Kit recommendation wanted

[Sneakon]

So a friend wants to build a caplock kit.  Would prefer a .54 cal, but may have to settle for a .50 cal since 54s seem to be limited.  He is considering a Traditions Hawken.  The main use for the gun would be hunting elk/deer.  He wants to end up with a solid, dependable hunting rifle.  What would you all recommend?

[Swamp]

Sneakon, hands down, the Lyman Great Plains in kit form, .54 cal readily available. To me, the Lyman Great Plains are the best OTC guns you can buy!

Check out Mid South Shooters. They usually have the best prices. Hope this helps.

[pathfinder]

Yup,what Swamp said.

[Breakfast Boy]

Another vote for what Swamp said.  I absolutely love my .54 Lyman GPR.  Made it from a kit too and that adds to the pride I have in the gun.

[Firewalker]

Yep, just what Swamp said GPR 54. Mid South.
Best you can get for the money.
I haven't seen a Traditions in a while, but back a few years, comparing their stuff to a Lyman was like a Geo Metro to a Lexus.

[Uncle Russ]

There is no getting around Swamp's advise here IMO.

That GPR is a good, solid, stout, dependable rifle that is hard to beat  even by the so-called custom builders.
Owned a GPR or two for years now, and for out of the box accuracy, it is far above whatever is in second place....it may take a few years for this realization to sink in, but I assure you, the Lyman rifle is way up on the list of all-around good rifles.

Uncle Russ...

[Captchee]

yep if a production kit is what he is looking  at then  the GPR is a very good choice . If he looks around he should be able to find one  for  alittle more then what traditions ask for their kits .
 Lyman kits seem to average between 375 to 475.00 depending where you look.
 Where the traditions kits run around 300-350.00 . Again depending on where you look
  All around  the  Lyman is worth the money . Better lock better barrel and fare better stock wood .
 
 Now that all being said  depending on his skill , he could also jump up the next step and get into a semi custom parts assembly for  around 495.- 550. 00 for a ½ stock plains rifle  
 This would give him even better stock material .  Better lock  and barrel choices
 But as Russ mentioned .  Going this next step  or even to a full custom  rifle , doesn’t necessarily mean your going to have a better rifle then the Lyman .
 A nicer rifle , ya .
A better balanced rifle  ya  .
 Higher quality parts , ya .
Far more options ,  like barrel profiles  , twist rates , different types of rifling ,
 See those are where the semi custom and full custom market shines . But your going to be paying more to .

 But a better shooter ? Hard to say . Most rifles out there are capable of shooting far better then the average shooter is capable of .

 Now let me say this . Im not bad mouthing the traditions rifle .  I have seen some that were very good shooters . But their Achilles heal  is the lock .   Some last a long time . Others the main spring become weak   in short order .
 Often the  barrel rifling is rather sharp and can take some shooting to get  the barrels to settle in .
 But in all fairness this can be an issue with any barrel
 The locks can be replaced with better quality . But that’s going to run another 100.00 or so .
So you are then right back up to the cost of a lyman kit

[Loyalist Dave]

DITTO DITTO DITTO!    

I have found the same to be true for both rifles, and although I don't use half stocked plains rifles because I prefer an earlier style..., I sure would feel good if somebody gave me a GPR kit  in .54!  

I always err on what is easiest first..., go with a factory kit, as even if he has the skills for a more advanced project, he might not have the time, right?  Then he gets it finished, finds out it shoots really well, has a grand time, then he has a reason to "make the time" to do something more ambitious.., or he simply has a good time and maybe gets into another craft along the lines of our pastime, eh?  I know of a man who is a very good rifle maker..., but he makes excellent bags and small items out of horn such as oilers and needle cases and such..., he prefers to finish a bunch of small projects in less time rather than have a larger project that carries on for months.  To each their own.

LD

[Breakfast Boy]

When I bought my Lyman GPR capper in kit form, I thought ya just blued the barrel and then fine sanded/stained the stock.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Boy was I in for a treat.  It's not hard and is very rewarding to shoot a gun you make from a kit, just a wee bit more work than I thought it would be.

[Sneakon]

Thanks for all the great info boys.  I will pass the recommendations along.

[James Kelly]

You could ust as well asked what is the best brand of whiskey, or the best truck is Ford? GM? Dodge?

For my two cents I'd suggest Pedersoli. I believe there is a sale on .54 cal now, kits available from Dixiegunworks.com

I have been a metallurgist since JKF was romping around DC & can say that Pedersoli uses hands down the best steel for their assorted gun barrels.  "Best" meaning when that impossible-to-happen thing happens anyway, the barrel is like to more or less survive, meaning you get to retain your present compliment of body parts.

I've also paid some attention to antique guns since Harry had about finished "giving 'em Hell"  On that score I must agree Pedersoli can be just a tad squirrelly. Fortunately with a kit you can pitch the Picasso-designed sideplate and put a real forend cap on it. You will end up iwth a metallurgically and structurally sound gun, appearance up to you.

Me, I'm not doing so much in the shop now, hands forgot what to do, some would say its the date on my driver's license. Anyway this afternoon Mr. UPS promises to deliver me a finished Pedersoli .45 "Kentucky" for target shooting. Having smallish hands I expect to rasp down the grip a bit. Given some aesthetic knowledge of American pistols I might change the sideplate & add an inlay or two. I'll try to ignore the forend cap . . . Fortunately if you look at a lot of pictures of original Kentucky pistols some of them looked pretty bad, too, so I suppose I can make this thing up to be authentic, if not beautiful.  Woulda bought a kit but want to shoot NOW.