the Official Un-Official " Newbie Introduction Thread.

[moleeyes36]

Greetings Everyone,
I have been hunting and using cap lock and inline muzzleloaders for about 12 years now, but I am interested in flintlock rifles for hunting and some target shooting. I've been overseas for the past few years and I am looking for something of a hobby. I have been considering building a kit gun for a while now, so I decided to join instead of just lurking.

I live in the area of western Pennsylvania and would be interested in shooting clubs ands builders in my area. I'm not quite sure where this is going to go for building as I'm not really on a fixed time schedule at this point. I had considered buying a used flintlock to see if I like it before I take the plunge and try to build something.

Anyway....that's me!

Pete 

Welcome, Pete.  I'm glad to see you're interested in trying flintlocks, you'll love them.  PA is a really active muzzle loading area with a lot of shooters and clubs.  If you'll send me an email I can send you a list of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association club shoots for PA.  New shooters or observers are always welcome.  There are also several builders in PA.  Ron Luckenbill (Lucky R A here on the ALR) is located in Emporium, PA.  Ron is an extremely talented builder and a really nice guy.  I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with him in his shop about six weeks ago getting some really valuable instruction.

If you're thinking about building a kit, do your homework and remember that they are really a parts set with everything you need to build a rifle.  They are not just an assemble and shoot kit.  They are however a good way for someone without a lot of tools and experience to get started because much of the "heavy lifting" has been done.

Mole Eyes

[Hadden West]

Hello,
I'm from Southern Va., am 63 years old. I am a retired machinist, both general machining and CNC. Had some gun smith training, back in my early machining days. I've hunted West Va. and Va. since the mid 60"s with a wide variety of firearms and bows. I shoot flintlocks and caplock rifles and hand guns. My closest thing to building, was a Tip Curtis rifle in the white. I like to rework firearms, that need to be brought back to life. I shoot a lot, and have been a member of a shooting range for 30 years. I call myself, the master of disaster, when it comes to repairing things. My friends think I can fix anything, and I'm stuck with trying. That probably comes from growing up in West Virginia, where we had to fix things or do without. I love Art, whether it be paintings, music, machines, or especially guns.

[NCRD]

Hello
I am new to the forum, my name is Ron and I am from the foothills of NC. I have been reading the forum for awhile and finally joined. I have just started researching long rifles and trying to make up my mind on what to build. I have ordered a few books, been collecting tools for a few years and working on getting my first kit if I talk myself out of doing a scratch build. I enjoy working with hand tools, and doing things myself. I would like to find a mentor if anyone knows of one or just someone to get me started in the right direction. I also enjoy walking in Kings Mountain Battle Ground and the history of NC long rifles.
Thanks Ron

[Acer Saccharum]

Welcome aboard, Hadden and NCRD!

I hope you guys enjoy yourself here and find useful information. This site helped me more than I can account for. Causes me to push my skills every day. 

Welcome, and enjoy!

Tom

[strawder82]

Hello all I am new to the forum and could use some advice. I am looking to build from a kit and have been looking at Jim Chambers and Track of The Wolf. Does anybody have any experience with kits from these places? Thanks

[Karl Kunkel]

Welcome, you can't go wrong with one of Chambers "kits".  However you  must understand that these kits (TOW, Chambers, and the rest) are all more of a component set than a true kit.  They are not drop in, snap together type kits. They all require some degree of inletting, carving, scraping, sanding, plus some metal work drilling, taping and filing.

[DAU]

Like a lot of  the other newbies I too have read here for a long time, trying to gather info on builds, history, styles of guns............and realizing that the more I read the more I realize I don't know much. This place amazes me with the wealth of information that is available.

I hunt with bow and muzzle loader(inline) but have recently bought a 32 and 36 TC renegades(grean mt. drop in barrels) and I also have a Lyman 50 cal great plains percussion that I shoot for fun. I went with a friend to a black powder shoot near Des Moines Ia a few weeks ago and I want to go back, met some pretty nice guys and saw some really nice guns, which just makes me want to build my own.

I took a trip over to Pecatonica River gun shop in Rockford IL a few months ago and couldn't get out of the place without buying a beautiful piece of wood and some hardware, I'm going to build a Tenn. long rifle, I choose the Tenn. partially because I fell in love  with the chunk of wood and also I like the simplicity of the design. Always liked  the browned look over the bluing and brass.

I collect antiques and my favorite thing to buy is anything tiger maple, which has led me to buy several old Kentucky long rifles over the years, I know nothing about them(other then they look cool!) but am curious, as soon as I figure out how to post pictures I will post them and see if anyone can help me identify the style or other info regarding them.

I have a million questions about what I'm dong but they'll have to wait, don't want to write a book on the first post.

Thanks, Doug in Iowa

[moleeyes36]

Doug,

Welcome.  If you go to the Tutorials area and pick the Miscellaneous Tutorials section, Acer has a couple of posts on how to post pictures on the forum.  The first one is on using Photo Bucket and the second one is on using Tiny Pic.  Tiny Pic is much easier to use than Photo Bucket; you won't have a problem with it.

I've built some Pecatonica kits for people and they are a good value.  Richard at Pecatonica is also a pleasure to work with.  I hope you're building that Tenn. rifle as a flintlock.  Those cap guns are just a passing fad and won't last .

Mole Eyes

[aross007]

Hello all, my name is Alan Ross - I've been here for about a week, asking several questions and getting good information, so I thought I should go through this initiation.  I'm a retired computer engineer, spent my time mostly making computers for satellites and teaching others how to do same.  My major black powder activity is NMLRA competition with pistols.  I've also been a woodworker for many years, so I enjoy making my own guns.  I made the pistol in these pictures for next years NMLRA western states raffle, and before anyone asks, "no, I did not do the engraving - that's by Kaimiloa Chrisman."  The gun is a .36 cal, and intended to be for NMLRA traditional pistol matches.  As you can probably tell, it isn't representative of anything other than a 2013 Ross.



My current project is a .50 cal Tip Curtis "kit" in Ash - its coming along, and I'm learning not to obsess about "perfection" but it is slow going.


Thanks again to all who take the time to share the experience and expertise on this site - I lurk and sometimes contribute to many sites in different disciplines, and this is the best for usefulness and civility - much appreciated!

Alan

[moleeyes36]

Alan,

I like the pistol design.  The nice hefty butt should make it comfortable and easy to grip. 

Mole Eyes

[aross007]

I have a Hege Siber (sp?) percussion target pistol that I like the grip on, so I started with that.