Purchasing tools as needed is good advice, and as burnt mentioned take note of the tools mentioned in your videos and books.
A Chambers kit will not require a great many tools to complete, it comes fairly close to being "done" right out of the box, but there is still work to be done (of course...). Lets take it by building steps, first tools needed will be for inletting the barrel, tang, lock and butt plate.
Bench chisels - you may as well purchase a set or six or eight, plus a 1/16" wide chisel - you don't have to spend a bundle on these, the less expensive one's will get the job done. At this time too you will want to go ahead and purchase your sharpening stones, get good diamond ones from DMT, the imitation stones made in china are dirt, a waste of money. Buy the good stuff at least six inches long, possible double sided. you will need the stones to get the bench chisels into shape for actually doing work. They need flattening on one side and sharpened razor sharp. You will also need a strope - you can make them out of a pine board and an old belt. You charge the storp with green oxide. You gotta learn to sharpen both bench chisels and gouges - here is a link to a Paul Sellers video on sharpening chisels:
What I mean by "bench chisel"
- The most used for barrel/tang work will be your 1/8" and 1/4" bench chisels.
- For the barrel channel you can make a "scorp" out of an old file using a torch, bench grinder, files, and stones - scorpe's are scraping tools used in the barrel channel, handy items. I'll bet one of your books shows them.
The first task for a Chambers build will be to finish lowering the barrel and, more than likely, to move it backwards a bit, how much depends on where your touch hole will live in relation to the lock pan (it's position). You will want a wood mallet too, a 1 or 1 1/2 pound size. You can make them, there isn't much to them, just a stump of wood really. Think of it this way; you are going to need practice with those new chisels and the #3 sweep I mention below - take a length of hardwood log and make yourself a mallet or two.
Tang - after the barrel comes the tang inlet. Carefull. It is done with a knife (I use an exacto, any sharp knife will do) and chisels, I often use a 1/4" wide #3 sweep (gouge) for a tang inlet also. I use the #3's for quite a lot of things, I have the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/8's wide number three sweeps, use them a lot doing lock mortises. Be sure to file a draft on the sides of the tang before inletting, it doesn't take much, about 2 degrees. As far as gouges go there are several good brands to chose from, all are good, those making them live by their reputation. They always need fine tuning before actually using them (sharpening skills - gotta have them!
After the barrel and tang are in it is time for the lock. For this you will most likely need to slice a sliver off here and there so the lock plate fits, and to deepen the mortise while bringing the lock bolster in next to the barrel flat. Fiddle around with the lock plate to determine its final position, you will see what then needs to happen. Put the internals back on the lock and begin deepening the mortise. When the lock bolster is fit tightly to the barrel flat, and the lock works freely in the mortise you are done.
Either move to the trigger plate and trigger (this is where that 1/16 bench chisel comes in), or do the butt plate next (will need rasps)... but we've spent a lot of your money, but got you started on the build, so hit me up later when you are ready to spend more...
Go slow, be sure. Good luck with your first build.
dave
ADD; the above was yesterdays post, below is newer stuff.
Gouges - you have some time before needing gouges for relief carving. Buy good tools from a well known maker, gouges are not inexpensive but they will last you a lifetime. Don't buy "sets," sets contain maybe one or two useful gouges but the rest are thrown in because they are slow sellers. Learn how to sharpen them, like your bench chisels they need to be super sharp to obtain acceptable results. Don't be intimidated by their odd shapes, get right into reshaping them and giving them a keen edge before actually using them, if you screw one up it is not hard to reshape it using those DMT diamond stones.
Files; I use Gorbet brand swiss files for the most part, they are not cheap but come in shapes and sizes convenient to use. The gorbet #2 and 3's are the workhorses. I do have some of those mexican made Nicholson files, in several sizes, for rough work - don't buy the nicholson's made in Brazil, they are not worth the money.
That butt plate; The idea is that the edges of the plate fit perfectly to the wood. The first step is to file the insides of the brass butt plate casting as flat and square as you are capable. Next pencil center lines on the top of the comb and bottom of the butt stock, and, mark the butt plate centers. You are going to need some type of marking or blackening agent, I use an oil lamp with the globe removed to blacken parts for inletting. Folks use all sorts of blackening agents, some even use lipstick (I do not at all recommend it). Still in all it is a personal choice. Back to that butt plate - level the finial on the stock so that it completes a straight line along the comb of the stock and the toe is inline with your penciled centers. This involves both rasp and chisel work, sometimes only using the tip of the chisel as a scraper. See the gap between the end of the finial and your wood - bringing the butt plate forward solve that.
Once you have that butt plate finial aligned and level move to the rear and, testing often with the blackening, bring that butt plate inwards until it is in full contact with the wood. You may, and probably will, encounter trouble areas, this is normal. If you find that you are having to remove more and more wood at the front of the finial then something is wrong, stop, and figure out what is really going on. Point being that the black will keep printing long after you should be done with the whole thing, and perhaps whatever is causing that wobble just needs a bit of brain power to correct. At the very end it may be necessary to anneal the butt plate and do some gentle persuading with a hammer to achieve that perfect fit. Gentle persuasion because you don't want dents in your butt plate that can't easily be removed. In fact this is tink... tink... tink work and obtaining that final fit is not something you hand over to the neighborhood gorilla.
Nose cap; the kit comes with a cast nose cap. You can use it, or fabricate your own. If you use it you will likely never use another cast nose cap. I have done exactly one, the one that came with my Chambers Lancaster kit, my first rifle. In our Tutorial section Acer has a great tutorial on making nose caps.
You're making progress. Ask questions when you hit a hard spot - plenty of willing guidance on ALR.
dave