kit gun question

[crazycrow]

Can anyone tell me if the piece of brass between the stock pieces has to be there.
The reason i ask is cause i need to file the barrel part of the stock so it is square and if i do so i will need to put something thicker in it place i was planing on using a piece of thick leather would this work and be safe to shoot.

[beowulf]

built my first flintlock from a cva kentucky kit , never used the brass piece , and rifle held up well without it , and is still being used today ! did`nt replace it with anything !

[crazycrow]

thanks for the info but if i dont replace it with something there will be a good sized gap between them. or if i close up the gap the screw holes for the muzzle end wont line up.

[flintboomer]

The downside of using leather is that it will soak up moisture if it gets wet.

Do you have any scrap wood that you could use instead? The insert would look different but it could turn out as a nice accent.

[hotfxr]

I hate that little brass spacer. Not as much as the kits that have a 1" wide one though. You can do without it or like Flintboomer said, glue in a wood spacer. As long as the joint is well secured and the barrel fits in the stock properly, you should nave no problem.

[graybear]

Or you can wrap the area w/a couple of wraps of rawhide and have it look like a field expedient repair. I did this w/an Ultra- high Kentucky by Miroku because I despised the wide brass band they used. As it ages, it looks better and better. Or age it w/dirt or dyes.

[beowulf]

never had a problem with the screw holes on the muzzle end , reshaped the end cap  and worked the wood down too the knew shape , actually looked better than it would have originally !  only thing I dont like about the piece , was the fact that the two pieces were`nt cut from the same piece of wood , grain ran differently , and you could not hide the fact that it was a two piece stock ! but , it was one heck of a shooter , very accurate for a rifle built from a $67  kit  lol

[russell shaffer]

Or you can wrap the area w/a couple of wraps of rawhide and have it look like a field expedient repair. I did this w/an Ultra- high Kentucky by Miroku because I despised the wide brass band they used. As it ages, it looks better and better. Or age it w/dirt or dyes.

I like the rawhide idea.  On my recently sort of finished matchlock I used a leather wrap on the forend instead of pinning the barrel to the stock.  Quick and easy and it looks kind of antique.

[DandJofAZ]

Wrap all my tomahawk handles with raw hide for first 4-5 inches behind head on handle.  Looks great and way stronger than original. Just wrap nice and wet and stretch it tight, dries like iron. .

[Watauga]

Like beowulf said,..If I had it to do again I would Glue wooden dowels or just glue the steel ones in and glue the two piece stock together,..There is Plenty of wood to shape and remove and you can slot the Nose-cap to take/make up the difference. And  Whether they call it a cva / Traditions /Jukor/Ardesa/ these Kentucky kits are still the best Bang for the Buck ML Kit you can get....

[flintboomer]

If you go with rawhide just make sure you don't put so much on that it interferes with the sights. 

[crazycrow]

Thanks for all the advice and idea's i think i'm going to try some rawhide and see how it turns out. I don't get much time to work on it but when i'm done i will post some pics