Awright guys:

After a 25 year absence from BP and flint use, I am going to take the plunge and purchase a flinter. it would be nice to have some suggestions for a new rifle, e.g. who has the best locks/barrels for the money. Obviously Lyman is a front runner. What about CVA, Traditions, etc. Looking forsomething with a 32" barrel or less. ANY help would be appreciated.

Well even after an abscence of 25 years the flint shooting hasn't changed much. I'd look at the Thompson Center flintlock as a possible canidate,also look around on the TRACK OF THE WOLF web site. They have a lot of flintlocks for sale. Some are quite expensive but they usually have a few that are reasonable. Bought one of their consignment flints a few years ago (I usually build my own but the price was excellent) the rifle is the best I've ever shot. Took a second in the world championships in South Africa with it.

The only factory options in my opinion are Lyman, TC, and Pedersoli. All otehr figure on replaceing the lock as a minimum. THe L&R lock company sells replacement locks for all the major manufacturers.

Most all barrels can be made to shoot well. But without a good lock no barrel can be made to shoot.

Mike,

As far as a quality assembled flintlock - the old saying holds true....you get what you pay for! I just bought a Cabella's .54 flint here last year - fully assembled. It is made by a company called Investarm - my understanding is they also make the Lyman rifles too. The price is reasonable - under $300.00 from the catalog. Depending on what you intend on using the rifle for - I would pay particular attention to the twist rate. 1:60 for roundball only - 1:48 for conicals and roundball. One of the first things you can plan on doing to one of these rifles is to replace the sights, polish and hand tune your lock, re-work your vent-hold liner or scrap the stock one and go with a White-Lightning liner from Jim Chambers. If your not prepared to do these things to a brand new rifle you will probably be ready to huck-the darn thing down the hill like I was! The stock venthole liners are pathetic at best - ignition time was horrible or no fire at all. The roughened lock was gritty and full of imperfections in the pan (attracts way too much water and fouling). The front sights are way too tall, causing you to raise the rear leaf to maximum for 100yd shooting - Dremel tools and patience are the key to working these guys over.

Anyway,
My Cabellas rifle now fires every time reliably, my sights are filed down to a reasonable height and the gun shoots really nice groups out as far as I can hold still with open sights. Fit and finish is good, balance is good - for the money not too bad. If I had it to do over again - I would be building my .54 myself from individual parts. Hence....my current project a .32 flint from scratch!
Best of Luck
Eric