Rifle Re-stock

[Cajun72]

Well have my first muzzleloader that got me into this hobby.
Purchased at a Mt Man event. .45 cal, G.R Douglas barrel 42" long, Chambers flint lock, poor boy stock in iron. Want to put it in a cherry stock ,poor boy style and have better lock area
and trigger guard. How hard is this to do? Or should I send it to a professional?

[Goo]

Watch some videos, there are plenty of them out there then decide for your self, if you don't like the results you can always put all the parts back together into the original stock.

[FALout]

You sound iffy about building a rifle.  Why not just build/have built a new rifle and sell off the old one?  It can be done, I’ve taken many used parts to build rifles but there are lots of issues that will come up.  Any “Professional” would be smart to charge extra for added time to deal with these issues.  Let’s start with the barrel, likely will need to replace lugs for pins and hope they are in good locations.  Then the hole in tang, will it also work when everything put together and needs to be “buttoned up”?  Now the lock, will the holes for the bolts work with new stocks layout such as ramrod hole?   This keeps going on with every item being installed on new stock.  Sorry if this seems negative but there’s lots to consider with reusing parts that have been used already and maybe improperly.  Now on the other hand, it could be a good learning experience on how to build and deal with problems.  Personally, I think you just shoot what you got and build a new one, learn from the first.  If it’s about money, this isn’t a cheap hobby.

[rich pierce]

Like Bob indicates in some ways a restock is the same as a scratch build and in some ways it’s harder. About all you gain is that things are polished and the sight dovetails are done and it’s sighted in. On the other hand if it doesn’t come out like you hoped you have the other stock so it’s an opportunity to try building a longrifle.

[tiswell]

It is not a trivial undertaking but doable. If you have a set of chisels, a couple gouges, rasps, a vise, pistol drill, drill set, countersinks, saw etc. and if you plan to do the barrel channel and ramrod groove you will need several additional tools. If you are only interested in one gun, in my opinion it is not worth the investment in tools. You would be money ahead to look at a kibler southern gun and see if he will leave the buttplate inlet out of the gun. If you have the tools and the desire to build your own gun, forget everything I said. This forum is the best resource that you will find.

                                                                                                                                  Blessings, Bill