I built my two muzzle loaders about 35 years ago. My first was a percussion lock 50Cal TC Hawken and my second was a flintlock pistol. Those were the days when the kits came rough and required some time to build.
But I had always been fascinated by the Blunderbuss - a hand held flare muzzle cannon. I had wanted to procure and build a kit but they were SO hard to find, being constantly sold out. Plus they were VERY expensive, especially the ones with a 3-4" bore.
Then the Traditions K500 Blunderbuss kit came along. They sold out last year before I could get one but I got this year, no problem. I thought I would post my impressions of obtaining and building one:
Caliber - .54
Bore - Smooth
Stock - Solid Beech
Barrel - Steel
Lock - Percussion
Fit/Finish - excellent
Quality of hardware - excellent
Ease of assembly - in your sleep
BUT... what is wrong with the picture above? A percussion lock? You got it.
This gun needs a Flint Lock - period. Totally anachronistic with a percussion lock.
I went and bought an RPL-02-F Flintlock (excellent quality) and with minor fitting in the lock well and trigger linkage, it worked fine. And l am here to tell you that it looks MUCH more real!
I then stained the stock antique mahogany and buffed it out to make it look like it has about a 200 year old patina, And you'll also note that I browned the barrel.
What do I think? A heck of an easy kit built from quality parts. Just loose the Percussion Lock and it makes an excellent addition to you collection!
But I had always been fascinated by the Blunderbuss - a hand held flare muzzle cannon. I had wanted to procure and build a kit but they were SO hard to find, being constantly sold out. Plus they were VERY expensive, especially the ones with a 3-4" bore.
Then the Traditions K500 Blunderbuss kit came along. They sold out last year before I could get one but I got this year, no problem. I thought I would post my impressions of obtaining and building one:
Caliber - .54
Bore - Smooth
Stock - Solid Beech
Barrel - Steel
Lock - Percussion
Fit/Finish - excellent
Quality of hardware - excellent
Ease of assembly - in your sleep
BUT... what is wrong with the picture above? A percussion lock? You got it.
This gun needs a Flint Lock - period. Totally anachronistic with a percussion lock.
I went and bought an RPL-02-F Flintlock (excellent quality) and with minor fitting in the lock well and trigger linkage, it worked fine. And l am here to tell you that it looks MUCH more real!
I then stained the stock antique mahogany and buffed it out to make it look like it has about a 200 year old patina, And you'll also note that I browned the barrel.
What do I think? A heck of an easy kit built from quality parts. Just loose the Percussion Lock and it makes an excellent addition to you collection!
