Is She Savable?
Posted: October 21st, 2015, 11:37 am
Greetings everyone. This is my first post.
I have a Percussion Kentucky Long Rifle with in a .45 Cal, with a 1:66 barrel twist. This rifle was a "Kit" from years and years ago. I am almost 30 and the rifle is about as old as I am. There was a company before Traditions that made Kit Rifles. My father made it from one of those kits. I love the look of it, and remember shooting it as a kid. It truly is an heirloom for me, valuable or not. We never really shot it alot, but I love it.
Anyway, I believe the rifle has just sat around. It was not properly maintained in that it was not oiled regularly while in storage. This thing has sat around in a closet for 15-20 years collecting dust and not being checked or oiled every so often. I am coming here because I have some questions about this. I am new to muzzleloading, and would like to get into it with this rifle, but I don't want to do anything dangerous. I would like to restore this rifle, but really have no idea how to do that, and I don't want to ruin the gun learning ... but don't really have deep pockets to have it done.
So this is what I know: The original company that made this kit is no longer around. So getting replacement parts (if I need replacements) is going to be an issue. Unless the new Traditions kit parts are interchangeable. There is a fair amount of rust, but I believe this is savable. But I am here to get a second opinion on that. If I am lucky, maybe some really harsh cleaners and some elbow grease + TLC will save the barrel and nipple. If that fails maybe I could get a replacement Traditions kit barrel and nipple (assuming they will be interchangeable). Anyway, here are pictures of the rifle. Hopefully they don't crash the forum LOL
I would like your opinions on this rifle. Do you think it is savable? If so how would I go about doing that? I would prefer to do all the work myself, but have no idea what I am doing, so you will have to spell it out for me.
Thanks everyone and any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I may have to re-upload these pictures ... so let me know if they are too small/grainy or don't show properly.
I have a Percussion Kentucky Long Rifle with in a .45 Cal, with a 1:66 barrel twist. This rifle was a "Kit" from years and years ago. I am almost 30 and the rifle is about as old as I am. There was a company before Traditions that made Kit Rifles. My father made it from one of those kits. I love the look of it, and remember shooting it as a kid. It truly is an heirloom for me, valuable or not. We never really shot it alot, but I love it.
Anyway, I believe the rifle has just sat around. It was not properly maintained in that it was not oiled regularly while in storage. This thing has sat around in a closet for 15-20 years collecting dust and not being checked or oiled every so often. I am coming here because I have some questions about this. I am new to muzzleloading, and would like to get into it with this rifle, but I don't want to do anything dangerous. I would like to restore this rifle, but really have no idea how to do that, and I don't want to ruin the gun learning ... but don't really have deep pockets to have it done.
So this is what I know: The original company that made this kit is no longer around. So getting replacement parts (if I need replacements) is going to be an issue. Unless the new Traditions kit parts are interchangeable. There is a fair amount of rust, but I believe this is savable. But I am here to get a second opinion on that. If I am lucky, maybe some really harsh cleaners and some elbow grease + TLC will save the barrel and nipple. If that fails maybe I could get a replacement Traditions kit barrel and nipple (assuming they will be interchangeable). Anyway, here are pictures of the rifle. Hopefully they don't crash the forum LOL
I would like your opinions on this rifle. Do you think it is savable? If so how would I go about doing that? I would prefer to do all the work myself, but have no idea what I am doing, so you will have to spell it out for me.
Thanks everyone and any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I may have to re-upload these pictures ... so let me know if they are too small/grainy or don't show properly.