As you can see I have one on the bench now, the following is my opinion of it,
It's a basic set that can make a very good rifle, In my opinion it can make a better rifle than some of the more popular semi custom outfits, if the builder does his part.
architecture...
It's a shaped but non inlet early Lancaster Pattern likely from Pecatonica River. It's oversize. The stock is rather ambiguous. The web between the barrel channel and ramrod groove while not as thin as lot of guys like it not excessive and is not unlike some original rifles.
It's a straight barreled rifle. It will not have the exact same grace and handling of a swamped barrel rifle. A straight barreled rifle can still make a great rifle. John Armstrong and Nathaniel Rowe did pretty good. There are some aspects of construction that are simplified with a straight barrel.
Here again if the builder studies architecture....does their part, it can make a fine rifle.
wood...
It's likely red maple. It tends to be soft. When the barrel channel is squared and the breech cut in, this wood cuts like....Bread. Try to inlet a barrel breech into a fresh French loaf.
I have been used to hard sugar maple, cherry and walnut, This stuff requires uber sharp tools, stropped often. It requires a light touch not only because of the soft wood but because it's shaped and is not as resilient as working wood in the square,
Once you know how it works it's fine. Personally I found out working this stock that my tools were not as sharp as I thought. I could get away with it with better wood but in the end working this has been of some benefit for me.
castings...
The worst I have ever seen....
Not only are they rough with black casting sand still clinging, the trigger guard was cast asymmetrical in the mold. Meaning, there is a seam line where both halves were not in perfect alignment.
Very Colonial!
Really this feature is the only true Colonial thing about this set.
With that said.
The brass quality is good. I have heard that Tracks more expensive investment cast brass is more of a bronze alloy, hard to work, a strange color and somewhat brittle. Their cheaper castings seem to be soft and very workable.
In my opinion you can lean so much about rifle building from those rough castings.
This is what you learn....
Taking a imperfect and inherently flawed raw piece. Working it into something that looks near perfect...the best it can. It's not perfect....it never will be but you can make look like it is. It's not going to be symmetrical but you can make it look that way. The human face is not symmetrical so this does not have to be either.
Like I said this aspect is very Colonial. You will file for hours and hours.
I have nothing against the Kibler. It's a great product. I quite literally could have put a Kibler Colonial together in the same time it took me to file that Track Colonial trigger guard.....that single piece.
Do you want a fine rifle or do you want learn about building? This is the thing...building a rifle like this enables you to build a Kibler in the time it takes to file a rough casting.
Locks and triggers...
Being a pre shape non inlet, you can choose any lock. I chose a Chambers Golden Age. I chose the Bivens trigger that I'm going to remove the lug and pin into the wood.
One good thing. There's no problems with lock or trigger location. Some pre inlets have poor lock location. On a set like this you place the lock. You have to lay it out like a blank.
working it...
Like all pre carves there are some problems. You can't hoss it or you will beak stuff. It will be harder to cut for the buttplate as the stock is not flat. that's more of a challenge. Since it's pre shaped and fairly thin....you have to be careful bringing the barrel rails down.
I'm getting to the point I have to decide what this rifle is going to be. Most of the time I have a style I'm emulating. Since this stock is so ambiguous it can be a rudderless ship in that respect.
All in all it is what it is. It can make a very good rifle in my opinion.
The work involved is incredible. It's as much or more than a blank build. One thing that helps especially for a new builder is that the thing kind of looks like a rifle rather than a block of wood.
Is it the best.... absolutely not.
The best pre shaped come from guys like Dennis Glazener...Gillespie Rifle Works or David Keck..Knob Mountain with his great castings and wonderful (Fred Miller) stock patterns. Many are taken from originals. These stocks come with the buttstocks shaped to the rear of the lock panel...in the square forward, Both of those guys can get better wood.
If you want a truly historical preshape non inlet..... go with fellows like that,
