Building a Muzzleloader - Conclusion

More of this Course • Page One: Intro • Page Two: Fitting the Buttplate • Page Three: Fitting the Lock • Page Four: Fitting Barrel to Tang • Page Five: Fitting Barrel and Tang to Stock • Page Six: Installing Trigger Assembly • Page Seven: Polishing and Fitting the Nose Cap • Page Eight: Polishing and Fitting the Trigger Guard • Page Nine: Fitting the Sights • Page Ten: Inletting for Wedge Pin Plates • Page Eleven: Sanding the Stock - Initial Sanding • Page Twelve: Final Sanding & Patchbox • Page Thirteen: Staining the Stock • Page Fourteen: Polishing and Bluing • Page Fifteen: Finishing the Stock • Page Sixteen: The Tools I Used • Page Seventeen: Conclusion

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Related Resources • Black Powder Links • Guns & Shooting Links • Firearms Manufacturers Links • Modern Muzzleloader Cleaning

I'll tell much of the story with photographs, so each page may be a bit slow to load. Click on any photo for a larger image.

Building this muzzleloading rifle from a kit has been one of the most interesting and rewarding projects I've ever undertaken. It's also been one of the most labor-intensive... not so much the building of the gun, but recording it all in these pages! This record of the project has taken many hours of my time, and I sincerely hope that others can benefit from my experience, and hopefully enjoy my commentary, to boot.

What I wound up with is a rifle that I wouldn't pay more than $150 for, if it were up for sale down at the corner store... yet I paid $100 for the kit, and put much more than $50 worth of my time into it. The difference is that it's mine, and it's something I built, and that makes it special.

Some folks may sneer at the light color of the stock, or the rounded edges on it, or the not-quite-blue finish on the barrel. They may snicker at how shooting it discolors the cold bluing near the nipple. That's fine -- I didn't build it to please anyone but me, and please me it does.

When I look at this gun, I see more than what most other folks would see. I see the rough, cobby parts in the broken package they came in. I see a bleached-looking chunk of roughly-cut maple that was formed into a beautiful stock. I see brass parts with mold marks galore, which now gleam when shined. I see a front sight that required an overhaul. And I see a gun that will shoot, and well!

Yep, I took it out and shot it yesterday, found out it does quite well with patched .490 round balls with 90 grains of FFFg powder behind them. Unless I get the time to work with some other projectiles between now and then, that's what I'll be shooting come muzzleloader season, praying that I cross paths with that same buck I missed last year. Until then, I'll smile every time I look at this rifle!

- Russ Chastain

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