What do I do?

[Rtaylor]

Just bought a Pedersoli Kentucky rifle kit. It came assembled. No instructions for finishing. Have no idea what to do. Can't find any help online. I'm about to send it back out of frustration. The barrel is already pinned. Do I take it apart to do the stock? What do I do with the stock? How do I finish it?

 

[BruceHH]

The rifle will require disassembly to finish. There are books and online tutorials of wood and metal finishing, but you will just have to continue your research to find them. W/O having any information as to your background or skills, I will make two recommendations. One is to send it back, get a finished rifle and start watching/learning for the future when you may want to attempt this again. Or, if you are serious, tell us what part of the country you are in and we can try to find someone local with experience to help you. It would be very time consuming for someone to type out a complete response on how to complete your kit.

 

[Elkhorse]

You tube

 

[William Lincoln]

Pedersoli makes great kits. The wood and metal need finishing up.
They do the main in-letting, you just finish up. Go on Youtube to
Kibler's site and start there. Many other how to videos. Do not
panic, you have a high quality kit. Finish it with pride.

 

[Rtaylor]

Thanks!

 

[Rtaylor]

I was able to take it apart after watching a video. Started sanding after watching a video. I left the brass on because someone said the stock should be smooth and level with it, I tried covering with tape but just ended up sanding away the tape. The brass is scratched now, guess I will need to buff them out.

 

[Jim Wag]

Yup
Keep going

Jim in La Luz

 

[Rtaylor]

I picked the Pedersoli because it seemed easier since this is my first one. Bought it as a retirement project. Retired a month ago.

 

[Eric Krewson]

The first attempt is a bit intimidating, particularly if you have never broken down a gun before. I felt the same way when I disassembled my first flintlock lock, I could do it with my eyes closed now but at the time I had to look up some reference material to get it back together.

On your brass, you can sand it with 400 or 600 grit sandpaper followed by emory cloth and get out most of the scratches. If you want it really shiny you can go over it with a Dremel buffing wheel and some rouge.

I polish my brass one time just before final assembly then let it age over time to a well used patina and never touch it again.

I use the above procedure on the brass in the picture, including the buffing wheel.

 

[TNBandit]

I'm not a gunsmith and I don't play one on tv. I had never even thought of attempting to build one from a kit but saw these online and thought what the hell, it's only money. So I ordered one of these 200+ year old badly neglected Nepal Brown Bess "kits" and spent countless hours watching you tube videos and asking a ton of questions on forums like this one. I made a few mistakes along the way and had to fix some things a more experienced builder would have got right the first time but I got it done in spite of myself. 4 years ago on the 4th of July I fired it for probably the first time in 200 years. If I can do this, you can build a kit that was made on modern machinery by a great company who has already done all the hard stuff for you. Dive right in and post lots of pictures of your progress.

 

[Rtaylor]

The first attempt is a bit intimidating, particularly if you have never broken down a gun before. I felt the same way when I disassembled my first flintlock lock, I could do it with my eyes closed now but at the time I had to look up some reference material to get it back together.

On your brass, you can sand it with 400 or 600 grit sandpaper followed by emory cloth and get out most of the scratches. If you want it really shiny you can go over it with a Dremel buffing wheel and some rouge.

I polish my brass one time just before final assembly then let it age over time to a well used patina and never touch it again.

I use the above procedure on the brass in the picture, including the buffing wheel.

View attachment 109383

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[Crow-Feather]

Just don't rush it. Set a goal for the day and quit when completed. A tired stressed person makes mistakes that a fresh mind doesn't.

 

[Wcerin]

YouTube is a great resource but if you are interested in reading on building the long rifle a book called Recreating The American Longrifle by Buchelle, Shumway and Alexander is an excellent resource book that will serve you well for finishing yours and possible future builds. Hope that helps.

 

[Eric Krewson]

And the most important thing about breaking down a gun; use the correct size screwdriver on all of your screws, very important! Buggering up screw slots will really mess up a gun.

I bought a fancy wood handle gunsmith screwdriver set only to find out the screwdrivers didn't fit hardly any of the slots on my guns.

I bought this cheap set from Walmart and found that the bit selection fit all of the screws on one of my normal rifle builds. It was $9 when I bought my set, they are a little higher now. It appears that Walmart has these sets on line but not in my local stores anymore. They are available on eBay, Walmart on line, Optics Planet and a bunch of other places.

DAC Gunmaster 33 Piece Professional Gunsmith Driver Set

 

[Brazos John]

Last Christmas, I showed my 2 boys the Brownell's big set that I wanted. No sense trying to be economical.
They went together, and had it sent to me for Christmas.

 

[springfield art]

Just bought a Pedersoli Kentucky rifle kit. It came assembled. No instructions for finishing. Have no idea what to do. Can't find any help online. I'm about to send it back out of frustration. The barrel is already pinned. Do I take it apart to do the stock? What do I do with the stock? How do I finish it?

Wow. You do need a lot of info, but this is a good site to start. Don't be hasty, do homework and reading before doing anything. (It's kinda cool it came already assembled even though it was a "kit". I guess they meant it needed just finishing.) Good luck!

 

[Pete G]

The Dixon book is a good place to start reading.