Price expected for decent ML

[jimh]

just curious to what i should expect to pay for a decent ML. i'm not talking extra's just the gun. also what brand do i want to look at. i'm leaning towards a more traditional look, but cap & ball no flint. this might be something i try to persue this summer it depends on expenses and stuff. more important what should i stay away from at all cost?

[Purebred Redneck]

There's so much information and not enough time to type it all.

Since you are leaning towards traditional, I'll focus on that.

There are not a whole lot of choices.
I will say --- do not mail order because most companies have very poor quality control and you may have to go through a couple. (CVA and Traditions being the worst --- nothing wrong with the guns if you can get a good one)
You could probably be ok with a Thompson Center or Lyman buying sight unseen.

I personally believe all the caplocks are pretty much the same as far as accuracy. The more money you spend, the better "quality" you get in terms of finish.
You're usually not getting a better product though.

There are 3 styles of caplock rifles
1. A traditional long barrel with crescent buttplate (ussually brass). I believe traditionally you hold the butt on your arm as opposed to the pocket on your shoulder. You can do that as well.

2. A traditional long barrel with standard butt (go to the thread where we are talking about our first centerfire deer. you'll see my muzzleloader.)

3. A short barrel rifle with a standard butt. Some would say they aren't as accurate. I tend to agree to an extent.

Knowing you, you'd probably go with a rifle like thompson center or lyman --- which is the upper end of the market. Cabelas rifles are made by one of these companies (I think).

Personally, I would probably go with a cheaper rifle like a Traditions. As a beginner, you could very well screw up the rifle by not cleaning it correctly. Rust and pitting are normal to some degree, but one bad cleaning job can ruin the gun.

I get off work in a few minutes so some time tonight I'll post some more and give you some links to guns that I think are worth looking at.

Do you know what your budget might be?
It's pretty much 100 bucks all the way to maybe 500.
So if you think there is a max price (or even minimum price if you don't want a cheap gun), that narrows your choices down.

[jimh]

i want tiger maple stock for starters.

[jimh]

am i an idiot for wanting to maybe getting one of those kits and put together my own? thought that might be a good way to learn about the rifle.

[Purebred Redneck]

For the money your saving, it will quickly be spent up in building the kit. You'll have to finish the stock and blue all the metal.
It's going to take a long time.
Personally, I'd buy the finished rifle

www.tcarms.com/firearms/mzTraditional.php
About $600

www.lymanproducts.com/lymanproducts/index.htm
Long barrel about $455
Short barrel about $310

I'll refer you to cabelas to take a look at their name products - which are in the same price range as the 3 above rifles.
Be sure to hit "traditional rifles and shotguns"
I think the only one really worth looking at is their hawkin for $340

Traditions has a cheap hawkins is $270. They have a better one for about $360. Both look like the cabelas. I think I'd rather go with cabelas though (assuming they are not traditions).

If you want Tiger-stripe maple, then your only choice is Austin Halleck. You'd have to buy it from something like gunbroker. I wouldn't do this only because you aren't going to find any small pieces if something breaks because the company went under about 1 1/2 years ago. I don't know what the price is but it's most likely well over $500.
www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=210648

I would take a look at lyman or cabelas depending if you want brass.

[jimiowa]

Jim: I've been working on mine, pretty slow and steady since April.
I don't think I could put a price on the experience.
Like Red said it's not probably going to save you money, by the time you get it finished. But it's going to be cool to say I built it myself. If you are going for a kit the GPR is probably your best value. When you get to lookin in the BP specialty catalogs, like Track of the Wolf, Chambers offers the caddilac of kits, and several other specialties. Their kits are really parts sets. Meaning you get a precarve stock and all pertinent hardware.
This mean your going to do a lot of stock shaping, drilling and taping, maybe cutting dovetails etc. When you build one like that you built it from parts.
If you think you would like to do that, I'm going to reccomend you get a few books.
1) The Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle by Dixon.
This book if followed is all one would need. aprox $20
2) The Gunsmith of Greenville County by Peter Alexander aprox $40
This book is a treasure, and a great read. He goes into a lot of detail about making your own locks, triggers and hardware(called Furniture in the hobby). Not a requirement but worth every penny if your going to build or are just interested in how their put together.
Get at least a couple catalogs.
Track of the Wolf has a great catalog. Minnesota
Dixie Gun works is another, their in Tennese( but not far from St Louis as I recall.)

I've rambled long enough, but for store bought you can't go far wrong with a Cabelas Blue Ridge or a Lyman GPR.

[deputydon]

The nice thing about buying @ Cabela's is their return if you don't like it condition!!!! And you can go handle the gun before buying it. Bill can lead you to which one will fit what your looking for. The Maple stock might be tough w/o spenting big bucks on a custom rifle!!!

[jimiowa]

deputydon said:

The nice thing about buying @ Cabela's is their return if you don't like it condition!!!! And you can go handle the gun before buying it. Bill can lead you to which one will fit what your looking for. The Maple stock might be tough w/o spenting big bucks on a custom rifle!!!

Your right about the Tiger Striped Maple DD. pretty rare off the rack, which is why I rambled on about building one.

[deputydon]

Or maybe 2M's might have something laying around ?

[klsm54]

If it's a maple stock you're hankerin' for, here is a dandy at Cabela's.......Pedersoli Rocky Mountain Hawken

In case you missed the price, it's a cool grand... You might do better building your own if you want a nice maple stock.

Here is the Pedersoli Link if you want a closer look....Pedersoli Maple Hawken

[Jack]

And on sale, too!

[klsm54]

You have wood options with "Track of the Wolf" kits. You could get fancy or extra fancy maple for a few extra bucks.

[Purebred Redneck]

I still think cheap and simple is the way to go for this one.

You kids might want to shoot or hunt with that in the next few years --- and I wouldn't even trust myself with a good stock.

I'd buy a cheap one and use it for a few years. Let the kids use that and then go buy a good one for you once you become familiar with it.

[jimiowa]

But I think building would be a good project to share with the boys too!

Most important thing is to do a lot of research.
Either tonight or tomorrow I'll pm you links to some sites I frequent on muzzleloaders. This is my night to go to Bookies and work on mine, so it may be tommorrow.

[deputydon]

klsm54 said:

If it's a maple stock you're hankerin' for, here is a dandy at Cabela's.......Pedersoli Rocky Mountain Hawken

In case you missed the price, it's a cool grand... You might do better building your own if you want a nice maple stock.

Here is the Pedersoli Link if you want a closer look....Pedersoli Maple Hawken

Call me silly but I LIKE the walnut stocked one better!!!