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32 Caliber Kibler Southern Mountain Rifle

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NARC50

32 Cal
Joined
Nov 29, 2020
Messages
41
Reaction score
88
Location
Missouri
So many people post their builds that I figured me posting mine would not add a lot of value, but here are the finished results. I like dark and plain rifles. So I ordered an SMR in 32 caliber. Finished the metal parts with Jax blackener. Stock finish is a layer of tannic acid then a layer of ferric acid. Rubbed it back and oiled the stock with Chamber's Oil Finish. I used no dies, so just the natural color whatever turned out it was going to turn out. It was not exactly what I had imagined when I started, but I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. Even the plain maple stock has quite a bit of figure in it. Near the butt there are a few worm holes, which I really like the added character.

Finished it a week ago and was able to shoot today. I did absolutely no adjustment of the sights yet other than centering them in the dovetails. I am going to wait until the barrel has 100 rounds through it. I loaded it with 15 grains of 3F, used a pillow ticking patch, and a 0.310 roundball. The picture of the target is 25 yards offhand. Same as everyone elses experience, I could not be happier with the way that the rifle shoots. Took about 25 shots today with it, never cleaned the flash hole or pan, and the flint is probably close to 4o shots right now with zero knapping.
 

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I have been thinking of one of these as I really like 32 rifles. how heavy is it? and what is the width of the barrel?
 
I have been thinking of one of these as I really like 32 rifles. how heavy is it? and what is the width of the barrel?
Hi Sean,
The barrel is basically a 1” barrel. At the ends it is o.938” and in the middle it is 0.7”. I have not weighed the rifle, but it should be right at 7 lbs. Since the same barrel contour is used for all calibers, a 0.45 is in the 6 lb range. Due to the larger bore.

It balances very nicely at the first thimble. It certainly does not feel heavy. Especially compared to my GPR. The GPR looks like a brick next to the SMR.😁
 
Those Kibler SMR certainly are excellent in every way. I'm a fan of the .32 and have done a good job on squirrels with one. I won't say the .32 is any more accurate than other calibers but I've found it easy to develop a "bullseye load" with a .32.
 
Those Kibler SMR certainly are excellent in every way. I'm a fan of the .32 and have done a good job on squirrels with one. I won't say the .32 is any more accurate than other calibers but I've found it easy to develop a "bullseye load" with a .32.
Well I am glad to hear that you’ve found it easy. This coming weekend I am going to shoot with Dad and hopefully try out several different load combinations. I think 15 will probably be my minimum load and I’ll try up to 30 or 35 grains. Have your bullseye loads been somewhere in that range?

I really am looking forward to shooting the 32 more. My other gun is a GPR which I load with 75 gr of 2F. So I am expecting that the 32 is about 1/3 of the cost to shoot.
 
I always got great accuracy from the .32 with 20 grains and 30 grains of 3F. Anywhere in that 10 grn spread it shot like a champ. My .32 flintlock SMR does super well with 20 grains of Swiss 3F. The tiny squirrel calibers get sighted in at 25 to 30 yards, that's about as far as I can reliably hit a squirrel's head.
 
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