Traditions Kentucky Rifle Kit?

[Ranger99]

i know this is off-the-wall, but
you could always have it digi-cammo
hydro-dipped. you would probably start
a trend, seeing as how almost all
things 21st century are fad based.


you just never know. . . . .

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

hydro dipping involves water and water & wood dont go to well together.

[Ranger99]

just a crazy thought.
i see all kinds of metal gun parts and
wood stocks and forearms dipped.
i wouldn't myself, but just throwing that
out there. i'd krylon whatever myself first
before i'd pay 100.00 on up to dip something.

[woodchuckssuck]

As a gun owner who prefers Blued steel and WALNUT....

NO!!!

This gun will be blued steel and oiled walnut. Well, Minwax Antique Oil Finish. Its oil and lacquer both, so beautiful but tough. I swear by it, nothing else has a place in my house for finishing walnut

The kit shipped Wed, from Nashville, TN. Will be here Friday!!!! I guess I won't be bored this weekend! Although Saturday is supposed to be in the 50's, in January, in NY state, so I will spend time at the range I think.

I was looking at the .22 I re-finished with Birchwood Casey blue...I kinda like how it looks...I think it will look good on a muzzle loader, but I do need to try oxpho blue first.

[Swampman]

The new Birchwood Casey's bluing doesn't work near as well as the old formula.

[woodchuckssuck]

hmm, how new are we talking? I have some that is likely 6+ years old. Seems to work OK.

I think I am going to order some Oxpho Blue anyway, I have wanted to try it for some time now, just never bought any. I have some other things to order, 16ga wads, lead balls, patches. I will throw Oxpho blue in with them

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

i used the BC perma blue almost 2 weeks ago for the first time. It did great. Its all about prepping the barrel and having the surface clean. Buff with steel wool in between coats. I did 3 coats, certainly could do more for a rich dark black/blue, but i wanted mine to be a worn blue.

[Swampman]

hmm, how new are we talking? I have some that is likely 6+ years old. Seems to work OK.
It's probably the good stuff.  They reformulated it and it's not good anymore.

I think I am going to order some Oxpho Blue anyway, I have wanted to try it for some time now, just never bought any. I have some other things to order, 16ga wads, lead balls, patches. I will throw Oxpho blue in with them

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

only 3 coats and this is buffed back greatly. Its a very good cold bluing. Get the surface clean and be patient, clean and buff between coats and sooner or later it will be where you need it.

No streaking at all,


better close up to show how i buffed it back for a worn look.

[woodchuckssuck]

That is looking pretty nice! I'm thinking about doing the endcap and some trim in a "bleached white" I've seen someone mention of it on another forum, they wiped the parts in bleach and wrapped them in a bleached rag overnight and they get a grey/white steel look to them. Looked nice, and really set those parts off from the big blued barrel a bit. We will see what I feel like doing... Going to take me a while

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

Also did a lyman great plains rifle the same way.


For the barrel i took yarn, wrapped it up tightly and then soaked it with bleach and let it sit for 45 minutes to get  this affect.

[woodchuckssuck]

The GPR Kit is here!!!

And BOY, is there a LOT of wood to remove, and quite a bit of sanding to be done on metal parts. I expected both, though. I will surely be busy the next few months. It even comes with some decent written instructions on how to fit everything. So far the barrel and tang seemed to fit together well, and the tang fits in the stock, although come to think about it, I didn't look at the screw holes yet.

Now I have to re-check my sandpaper supply, and invest in a few small files... I have a mill file, but I need some smaller ones. Might use the orbital sander to save a little time (sorry but with the jobs I have had my hands will ache for days if I do ALL of the sanding by hand). I'll use that more for the roughing out and medium sanding, fine is always by hand..

How do you guys finish the cast steel? Obviously wet dry sandpaper but just keep sanding and sanding till she looks good?

Better be off to work now...

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

those kits are a blast to put together. Just take your time and go slow. I mount the butt plate first and then use a rasp to fit the wood to the buttplate. Its also a good idea to use a little wax on all the screws, ESPECIALLY the wedge key plate screws, those suckers snap right off without wax.

The steel trim as you said gets a lot of sanding with wet and dry sand paper. I normally brown the parts with birchwood casey plum brown.

WAX These screws good! If you install them dry, they WILL snap off!

[woodchuckssuck]

bigblock455, That is a beautiful rifle! There is definitely a lot of work, and I will take the next month, two months or so and go slow, working on it on rainy and snowy days. I hope mine is as nice as yours when finished!

It seems, to me, the trigger guard is a little warped, the front mounting plate is "twisted" from the rest. Any safe way to fix that? Being cast, I realize it has to be heated to bend, but...how much? Propane torch? Oxy-acetalene? Hot fire (we have woodstove...)? Or would it be better to just contact Lyman about it? It looks like it was cast that way, so their cast is probably off... It still fits but its visibly warped off the stock.

Will get out this weekend, buy some sandpaper, smaller files, a file brush...whatever else looks good (dust masks!). Maybe start to remove excess wood. The barrel to tang fit is dead on.

I think this project is also going to require my DSLR and flash to come out of hiding. Yup

[bubba.50]

it's pretty common for kit gun triggerguards to be a bit out of shape due to the thinness and all they go through between the factory & end customer. you can "tweak" them quite a bit without heatin' them. just go slow & gentle. luck to ya & have a good'en, bubba.

[Lost Oki]

I put together several kits, 1 TC Hawken, still hunting with it. 2 of the CVA Kentucky Rifle Kits with the 2 piece stocks.  Second one I still have and hunt with.  I did not use the brass insert to join the stock, I used black cow horn.  You have to look close to tell its 2 piece.  I browned both the CVA kits, easy enough.  Stock was stained with Laurel Mountain Stains, I used a mix of cherry and walnut then finished out with Tru Oil but the next one will be with a mix of Watco Teak oil / Formby's tung oil.  I have used this on several stocks and really like the finish plus its tougher than the Tru Oil (my opinion).  I don't worry about trying to wet the stock and sand out the fine "hairs" that come up, that is taken care of when I wet sand the Teak/Tung oil in using progressively finer wet dry sandpaper.  I have also added 4 inlays, wire brushed the brass and let nature take its course dulling the finish.  So far, this one has taken 5 deer.
As far as iron sights, try Dixie Gun Works, they have anything you might want along with kits.  Good luck and enjoy your kit.