Flint lock help

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scrat

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Someone tell me not to buy it. I am really eyeballing this. Does anyone have any knowledge of it. Like to hear from you guys first.


http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_92_186_190&products_id=12450

FR0588 Traditions Kentucky Rifle - Flint $370.00



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Fullstock - 2 piece joined with brass plate and steel pins. Select hardwood with satin finish. Stock is 46" length with a 3 1/2" drop and a 13 1/4" trigger pull. Barrel is .50 caliber, blued, octagon, 33 1/2" length. 7/8" flats with a 1 in 66" twist. Front sight is a .350" doveteail, blued steel base w/brass blade. Rear sight is a .350 dovetail, blued steel, open sight. Features brass buttplate, toeplate, triggerguard, nosecap, thimbles and sidelock screw washers. Color casehardened lock w/engraved plate. Single trigger. 49" overall length and weighs 7 bs. Recommended load is 50 grains of FFFG black powder/ .490 round ball/ .015 patch. Manufactured in Spain.
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She looks like the twin to a CVA flintlock I owned years ago. I shot several deer with it and alot of "treebears." It was relatively accurate out to about 75 yards. I didn't like the "two-piece" stock but it was purely a peer pressure issue with me, everyone in our black powder club would tell me that traditional Kentucky Rifles were all one piece construction. I eventually gave it to my nephew who shoots it to this day......Ooops, I'd tell ya not to buy it but that would be lying and my Mama told me "never lie."
 
CVA sold these for years. Look in local pawn shops and you can probably find pretty good examples for $50-$100. No way are they worth $370 unless the dollar has taken a severe slide. These are OK beginner guns for a teenager who might shoot it a few times then lose interest. The barrels aren't bad, but the two piece stock is usually loose and the gun is difficult to take appart for a good cleaning. The locks are poor at best, built with no bridle on the tumbler. Frizzens are too soft, and geometry of the cock/frizzen allows the flint to hit too low to get good sparks. Frizzen friction makes this worse! Terrible trigger pinned to the trigger bar, 20# pull is normal. Basically, the lock is bad, bad, bad. Can you get it to work? Maybe with a lot of fussing and fitting, polishing, hardening, and careful fitting. Is it worth it? NO!

Here's the bottom line: a poorly made flintlock is a continous vexation. If your budget is small, try to find a good quality gun that's been used and cared for, or go with percussion. Any kind of crappy lock can smack a cap reliably, but making sparks with flint and steel and getting fast reliable ignition requires a high quality lock.
 
Thanks for response Curator. Ya i just saw it on Dixie and thought hey thats a heck of a good price. But glad i read what i did. What i would really like is a pennsylvania though
 
Scrat, you might look around at other vendors of BP rifles and see if you can find one at a better price. Dixie, much as I like them, seems a bit high on their goods.

I have a friend who has the CVA ancestor of that rifle, but in percussion. He was always quite pleased with the accuracy and won several matches with it. Sorry I have no better information for you. Perhaps others here can bear witness to the reliability (or lack thereof) of the flintlock.
 
Scrat,

Let me 2nd the suggestion of the Lyman Great Plains rifle and add--get the kit, save the lock for a spare and fit an L&R "replacement" lock. Hang the trigger a little higher in the stock and you will have a top-drawer flintlock rifle for under $500
 
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My Blue ridge flintlock is a nice sparker and is accurate as well. I also think those advocating for the GPR are giving sage advice. There are few bp rifles out there that can top them at that price! I would recommend the kit version. That way you can finish it to your liking, and it's cheaper. My Brother bought one completely built and the stock has a greenish hue to it:barf:.
 
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