TVM Grand

[Number19]

I just drove over to Natchez, Mississippi and picked up my new rifle from Matt Avance. This is a .45 caliber Contemporary American longrifle, the standout feature being the tang mounted aperture sight. I decided to go this route because I wanted to be competitive in my gun club's monthly shoot and my 64 year old eyes require this advantage. The second architectural feature to be noticed is the premium black walnut stock carved from a blank that I provided to Matt. Finally I went with iron furniture simply because I like the look and I thought it would match well with the black walnut.

 

[Keb]

Nice gun. How's it shoot?

 

[Number19]

The shooting is still delayed. My powder will be in early next week, but I've still got balls and patches to order. And if you noticed, I still have the aperture disks to order. But I've got a bigger problem I'll just have to see how it works out. The front sight - I can't hardly see it. I may have to get one a bit wider. And I'm building book cases for my sister. I promised her that this would have highest priority and I wouldn't shoot until I had finished with this little (actually, big) chore.

This is my first BP, but it'll all come together and I'll get out to the range soon.

 

[wattlebuster]

She's purty. Let us know how well she dance's :thumbsup:

 

[Trench]

Congratulations on your first BP rifle! I like your choices of stock and furniture. :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

Man, what a time to have a standing commitment to build a book case...LOL.
Matt Avance / TVM makes excellent muzzleloaders, and the icing on the cake is that they understand customer service, stand behind their work, and are outstanding people to deal with.
Enjoy !
:hatsoff:

 

[Number19]

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Matt and his crew, that's Matt on the right and his son Richard on the left. If you noticed the barrel signature, Richard is the one who built my rifle. Toni, Matt's wife, has taken a job with the state of Mississippi, which is the reason for their move to Natchez. Matt's sister, Melanie, has taken on Toni's old work. There is also one other apprentice/assistant in the shop, and that is Rod.

Here are a few more shots this morning outside in the daylight.

 

[rabjr]

Very nice! Good luck with it. :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Matt and his crew, that's Matt on the right and his son Richard on the left.

Thanks...not being local to TVM all my dealings with Matt were phone & Email...never met him in person

 

[hanshi]

They certainly do a very fine job. Yours is a very nice rifle and the bit of carving really adds to the elegance of the piece.

I still haven't gotten use to their move to Natchez and sorely miss my regular phone conversations with Toni.

 

[Dutch35611]

Very impressive! Looks like some fine craftsmanship. :thumbsup:

 

[MikeC]

Very Nice... :hatsoff:

If you get an opportunity I would love to see a closeup or two of the rear peep sight.

 

[sepiatone]

Beautiful rifle...I especially like the carving. How long was the wait time?

 

[Number19]

Here's a close-up of the sight from above. You will notice I still have to buy the aperture to screw into the sight. When sighting in the rifle, by loosening the rear screw, and maybe just the front one alone, you have some horizontal adjustment for fine tuning. Major adjustments have to be with the front sight, but Richard said my front sight appeared to be centered fairly well.

When I placed my order the wait time was said to be 9 months + 3 months for the extra carving. Recently the wait time had risen to 1 year, so I expected 15 months; and this is what it turned out - a loooong 15 months.

 

[Number19]

 

[MikeC]

Appreciate the closeup shots. Nicely executed, you got a beauty there and I'm sure it will shoot as good as it looks.

 

[Deadeye]

Nice pictures, thanks, I haven't seen Matt in several yrs. He's turned a lot greyer than when I last saw him. His son does very nice work. I like your rifle. I'd love one like it. I don't care for your peep sight, a little bump and your gonna be shooting off in left field somewhere + most ML clubs, where I shoot, don't allow them.
Deadeye

 

[bioprof]

That's one of the better Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading rifles that I've seen. It looks like they really took the time to remove the excess wood from around the lock panels. Maybe they've been reading some of the posts here on this forum.

Note that I've spelled out the company. That's so that you know what company I'm talking about. There's two different TVM companies that build muzzleloaders. Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading and Tennessee Valley Manufacturing. Both produce a well-built rifle. I wished that one of them would change their name to avoid confusion.

 

[PA.1740]

NICE :thumbsup: !!!
Have Fun
Phil

 

[roundball]

Actually there are 3 TVMs...the 3rd one is:

Teche Valley Muzzleloading
http://www.cafepress.com/tvmstore