what do you need to build a musket kit?

[Trigger Mike]

I am thinking of getting a Pedersoli Kentucky Rifle in .50 kit from Dixie Gun Works.  It says the barrel is finished but not blued.  I assume I need cold blue and also some sort of wood finishing supplies but they have a lot of options.  I also thought of getting the Charleville kit for historical purposes.  Its wood is a darker finish so I assume I would need different stain?  Would Lowes have the same wood stain only cheaper?

 

Thank you in advance.

[Tyrel Cody]

If I we're going to do that I'd either rust blue it or send it to someone for hot blue, but that's just me. Rust bluing is not hard but very time consuming. I'd definitely hand rub finish with boiled linseed oil or maybe 100% Tung oil.

[Perro Del Diablo]

Hand rubbed oil is quite a lot of work to put into a stock. Worth every bit done right. Cold blue won't give luster of good hot blue but can be nice still. Brownells carries some higher quality cold blue than you will find on shelf at stores.

[Ramblin Gambler]

I built a CVA kit rifle when I was a kid, so this was  many moons ago.  I browned the barrel in an oven.  I don't have the rifle anymore, but I still have that bottle of birchwood casey browning.  It was a PITA using the oven because I could only do half the gun at a time.  But if a 16 yr old kid who wasn't (and still isn't) good with his hands can figure it out, I bet you can too. 

 

I seem to recall that the kit came with the stain and brown, but maybe I just bought it all at the same time. 

 

 

 

[Sedalia Dave]

One DIY method for Rust Blueing. The author states that this is similar to the method used to mass produce firearms.

 

 

[Utah Bob #35998]

I've made a few front stuffers and I brown the barrels.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Dixie Gun Works has everything you need. Get one of their catalogs.

Warning: Reading their catalog is like being addicted.

 

[Rattlesnake Slim]

I built a CVA kit a while ago and used Birchwood Casey's Plumb Brown with good results. Patience, lots of coats, and lots of rubbing.

[grenadier]

americanlongrifles.com is the place to ask these questions 

[Nasty Newt # 7365]

I just got an email today from Track of the Wolf.  All of their bluing and browning stuff is on sale.

 

[J. Mark Flint #31954 LIFE]

I brown the barrels and then boil them  and card them off with steel wool to turn them black.  two to three cycles and you have a durable rust blue type finish-cold blue stinks!