Ramrod and screws are 2nd quality. Factory fit has some filler around the perimeter of wedge plates and butt plate has some gaps between stock and brass, file work and fill required. Instructions are poorly written. Barrel, lock and metal very nice. Overall this project requires some moderate work and skill, but will end up very nice when done. That's what a kit is.

The end result of my build was a beautiful rifle that shoots well and that I am very proud of. Getting to that point was a tedious process.

This was my first build keep so take my review with a grain of salt, but I found that there were several parts in this kit that were subpar in quality.

To begin, the styrofoam box from traditions was pretty fragile and depsite muzzleloaders.com putting a better box over it for shipping there were still a few parts of the factory box that were kind of obliterated. I did not have any damage to the parts however so this is just nitpicky on my part.

Things I noticed during the build were that the breech plug was put in just a few degrees off center and when the octagon barrel is attached to the tang it is just noticeably canted. The crown of the muzzle was cut at an odd angle and it extends deeper into the rifling on one side than on the other. The front sight did not fit tight in its dovetail and I had to use some thin wire to shim it on tight. The rear sight in also not tight in its dovetail and is only held onto the barrel by a tension adjustment screw. I presume this is to make sight adjustments easier but I would prefer that the dovetails were tight.

The stock took a lot of work to get proper fitment with the metal parts. I expected to do woodwork, but the inletting of the tang was almost 3/16 of an inch too deep on the left and 1/8 of an inch to shallow on the right while being almost 1/4 of an inch too deep at the rear and 1/8 of an inch to shallow at the front. After a lot of filing, reinletting, and woodfilling I still had to put a slight bend into the cast tang to get it to lock into the stock correctly and also interact with the barrel properly. Cast iron isn't exactly something I like trying to bend and I'm just glad that it worked out. The end cap cutout on the stock was off center and I had to almost round off the end of the stock to get the cap to fit on and interact with the barrel properly.

Positive things about the kit are that the lock mechanism worked perfectly out of the box and the inletting for it in the stock required minimal fitting. The trigger guard and triggers also fit with minimal work. The buttplate had about 1/4 inch of extra wood on one side of the stock but this just required some adamant filing and sanding to make flush. The barrel tennons are nice and tight in their dovetails and the tennon wedges fit tight to lock the barrel into the stock with minimal work. The silver inlays on the left side of the rifle are nice touches and they looked very nice after sanding and polishing up.

I browned my barrel and blackened the brass parts of the kit to make them look more antiqued. I stained the stock a dark walnut color and the end result was a rifle that looks gorgeous. Despite the crown being a little wonky she seems accurate at 75 yards with round balls and I am very happy with her. She looks great over the mantel and I wouldn't hesitate to go hunting with her.

Overall I am very happy with this kit, I just wish that a little more careful work went on at the factory before these kits were sent out.

I find the wood very attractive, and the brass parts (besides the butt plate) fit okay. The butt plate is not fitted properly. I can slip a business card through it. FYI I bought during the whole COVID issue so their quality may have slipped for this period of time. I would definitely recommend this rifle kit to a friend if they have the aptitude to hold a chisel and in the right direction.