It took me 15 months, but the Bucks County Kit build is finally done, and I learned some lessons along the way. This was my first build in 23 years, and when I started it, I wasn’t trying to make a rifle I could be proud of. I just wanted to make a rifle that I wouldn’t be ashamed of…which is quite a different thing.
I’d made a dozen rifles in the past, and I hadn’t liked any of them, which is why it had been so long since my last build. But I guess I learned a couple of things over the intervening decades. Not only am I not ashamed of this rifle, but I’m actually pretty proud of it…despite its many faults.
I know that some of you have taken me to task over calling it the “Track of the Wolf Bucks County flintlock rifle kit”.
You feel that I am mis-leading the uninformed into thinking that what I built is faithful rendition of the rifles built in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the 1790 to 1810 period, when, in fact, my rifle has precious few actual Bucks County features.
I understand how you feel, but, let’s face it, I had to call it something, and “Generic Novice Flintlock” lacks cachet. The fact is, I purchased Track’s Buck’s County flintlock rifle kit, and that’s what I built. If it didn’t come out looking like Andrew Verner built it himself, the fault has to be shared between both the folks at TOW and myself.
On the TOW side of the ledger, their parts are pretty generic. They have few, if any, unique Bucks characteristics.
On my side of the ledger there are Bucks County features that are simply outside of my skill set, for instance the huge tails on many Bucks County entry thimbles are beyond my ability to make. Likewise I wanted to do fleur de lise finials on the lock molding, but I chickened out. That was a good thing because even simple beavertails were tough for me to make. I also chipped out the wood on the Bucks style toe plate, so I replaced it with a straight toe plate. I wish I hadn’t messed that up.
But there are other things that I could have done better, and that I would do differently, if I were doing the build now. For instance, even though the TOW butt plate did not have a thumbnail finial on the return, I could have shaped one myself. I just didn’t think of it at the time. I would definitely do that, if I had it to do over. Also I should have used a screw, rather than a pin to secure the rear of the trigger guard. I also wish I’d cut off the front of the end cap to make an open end cap, but I was ignorant of that feature at the time.
I didn’t make the patchbox myself, but, if I had it to do over, I’d have cut it down to a narrower configuration.
And, most of all, I wish I’d never let that forstner bit kick out and chew up the stock…man, I really wish that hadn’t happened.
For those of you who watched the video series from the beginning, Thanks for sticking with it.
I never planned on doing a detailed, step by step build series. I thought an un-boxing video would be interesting, and maybe another half way through the project, and one after it was built. But it didn’t work out that way.
A few times I just stopped posting videos because, based on the lack of feedback, I didn’t think anyone was really watching. But then I’d get emails asking me when the next video was going to come out, and that would motivate me to edit the footage, and put one out. So thanks for keeping me motivated.
The next project will be a .40 caliber Lehigh County rifle. Hopefully I’ll do a little bit better on it than I did on this one.
