I bought this same kit a couple of years ago, and the build results were good. Also bought my grandson a pistol kit and deerstalker rifle kit. I've gotta say, shooting muzzleloaders is about the most fun you can have with your pants on.
Loved your comment at the end, it's unique, and it's mine. I just did this build for my son for X-Mas. Your video(s) were great for those "tricky" spots during the build,, ie the barrel tenon, man, that was a bear!
Nice job!!! I built a Traditions kit a few years ago, and I can't even COUNT how many times I had to do just what you did...pull the barrel back out a bazillion times!!...and I would forget to put the ramrod spring back in too!!! 🤣
Even when you get your metal final sight, always cut the sight's dovetail to match what is in the barrel vs. the other way around. A new sight is a lot less expensive than a new barrel and it is a whole lot less work to file the sight's dovetail than it is to make a new sight from a piece of steel.... (yes, experience speaking here).
Great final video on this build. It looks fantastic. When you change out the sights for metal or more traditional ones, I hope you post a video on that process. I did notice when you were putting the barrel in about timestamp 13:30, a part on the work table that looked like that ramrod spring. At least you noticed it before assembling the entire gun. Look forward to videos of you shooting and sighting it in. Thanks again for a great series. I've heard the Jim Kibler kits are pretty nice and authentic. That might be a great series.
Really appreciate your videos. Building my first kit and learning a lot. Your videos make my "getting out of my comfort zone” a little easier to take that step. I’m building the same kit except mine is a flintlock. So, this is my first kit and my first flintlock. Thanks again
For a next project, consider the Traditions Kentucky kit, in flintlock form if possible. It has different challenges to be met. I'd like to see how you firm up the joint between the front and rear stock section, and drill for the barrel pins. Consider browning the steel parts, with hot or cold chemicals.
About 1980 I built a T/C Hawken rifle. The brass has aged about like what you have done on this kit. After finishing it and taking it to the range I noticed the sights were a bit wonky and I couldn't get it to shoot straight. I took the barrell to work and placed it on a granite surface plant and indeed the barrell was not straight. I sent it to T/C and received a regular production barrell that works beautifully. It's been so many years I barely remember building the rifle. Thanks for reminding me of the process. One difference is the T/C came with a walnut stock.
Dear Friend. You have a very nice rifle. As this rifle is manufactured in Spain by Ardesa and I know it well, since I have it in caliber 54, allow me to give you some advice. Change the sights for iron ones, buckhorn type, adjustable in height and also manufactured by Ardesa-Traditions. Put a good wooden ramrod, 10 or 11 millimeters thick. Beech wood can be better protected with linseed oil. Tighten the nipple a little more. You can reinforce the bottom of the stock with a brass toeplate purchased from Track of the Wolf. That rifle works great with real black powder, and 0.490 ball. Since the twist is 48" it is not necessary to use very heavy charges with good Swiss black powder. Use good linen patches, although cotton patches work very well. They must be 0.015 ", that is 3.5 tenths of a millimeter. Very good caps are those of RWS (German) or the equivalent of CCI No. 11 (American). Always fire two caps before loading to clean the nipple hole and side drum of oil. Moisten your patches with saliba or mink oil. You can use either No. 2 (3fff) or No. 3 (2 ff). For target shooting at 55 yards use 50 grains of gunpowder 3 FFF. You don't need more to group very well with a spherical bullet. You will have a lot of fun. To hunt with 80 grain charges use 2 FF . The rifle is very accurate for practicing shooting and hunting up to 100 yards. Clean your rifle with milk oil wetting the rags for the following formula: 1 part water plus 7 parts or cutting oil, machine oil or ballistol. Oil it with WD-40, after the barrel be very dry. Greetings from Spain. Saludos desde España.
@@nationalmuzzleloadingrifle8871 Sure will. Just finished it’s final assembly. I ended up do 4 coats of tru oil. My trigger guard required the same basic rear inlet modification but the front foot of the guard was actually still too long so I had to take a little off. I am pleased how it came out though. I plan on sighting it in this weekend. Sending pictures.
