[roadgrime]

I am looking to put together a relatively inexpensive muzzle loader kit this winter as a project so can anyone recommend a decent inexpensive kit? what do i need to look for in a kit.

anyone have good links or books i should read as well?

if i need to put this in another forum let me know.

[Third_Rail]

Should've gone in the Blackpowder forum, that's where you'll get some answers. PM a mod to move it, I suppose.


I'm actually curious as to what would be the best too, I'm just buying a CVA revolver to see if I like BP shooting first.

[RandolH]

Traditions, CVA and Deer Creek are the three I would reccomend. What are you looking to build?

[Skofnung]

I can tell you who to avoid. Don't buy a kit through Dixie Gun Works.

I bought a three band Enfield kit from them a few years ago and the stock wood was horrible. It WAS walnut, but that is about all I can say in it's defense. It was not immediately apparent that the wood was faulty, and I set to working it with a rasp. Not long after, I noticed that there was a small hairline crack right above where the lock goes. By the next day, the crack had gotten bigger.

I called Dixie and told them the problem. While they were polite about it, the pretty much told me to take a hike. Obviously it was my fault. :rolleyes:

Well, I had to make do, so I went ahead and repaired the crack and moved on. As the project progressed, it cracked in three more spots. All of the cracks were along the same grain line, and said grain line moved in a slow corkscrew around the piece.

Well, I went to a re-enactment up in Georgia and Dixie had a tent set up there. I walked in and showed the piece to the man. My repairs were fairly well done, and he gave me the "what are you complaining about?" brush off. I politely told him that I would never buy another kit from them again anf left.

I have yet to fire a ball out of this rifle. I am scared the stock is going to splinter under recoil and impale me. So far I have just used it to burn powder at re-enactments.

Sorry for the long winded post. Others may have had better luck with Dixie, but they dropped the ball in my case.

YMMV

[roadgrime]

RandolH
Basically I am looking to build a rifle for taking to the range and hunting. For Idaho this means "traditional muzzloader"

To qualify as a traditional weapon, a rifle will be a muzzeloader with external hammer, iron sights, .50 caliber or larger, using flowable powder or synthetic, flint or percussion cap, firing a patched round ball.

In other words, if it does not look like or work the same as the rifles the trappers carried when Jim Bridger was doing business in these parts, it is not traditional. No sabots, no pelletized powder, no inline ignition, no electronic anythings.

so pretty specific all things considered.
I am not looking to reproduce a period piece unless the price is right. I have looked at the CVA bobcat with the wood stock and so I am leaning towards building something along those lines.

[redneck]

The Lyman Great Plains rifle is the best you can get and isn't all that expensive. I would highly recommend one, I've actually made a few posts about them in the BP forum and others have chimed in and given them a lot of good feedback as well.
The kit is an easy build. You would have to do something really stupid to not end up with a functional rifle. At the same time, you can go all out and turn it into a REALLY nice rifle as fancy as you want.
I can recommend the log cabin shop www.logcabinshop.com , they have a store in Lodi Ohio, didn't see where your from. Thats where I got my Lyman kit and all the necessary stuff to shoot it. Good prices and great service.

[RandolH]

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=25373642

Sounds like what you're looking for, but it's priced a bit higher than a Bobcat. If it weren't for the fact that you want a kit I'd say go down to walmart and get one of their blackstock bobcats for ~$55.

I'd also take a look at the kits offered at http://www.thunder-ridge-muzzleloading.com

[patentmike]

Check out trackofthewolf.com