Jim Kibler's Colonial Kit

[tlallijr]

What did you use to finish the barrel and brass?

Thanks Henry. The brass is finished with birchwood casey brass black then gently steel wooled back, and laurel mountain forge browning solution for the steel parts. I used black trans tint dye to get the darker stain color, which would be similar to using tannic acid. Tony

 

[Major Tim]

Nicely done!
What caliber?

 

[tlallijr]

Nicely done!
What caliber?

Thanks , 54 cal. It shoots very good too !

 

[Crewdawg445]

Just very well done, mine is shipping today minus the butt plate... I just couldn't hold out any longer. My problem will be running out of things to do and having one piece I'll be awaiting for...

Marvelous work on the finished rifle, simple and elegant! :hatsoff:

 

[azmntman]

Are these colonials smooth or rifled (or is there a choice?). Also whats the charge for the upgraded wood?

If Clyde gets one I want one too! :grin:

I really want one bad.

Real Bad!

:grin:

 

[Crewdawg445]

You can only get a .54 smoothbore upon request.

Wood upgrades are listed on his site. I wanted something special for mine. Just got in touch and Jim found what I was looking for and it's absolutely gorgeous. $75 for fancy, extra fancy is $200.

I'm blown away with the quality and detail in my kit. I ordered a SMR in .45 which should be done in December.

 

[torpedo]

I have not seen any threads on the colonial rifle yet so I want to share my experience with one. Prior to this kit I have built 3 rifles, the first was from a Track of the Wolf kit and 2 others on my own. To start, the kit came in a very nice box with very easy to understand directions. The brass furniture is soft and as nice as you can buy. The chambers lock included with the kit is of the best quality as well as the Rice barrel. No doubt the components are all top quality.
I used very little tools to assemble this kit. Jim has a nice list of tools you might expect to use assembling one of his kits listed right on his web site. Don’t expect to wear out or dull any tools on this build because the precision of the CNC inlets is amazing. The only wood I removed was a couple of tiny slithers getting the breech to fit, after that the chisel was useless. You will spend a little time with a file cleaning up the barrel and putting a draft on some other parts, all noted in the directions. I did need to use a three sided safe edge file to get the underlugs on the barrel, it took just a couple of swipes to get the underlugs to slide in. A very easy operation.

I have not seen any threads on the colonial rifle yet so I want to share my experience with one. Prior to this kit I have built 3 rifles, the first was from a Track of the Wolf kit and 2 others on my own. To start, the kit came in a very nice box with very easy to understand directions. The brass furniture is soft and as nice as you can buy. The chambers lock included with the kit is of the best quality as well as the Rice barrel. No doubt the components are all top quality.
I used very little tools to assemble this kit. Jim has a nice list of tools you might expect to use assembling one of his kits listed right on his web site. Don’t expect to wear out or dull any tools on this build because the precision of the CNC inlets is amazing. The only wood I removed was a couple of tiny slithers getting the breech to fit, after that the chisel was useless. You will spend a little time with a file cleaning up the barrel and putting a draft on some other parts, all noted in the directions. I did need to use a three sided safe edge file to get the underlugs on the barrel, it took just a couple of swipes to get the underlugs to slide in. A very easy operation.

Have a kit ordered, however not able to find on his web site any list of tools needed? Hoping you could maybe direct me to it so I can start collecting what I may need if I don't have it. Many thanks.

 

[tlallijr]

Have a kit ordered, however not able to find on his web site any list of tools needed? Hoping you could maybe direct me to it so I can start collecting what I may need if I don't have it. Many thanks.

If you go to the very bottom of the frequently asked questions page on his website he has a list of tools.

 

[torpedo]

If you go to the very bottom of the frequently asked questions page on his website he has a list of tools.

Thanks tlallijr, not able to find"frequently asked questions page, need more direction Please? Obviously not real tech savvy.

 

[tlallijr]

Thanks tlallijr, not able to find"frequently asked questions page, need more direction Please? Obviously not real tech savvy.

Here is a link, scroll down a ways to get to the tool list.
https://www.jimkibler.net/kit-gun-faqs.html

 

[torpedo]

Bingo! Thanks tlallijr.

 

[torpedo]

I could probably call Jim but don't want to keep him from producing kits as it might be mine that he's working on. so I thought I would bug tlallijr. He quotes in his instructions on finishing the stock to use oil or finish when sanding back after heating the solution. What "oil or finsh" would be best? I know it will be awhile but looing to aquire all the knowledge I can as I wait. In short how did you finish yours? Any help/advise would greatly be appreciated.

 

[tlallijr]

I could probably call Jim but don't want to keep him from producing kits as it might be mine that he's working on. so I thought I would bug tlallijr. He quotes in his instructions on finishing the stock to use oil or finish when sanding back after heating the solution. What "oil or finsh" would be best? I know it will be awhile but looing to aquire all the knowledge I can as I wait. In short how did you finish yours? Any help/advise would greatly be appreciated.

I like a darker finish so I have finished all my builds with black trans tint dye and aqua-fortis , followed by a hand rubbed oil finish. The way I do it is, dye the stock black then gently sand it back with 320 grit sand paper to reveal some contrast and follow it with aqua-fortis and blush it. I tried a few different oils, true oil, chambers oil, linseed oil and for the last one I mixed true oil and linseed oil about 50/50. Don't really have a favorite yet. The true oil has a slightly glossy finish compared to the others if you like that. Top gun is true oil next is linseed oil then chambers oil and the bottom was the two oils mixed together.

And here is a few pics of black dye and sanded back.

 

[tlallijr]

Here is the Kibler kit dyed black and sanded back.