I have really enjoyed your videos they have been very helpful. I have recently purchased an Investarms .54 cal Bridger Hawken and plan to use your Gemmer and Traditions builds as reference. If you have any suggestions of other build videos that would be great. Thanks
Thoroughly enjoyed every step of the process, had an 1858 brass revolver I wanted to do the brass aging on and was to scared, really thinking of picking one of these up and making a pirate pistol or custom shirt barrel one, great work and very in depth advice
Really enjoyed this series and absolutely want to see more of the same. I have the Traditions Mountain rifle flintlock kit thanks to this series and just have to finish collecting the tools I need to get started on it. Looking forward to the shooting and casting videos you mentioned. I just reupped my membership to NMLRA and this kind of content excites me since I can never make it out to Friendship. Other maker kits I'd like to see done would be TVM, Jim Chambers, Track of the Wolf, and Kibler's. Kibler's especially since they do seem to be somewhat beginner friendly, aside from the price :)
Great series, it was thoroughly enjoyable. It would be great if you finished off your builds by doing some shooting with your newly built rifle. Well done.
Nice build. I'd like to build a .32 squirrel rifle, but there just isn't anything out there right now. If I could I'd like to use one of cherry blocks for the stock. I guess I could take the kit stock and copy it to the cherry. I would only oil it and let the natural colors of the black cherry come through. I've got a .50 cal for deer but want to get into black powder for everything. Eventually get a black powder shotgun.
Looks good overall, but my eye won't stop twitching over the unfinished barrel bed on the stock. Thanks for the videos. I am not confident enough to tackle one of these builds. And the entire stock will have finish :)
Thanks for the videos, just finished kit. Used your videos rather then the directions. One problem, I guess I put the ramrod spring in wrong and now I can't get it out!!
Nice, I like the detail on the dry fitting. I'm not all that familiar with Beech wood, but it looks to have a open grain texture. I would have used a good stain sealer that would help smooth out the contrasts in the grain (that's my preference) to go along with a tight grain wood like Walnut. I like Benite for sealing, if it is still available as the company went out of business (big box stores).
My barrel tang sits really deep into the stock, not flush like yours. I’m talking a quarter inch deep. Is that a defective stock? I’m going to have to move a lot of material
Do you really feel it’s necessary to age the brass? I have some old brass, and it tarnished like crazy all on its own. I think just make sure the factory coating is cleaned off is enough. If you can wait a year anyway. You’ve sold me on buying one of these kits. Not because I feel the need to assemble something (it’s not like I’d actually be making it) but because as you said, by the end, I’ll know the gun inside and out. Besides, with our current prime minister here in Canada, it may be the only thing we’re allowed by the time he’s kicked out.
The instructions for this gun are just bad. Never have built a gun before and there isn't much explaining about fixing a lot of the defects that come with it. I don't think without your videos it would have been put together and probably would've sat in the box on a shelf.
Lets not. I bought a kit and it has been sitting for years. Too much wood working and fitting barrel. I thought this was ready to assemble. Just buy one already to fire.
I didn’t see the rifle you have made on your site. Maybe you should not pass comments until you can show all of us your rifle to see where we went wrong. Armchair critics are a real pain in the ass.
I bought this same kit a couple of years ago, and the build results were good. Also bought my grandson a pistol kit and deerstalker rifle kit. I've gotta say, shooting muzzleloaders is about the most fun you can have with your pants on.
I'm starting a build and appreciate your input before I started
Loved your comment at the end, it's unique, and it's mine. I just did this build for my son for X-Mas. Your video(s) were great for those "tricky" spots during the build,, ie the barrel tenon, man, that was a bear!
Nice job!!! I built a Traditions kit a few years ago, and I can't even COUNT how many times I had to do just what you did...pull the barrel back out a bazillion times!!...and I would forget to put the ramrod spring back in too!!! 🤣
Even when you get your metal final sight, always cut the sight's dovetail to match what is in the barrel vs. the other way around. A new sight is a lot less expensive than a new barrel and it is a whole lot less work to file the sight's dovetail than it is to make a new sight from a piece of steel.... (yes, experience speaking here).
Great job, would love to see a blunderbuss build!
Me to. I've got a craving for a blunderbuss.
Looks nice! Lets see you build the next one from a blank. That is when the real fun starts.
You will have fun with that.
just ordered a kit and I'm super excited to get building.
Great job Ethan....looking forward to the next build....
