Building and testing Blackpowder Blackbeard Muzzle Loader Pistol AKA Traditions Kentucky Pistol Kit

Bought a Traditions .45 Caliber Hawken pistol to be build and shoot. The kit costs around $250 and comes complete with everything you need except for the tools to complete it. Tools needed: 1) Screwdriver 2) Dremel 3) Small hammer or rubber mallet You also need the following materials: 1) Epoxy 2) Loctite 3) Wood Stain with Brush and Q Tips 4) Bluing kit (assuming you want to blue it) 5) Sand paper Assembly is not technically difficult but it does require lots of trial and error. I fitted parts then dremeled, then re fitted, then dremeled, then re-fitted, repeating this process until I got the parts to fit. Even then, I still ended up going too bold with the dremel and had to make up for loose fit by using epoxy. The better you fit your parts with minimal tolerances, the better the final pistol will look and the less problems you will have adjusting it to function. Instructions were very basic and did not address every part, so I ended up with an extra spring but it fires with no issues. To fire the pistol, you will need .45 caliber lead balls, powder (I used Pyrodex RS because black powder is not available where I live), and some #11 percussion caps. Noise is minimal for a pistol and recoil is almost non-existent with 30 grain loads. Accuracy keeps it on a 8“ target at 10 meters, but part of the inaccuracy could be due to the fact that the rear site became loose. I will epoxy the read site in place, but that will just make the pistol look uglier. Overall, this was a very fun project which took 30 minutes to 1 hour after work for 2 weeks. My estimated total time is probably 7 or 8 hours not including shooting. I enjoyed this project enough and learned enough from this build that I want to make a blunderbuss next.
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