Build a keepsake with the Traditions Kentucky Rifle Kit that will deserve a place on a wall in your home. You’ll take enormous pride setting the beautiful brass stock inlay, as well as firing the finished rifle with precise accuracy. The octagonal barrel is rifled for patched ball loads. A long sighting plane between the front blade sight and rear fixed-notch sight delivers deadly accuracy. Color case-hardened lock with V-type mainspring for fast lock time. Two-piece walnut stock. .50 caliber. 33-1/2" barrel. 1-in-66" twist. Percussion cap ignition. Overall length: 49". Weight: 7 lbs.
This is a good rifle after your done. Just take your time with it. Don't rush. Don't even have to have all the fancy equipment to do this. If you need to make the trigger guard recess a bit larger you can use your leather-man to do it. remove your wood sparingly. use a file to make your sight fit on to the barrel better but file carefully and sparingly. be sure to dry fit. If you have experience with building models like myself you might find this to be pleasant. The tenon pins might be the more difficult part. I would like to see an improved model that doesn't need these pins to the barrel.
The traditions kit is an awesome deal. Kit guns are expected to have fitting roughness, that is half the fun. If you just want to assemble a gun. go buy a new whole one and take it apart and put it back together. Kits are work. I had an issue with a part and traditions customer service was excellent and sent me a new part asap. The finished product is very accurate. 3 inch groups with Hornady Round Ball at 100 yards with 100 grains of FFF. I own many black powder rifles and the only one that out shoots this kit is my T/C Hawken competition rifle. My only real complaints are the appearance to two part stock being non-traditional and I wish it had a set trigger option.
This was not an easy weapon to put together. The stock pin holes did not line up and when eventually able to do so there was a distict gap when the brass bushing was in place, also the two side pins are SOB to line up, and then drill exactly through the forward stock. Having said all that the finsished product is nice and VERY accurate.
Built this kit in 1979 when it was produced by CVA I was 11. Went together easily enough, but has some trouble with the ignition. Take extra care in the seating of the breach into the stock or the two pins that hold the barrell to the forearm will not align. This will damage the wood and the hammer will not fall exactly square on the nipple creating a potential for misfires.