Not sure I would want to fire a brass barrel pistol, even a flinter. To be safe your barrel would have to be exorbitantly thick which would make it unwieldy.When ya plop down almost $900 for a musket kit yeah, there's a fear of really screwing it up and having an ugly $900 club. As it is no diagram (plan) came with the kit but I did get a book on building flintlocks and I found a video series where a guy builds a similar kit. Combine that with the help I'm already getting on the muzzelloading forum I'm on my initial shock is wearing off and my confidence is returning. Most of the tools I'll need I already have but there are a few items I'll have to purchase, they won't cost much.
Ya have to realize the only other kit I ever did was a 1861 Colt revolver and it was easy, required much, much less wok than this one will, it was almost "plug and play" this one I'll have to cut in mortises, work the inletting so the hardware fits properly, drill for bolts and pins and drill the touch hole (the hole in the barrel at the flash pan).
I tried building a flintlock pistol years ago. I made the barrel out of brass and went to night school so I could turn it on a lathe. I purchased the lock mechanism ready made, and made a trigger guard. I made the handle out of a piece of mahogany. But in the end I never finished it. I still have all the bits though.
Yes, the barrel is thick. It is over 1 inch across and I drilled a small bore, to fire ball bearings. So there is plenty of thickness. It is a bit heavy though. But the problem is academic as I am not likely to finish it now, let alone fire it.