My son and I are building the same kit. Thank you for all the awesome tips.
It came out really nice! Good work and thanks for making an authentic video.
Great final video on this build. It looks fantastic. When you change out the sights for metal or more traditional ones, I hope you post a video on that process. I did notice when you were putting the barrel in about timestamp 13:30, a part on the work table that looked like that ramrod spring. At least you noticed it before assembling the entire gun. Look forward to videos of you shooting and sighting it in. Thanks again for a great series.
I've heard the Jim Kibler kits are pretty nice and authentic. That might be a great series.
Really appreciate your videos. Building my first kit and learning a lot. Your videos make my "getting out of my comfort zone” a little easier to take that step. I’m building the same kit except mine is a flintlock. So, this is my first kit and my first flintlock. Thanks again
Looks like the blueing came out nice.
For a next project, consider the Traditions Kentucky kit, in flintlock form if possible. It has different challenges to be met. I'd like to see how you firm up the joint between the front and rear stock section, and drill for the barrel pins. Consider browning the steel parts, with hot or cold chemicals.
Loved watching you build this! Thanks so much for taking the time to bring us along with you!🙌🔥
About 1980 I built a T/C Hawken rifle. The brass has aged about like what you have done on this kit. After finishing it and taking it to the range I noticed the sights were a bit wonky and I couldn't get it to shoot straight. I took the barrell to work and placed it on a granite surface plant and indeed the barrell was not straight. I sent it to T/C and received a regular production barrell that works beautifully.
It's been so many years I barely remember building the rifle. Thanks for reminding me of the process.
One difference is the T/C came with a walnut stock.
Dear Friend. You have a very nice rifle. As this rifle is manufactured in Spain by Ardesa and I know it well, since I have it in caliber 54, allow me to give you some advice. Change the sights for iron ones, buckhorn type, adjustable in height and also manufactured by Ardesa-Traditions. Put a good wooden ramrod, 10 or 11 millimeters thick. Beech wood can be better protected with linseed oil. Tighten the nipple a little more. You can reinforce the bottom of the stock with a brass toeplate purchased from Track of the Wolf. That rifle works great with real black powder, and 0.490 ball. Since the twist is 48" it is not necessary to use very heavy charges with good Swiss black powder. Use good linen patches, although cotton patches work very well. They must be 0.015 ", that is 3.5 tenths of a millimeter. Very good caps are those of RWS (German) or the equivalent of CCI No. 11 (American). Always fire two caps before loading to clean the nipple hole and side drum of oil. Moisten your patches with saliba or mink oil. You can use either No. 2 (3fff) or No. 3 (2 ff).
For target shooting at 55 yards use 50 grains of gunpowder 3 FFF. You don't need more to group very well with a spherical bullet. You will have a lot of fun. To hunt with 80 grain charges use 2 FF . The rifle is very accurate for practicing shooting and hunting up to 100 yards. Clean your rifle with milk oil wetting the rags for the following formula: 1 part water plus 7 parts or cutting oil, machine oil or ballistol. Oil it with WD-40, after the barrel be very dry. Greetings from Spain. Saludos desde España.
Thanks for doing this series! It helped me greatly and I built mine right along with these videos. I also referred back to a couple of them. Thanks!
@@nationalmuzzleloadingrifle8871 Sure will. Just finished it’s final assembly. I ended up do 4 coats of tru oil. My trigger guard required the same basic rear inlet modification but the front foot of the guard was actually still too long so I had to take a little off. I am pleased how it came out though. I plan on sighting it in this weekend. Sending pictures.
I have really enjoyed your videos they have been very helpful. I have recently purchased an Investarms .54 cal Bridger Hawken and plan to use your Gemmer and Traditions builds as reference. If you have any suggestions of other build videos that would be great. Thanks
Thoroughly enjoyed every step of the process, had an 1858 brass revolver I wanted to do the brass aging on and was to scared, really thinking of picking one of these up and making a pirate pistol or custom shirt barrel one, great work and very in depth advice
Great job. I enjoy your video series. Let us know when you upgrade the sites.
Really enjoyed this series and absolutely want to see more of the same. I have the Traditions Mountain rifle flintlock kit thanks to this series and just have to finish collecting the tools I need to get started on it. Looking forward to the shooting and casting videos you mentioned. I just reupped my membership to NMLRA and this kind of content excites me since I can never make it out to Friendship.
