Update on the Rifle kit

Well, I've gotten to work on my flintlock rifle kit. Since getting it on Friday this has involved five trips to three different hardware stores and I'm having a pretty good time.

Here's how it works....

All the part have to fit together nicely. But this being a kit, it takes a little chiseling here, a little filing there... and all the little pieces have to cooperate nicely to make the gun work. And with a little care the finished product even looks nice.

I'm making progress.

First I had to get the lock to fit. The "Lock," as in "Lock, Stock and Barrel," is the assembly of small screws, springs, flint and steel that creat the spark. It needs to fit snuggly, but also needs room to move. This meant a little chiseling, seen above, and filing down a long screw.

Then comes the screw that goes from the top of the gun to the bottom, holding on the barrel at one end and the trigger at the other. The hole the factory drilled for that screw was a little crooked, so I used a small round file to straighten it out.

Now I'm trying to get the two sections of the stock to fit together. I was playing around last night with the barrel attached and for the first time it looked, felt and worked like a rifle.