Book to help building kit

[leparker]

This is my first post. I’m getting back into Muzzleloading after many years and am going to be purchasing a kit from Jim Chambers and was trying to determine what the best book to buy to help as I assemble it.

Any help would be great appreciated.

Parker

[Mattox Forge]

I recommend this book.

https://www.amazon.com/Recreating-American-Longrifle-5th/dp/B077T55CS4

The principles will be the same. You will not need to do as much work with the kit. I also recommend walking through the entire process without actually cutting anything as a dry run before you start cutting.

Mike

[Top Jaw]

There is also a 3 DVD video series “Assembling Kentucky Rifles from a Kit” featuring Ron Ehlert.  I have not seen these, but I do know that in them he puts together 2 Chamber's kits.  4.5 hours of instruction. 
Another option. 

[leparker]

Thanks guys, still thinking about this but will certainly explore these resources.

Parker

[rich pierce]

There are things to consider when building a gun from a non-CNC kit that are different from building from a blank. Mostly because the lock mortise is pre-inletted, and there’s room to finalize the position of the barrel breech. Don’t hesitate to ask questions.

[elkhorne]

Leparker,
Jim Chambers also has a good DVD by Jim Turpin where he puts a chambers kit together. It has a very important point that is not emphasized near enough in the video. Jim Turpin shows how he moves the barrel back about 1/8” so the touchhole does not go into the face of the breechplug. Otherwise, you have to drill your touchhole liner in touching the face of the breechplug and you have to file/grind a Vee in the face of the breechplug. One way I know this is I took a class several years ago at Jim Chambers shop in NC. He had Jim Turpin and a couple of other instructors helping with the class. Long story short, in that class we were not instructed to move the barrel breech back that 1/8” (as noted in Jim Turpin’s DVD) and the result was we all had to cut the Vee in the front of our breech plugs. Then to insure the touchhole liner did not interfere with the breechplug and fouling in the back of the breech, they used a tap that matched the breechplug threads and cleaned out the threads before replacing the breechplug. All this and it could have been avoided had we all just moved that barrel breech back 1/8”. See it all on Jim Turpin’s video sold by Jim Chambers. Good luck!

[Hatchet-Jack]

The Art of Building the Pennsylvania Long Rifle and The Gunsmith of Grenville County are also very good books.

[Eric Krewson]

There are tons of rifle building videos on You Tube, some are very involved with 40 or more segments.

I thought the above-mentioned books were good until I made a few scratch builds and realized they all had good information but sometimes it was hard to take the printed word and create a visual image to work from. I found that some of the advice was just plain wrong.

I even bought the Gunsmith of Grenville County video series and found it to be poorly edited, poorly shot and absolute junk. In one of the VCR tapes, just as an important part of the construction was about to begin, about 30 minutes of the previous tape starts back up and repeats, completely omitting an important segment. When I questioned Alexander about this flaw he said "we made a few mistakes in putting the segments together, end of story.

Watch everything you can find about kit gun building, Bill Raby on Rumble has some very detailed stuff, there are many others as well on You Tube.

Here is one on unboxing a Chambers kit to give you an idea of what you will be getting.

 

[wvcruffler]

This is my first post. I’m getting back into Muzzleloading after many years and am going to be purchasing a kit from Jim Chambers and was trying to determine what the best book to buy to help as I assemble it.

Any help would be great appreciated.

Parker

If you haven't looked at Jim Kibler's kits they are excellent and relatively easy. Chamber's kits take a little more work. Can't lose either way. Good luck with your build!
Phil

[Carl Young]

My opinion [everybody has one!] is the most valuable resource that you can acquire is an experienced builder as a mentor. You are in the heart of longrifle country, so it shouldn't be a difficult search. You have the chance to see the largest M/L show in the country, the Contemporary Longrifle Association "CLA" show in Lexington, KY August 8-9, 2025.

Jim Chambers is normally there (he's a great gunmaker himself!) along with the best gunmakers in the country. I have friends who drive from the far Northwest just for this show. It's about 3,000 miles for them, and they come every year. So no grousing about a couple hundred miles, or the ~600 miles for me 

Regards,
Carl

[Bill Raby]

Maybe this will help. Gun building videos that go into detail of every step.

https://rumble.com/user/BillRaby

[oldtravler61]

  Another good video to get is Building the Kentucky Longrifle by the late Hershel House. He shows you how he built his guns. One thing he will teach you. You don't need a bunch of expensive tools. There nice to have but not totally necessary when starting out.
  Last but not least find a good mentor, have patience. Enjoy your journey.

[Eric Krewson]

I loved the House videos but he was so skilled that he could make things like drilling pin holes with an electric drill freehand look easy, most of us would make a terrible mess if we tried the same thing as beginners.

[whetrock]

I loved the House videos but he was so skilled that he could make things like drilling pin holes with an electric drill freehand look easy, most of us would make a terrible mess if we tried the same thing as beginners.

Good point, Eric. I love that video. I've probably watched it 25 times. Had toddlers when I bought it years ago and used to watch it as I held them sleeping in my arms, so it brings back fond memories. Every time I watch it, I learn something new.
But if a guy is a new builder watching it, it's important to understand that Hershel worked very fast. And he seldom measured anything. And at least on the video, he wasn't great at breaking down details. But for general order of procedure and basic steps, I think it's hard to beat. And his personality makes the whole thing a treat. His videos are much more fun than any other videos I own.

[Jakob]

I recommend this book.

https://www.amazon.com/Recreating-American-Longrifle-5th/dp/B077T55CS4

The principles will be the same. You will not need to do as much work with the kit. I also recommend walking through the entire process without actually cutting anything as a dry run before you start cutting.

Mike

As someone who have recently finished his first gun. I would also add this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Gunsmith-Grenville-County-Building-Longrifle/dp/0985796901/

I found the two had similar, but slightly different description and approaches and when one wasn't explaining it in a way that I clearly understood, the other one would.
Also Mike Brook's tutorial on here, Smartdogs many excellent posts and Bill Raby's videos.

I also had Mike Millers Jaeger video, but that was very specific to what I wanted to do. (Especially modifying the lock).

For me, the hardest thing was to understanding the shape of the gun I wanted to build. At least with a Chamber's kit, you'll get 95% of the work done in that regard, but I spent many hours looking through books, scouring the internet, etc etc, trying to understand the shape and curves and translate those from a picture to a piece of wood.

[Mattox Forge]

For me, the hardest thing was to understanding the shape of the gun I wanted to build. At least with a Chamber's kit, you'll get 95% of the work done in that regard, but I spent many hours looking through books, scouring the internet, etc etc, trying to understand the shape and curves and translate those from a picture to a piece of wood.

I agree. I send a lot of time making drawings in my CAD program.

Mike

[Hatchet-Jack]

I agree with all of the above. Having a good mentor/teacher is priceless. Hershel's videos and Bill Raby's videos along with the books are also excellent resources. I'll add Mike Miller's video series on building the Daniel Boone rifle is excellent. Clay Smith has some videos on YT as "The Grumpy Gunsmith". Those are good as well.