Other maker kits I'd like to see done would be TVM, Jim Chambers, Track of the Wolf, and Kibler's. Kibler's especially since they do seem to be somewhat beginner friendly, aside from the price :)
Great series, it was thoroughly enjoyable. It would be great if you finished off your builds by doing some shooting with your newly built rifle. Well done.
Pulling on the lock hammer to remove the lockplate from the lock mortise is a great way to damage & loosen the fit between hammer & tumbler.
Really enjoyed these videos. Excellent job.
Well done!
Didn't notice if you used the little clip that helps hold the ramrod in,one off the front lock screws helps hold it in , yep cought it at the end .
Those guns shoot really well for the money
Looks good!
I thought you should've added the spring that holds the ram rod in place.
Nice job,good video !
Nice build. I'd like to build a .32 squirrel rifle, but there just isn't anything out there right now. If I could I'd like to use one of cherry blocks for the stock. I guess I could take the kit stock and copy it to the cherry. I would only oil it and let the natural colors of the black cherry come through.
I've got a .50 cal for deer but want to get into black powder for everything. Eventually get a black powder shotgun.
What sights did you use and where can I get them?I think the plastic ones are worthless as an opinion. Thank you
Looks good overall, but my eye won't stop twitching over the unfinished barrel bed on the stock. Thanks for the videos. I am not confident enough to tackle one of these builds. And the entire stock will have finish :)
How about a Fowler build? Many public hunt areas allow smooth bores over rifle barrels for hunting. Great job!
Hey thanks for sharing great video!
Thanks for the videos, just finished kit. Used your videos rather then the directions. One problem, I guess I put the ramrod spring in wrong and now I can't get it out!!
Have you considered a Bridger Hawkins kit???
Did you find a metal rear sight for the St Louis Hawken? Been looking to upgrade mine as well.
Nice, I like the detail on the dry fitting. I'm not all that familiar with Beech wood, but it looks to have a open grain texture. I would have used a good stain sealer that would help smooth out the contrasts in the grain (that's my preference) to go along with a tight grain wood like Walnut. I like Benite for sealing, if it is still available as the company went out of business (big box stores).
Do you have to shoot round Ball s or can you shoot the newer black powder bullet s out
Probably should have sealed all that raw wood so that it wouldn't draw moisture. That may cause a few problems over time.
Can you point me in the direction of new sights ? I have a traditions hawken woodsman
I’m 15 I built the frontier flintlock using your videos so thank you
What metal sights did you replace the plastic sights with
Can the 50 cal barnes bullets be used in this?
My barrel tang sits really deep into the stock, not flush like yours. I’m talking a quarter inch deep. Is that a defective stock? I’m going to have to move a lot of material
Do you really feel it’s necessary to age the brass? I have some old brass, and it tarnished like crazy all on its own. I think just make sure the factory coating is cleaned off is enough. If you can wait a year anyway.
You’ve sold me on buying one of these kits. Not because I feel the need to assemble something (it’s not like I’d actually be making it) but because as you said, by the end, I’ll know the gun inside and out.
Besides, with our current prime minister here in Canada, it may be the only thing we’re allowed by the time he’s kicked out.
Does this gun need a license?
The guys at c andrsenel are twisting over your tiny screwdrivers
I built one of this kits but; I hate plastic on an antique gun replica. ughh!
Stain job looks kinda not great. Pre stain and maybe some finishing oil would really make it look complete and at least protect it a bit
Kentucky long riffle
The instructions for this gun are just bad. Never have built a gun before and there isn't much explaining about fixing a lot of the defects that come with it. I don't think without your videos it would have been put together and probably would've sat in the box on a shelf.
Ac
Lets not. I bought a kit and it has been sitting for years. Too much wood working and fitting barrel. I thought this was ready to assemble. Just buy one already to fire.
Those kits are really lacking in quality.
I just don't believe it, so much work and the effect is poor. Maybe next time it will be better. Greetings
I didn’t see the rifle you have made on your site. Maybe you should not pass comments until you can show all of us your rifle to see where we went wrong. Armchair critics are a real pain in the ass.
Had to skip 8 videos to get here , you could of condensed a bit better