Kibler Kit

hawg said:
It finally got here. The stories are all true. The fit is very, very close with very little finish work required. The trigger guard is the worst of it.

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They even supply the flint! How can you go wrong with a kit like that?
 
I ordered a plain maple stock. I wet it down some to see the figure better. It's definitely not plain. I've got to wait until next month to get new files, stones and sandpaper. I was dreading the day it got here because I just knew it was going to be too much for my limited skills. I'm actually looking forward to getting started.

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hawg said:
I ordered a plain maple stock. I wet it down some to see the figure better. It's definitely not plain. I've got to wait until next month to get new files, stones and sandpaper. I was dreading the day it got here because I just knew it was going to be too much for my limited skills. I'm actually looking forward to getting started.

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Kibler is very conservative on there wood grading, not sure if I'd get the better wood since all his wood is nice. He keeps improving the kits to which is unlike other kits, you see your butt plate is cnc machined and think some day the triggerguard and all other parts to. Probably the strongest lock made since its made out of solid stock, think the cock and frizzem are still cast. It's almost getting to the point there not kits, it's just a pre made gun you put together lol.

What stock Finnish/stain you doing?
 
tazbigdog said:
They moved the fair a few miles down the road. Loved going there in the early 2000s.
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Ya but Dixon's doesn't have any part in it anymore, I haven't been to the new place for the fair yet but hope to go this year if I've got the money. I do a loop stopping at cabelas, sarco then dixons, it's almost 3 hours drive for me.
 
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I have made some progress with it. I've got the nose cap and butt plate mated to the stock and got the ramrod slimmed down so it fits the hole in the stock. I even got the tip put on and pinned. I used a bigger nail to pin it than the one that came with it. I couldn't find a drill bit that would work with it. The pics make it look worse than it is. you can run your fingers across the joints and you won't be able to feel where wood meets metal. There are a few spots where you can barely feel it with your thumbnail on the butt plate but I'm calling it good. The next project is filing the tang down. I haven't polished any of the metal yet. I've got the whole stock sanded down with 120 and 220 grit. I've been over it twice with 220 but I keep finding tool marks. I'm sanding those spots as I find them. Once I get them all out to my satisfaction I'll go over the whole stock with 320.

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As you can see the tang is going to take a good bit of filing.

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If there's anything you see that you think needs more work say so.
 
Nice so far! You’ll turn into a first rate wood-butcher in no time! How shiny are you going with the metal?
 
TIP - Jim recommends the Bahco brand of files for draw filing and even though I thought I had good DF'ing files, I bought one of each (only $10-11 each when I bought them) and they are THE FASTEST cutting files I've ever used!

@hawg - I made this one below, if you need any inspiration or ideas for adornment/finishing. It was his mid-grade wood, of which I too thought punched above it's weight!

Kibler Colonial Rifle build

I made this one for my best friend who had lost his wife to ALS, the cruelest of what has to be the most cruel diseases. I wanted him to have it well before the Fall, so he'd have something to look forward to, with the upcoming MZL'ding deer seasons. He doesn't like shiny brass arms, so all...
www.thehighroad.org
 
woodnbow said:
Nice so far! You’ll turn into a first rate wood-butcher in no time! How shiny are you going with the metal?
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I was going to brown the barrel and leave the lock as is but the cock and frizzen have parting lines so I'll probably brown those too. It's either that or polish it out bright. I'll make that decision further down the line. As for the brass, I don't like shiny brass so it won't be too shiny but it won't be blackened either.

Lefty38-55 said:
TIP - Jim recommends the Bahco brand of files for draw filing and even though I thought I had good DF'ing files, I bought one of each (only $10-11 each when I bought them) and they are THE FASTEST cutting files I've ever used!

@hawg - I made this one below, if you need any inspiration or ideas for adornment/finishing. It was his mid-grade wood, of which I too thought punched above it's weight!
Click to expand...

You do nice work. I'd like to do something like that but it's above my pay grade. The tool marks on the barrel are very light. You have to really look for them. I could probably brown it as is and nobody would ever know that were there. Or browning it could bring them out, I dunno. Jim sells 8 inch BAHCO files for 8 bucks but I have a new Nicholson that should work ok. Part of the packing was a block of what looks like the same wood the stock is made of. I may practice inletting on it and see how it goes. I don't have much confidence in it tho.
 
The wood-to-metal fit on the butt plate is fantastic!

I'm surprised the tang stands so proud. Is it really all the way down in its mortise? I'd hate to have to cut so much metal...
 
.38 Special said:
The wood-to-metal fit on the butt plate is fantastic!

I'm surprised the tang stands so proud. Is it really all the way down in its mortise? I'd hate to have to cut so much metal...
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It's really not that much. The camera makes it look worse than it is. The battery in my calipers is dead so I can't tell how much difference there is but the tang is definitely thicker than the inlet is deep. There's a lot of meat on the tang so I don't see where filing a few thousandths off is going to hurt anything. The screw does pull the tang down into the inlet some without any strain but when it stops it stops solid. I think I'm going to file the bottom until I get past the screw hole so I don't mess up the countersink and then file from the top where the tang is thicker.

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hawg said:
It's really not that much. The camera makes it look worse than it is. The battery in my calipers is dead so I can't tell how much difference there is but the tang is definitely thicker than the inlet is deep. There's a lot of meat on the tang so I don't see where filing a few thousandths off is going to hurt anything. The screw does pull the tang down into the inlet some without any strain but when it stops it stops solid. I think I'm going to file the bottom until I get past the screw hole so I don't mess up the countersink and then file from the top where the tang is thicker.

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You might send a picture to Kibler and see what he thinks. I agree with removing material from the underside, possibly using inletting black as yo go to keep solid contact with the mortise.
 
hawg said:
It's really not that much. The camera makes it look worse than it is. The battery in my calipers is dead so I can't tell how much difference there is but the tang is definitely thicker than the inlet is deep. There's a lot of meat on the tang so I don't see where filing a few thousandths off is going to hurt anything. The screw does pull the tang down into the inlet some without any strain but when it stops it stops solid. I think I'm going to file the bottom until I get past the screw hole so I don't mess up the countersink and then file from the top where the tang is thicker.

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Oh, I see what you mean. The tangs on the Colonial and, especially, the SMR are much thinner, and removing that much metal would have left them practically transparent. I'm sure you are on the right track.
 
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