fairly nice gun.

Trust me, there are a lot of different ways to screw one of these up, and you'll find a few of them, but you will also learn how to fix them. This gun is mine, there may be many like it, but this one is MINE.

 

[silly goose]

And thank you all for being so kind.

 

[Pioneer flinter]

Hey goose did you order your kit in the white or just the basic kit?

 

[silly goose]

I ordered the basic kit, not the builders kit. Which is a little bit cheaper, but there is quite a bit more to do. Nothing wrong with that if you are up for it. I think TVM's basic kit is a great way to get started, with some of the more difficult tasks completed for you. Still a lot of work to do, and plenty of things to screw up.

In my opinion, the $100-150 dollar difference between the two is a bargain for all that they do.

Feel free to pm me if you have any more questions.

 

[Pioneer flinter]

that is a beautiful rifle no dought about it!