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Old July 18, 2009, 01:58 PM   #6
Cosmoline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 11, 2000
Posts: 1,080
I'm finishing up a Sitting Fox kit now. TOTW was one of the other options I explored. They cover a broader range than Chambers and offer a fantastic selection. I really like how their website lets you be in total control of all the parts. But Chambers is considered a cut above. Over on the traditional ML forum TOTW seems to have a good rep as a mid-range kit supplier and they also stock a ton of extra goodies from flints to smithing tools. It's great if you don't have a full shop outfit and will need to buy things like drill and tap rigs--TOTW website actually lists them out for you as optional extras. As noted though when ordering on TOTW you can end up with some parts that really don't go together very well. That's a risk. Resale value a well-assembled premium kit from someone like Chambers will fetch higher $$ than TOTW or Sitting Fox. But you have to pay more up front of course.

That said, my next kit is likely to come from TOTW. My personal preferences are a little different from most shooters. I absolutely detest certain features of the traditional long rifle, particularly the pointy buttplate. So I like being able to mix and match to get what I want.

The locks are all good these days from what I can see, as are most of the barrels. The WOOD seems to be the big variable. I opted for low-end walnut and wish I'd forked over the cash for something nicer now. It's workable but also tends to split easily and has a kind of soggy texture when doing chisel work. I've already had to make several repairs from bits splitting off. Modern steel is generally much better quality than the old stuff as we know, but modern wood ain't even close. Whoever you get a kit from, pay for the best wood they have, hand selected.

One reason I got the cheaper stock was because I'm a newbie at a lot of this and figured the cheaper wood wouldn't be as big a deal to damage. The problem is working with cruddy wood turns out to be much MORE difficult than the good stuff. And much less forgiving.
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"Know that the pistol has no value, we practically don't use it. We need grenades, rifles, machine guns, and explosives."
Mordechai Anielewicz, April 23, 1943

Last edited by Cosmoline; July 18, 2009 at 02:06 PM.
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