First kit gun

[Major Dorman]

After much searching and researching, today I ordered my first flintlock kit. Jim Kibler's .45 with the extra fancy maple stock.
If yall could give me any tips on finishing the gun I would appreciate them. I plan on giving the metal an antique finish and add a patch box. The wood I want to show off the curl but not be glossy.
I have a CVA flinter that I've took apart and refinished the stock and barrel. So, I know a little about how these guns work and go together.
Thanks, Jason

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

Take your time with it. :hatsoff:

Buy this: https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/303/1/BOOK-GGC

I am not sure what you mean by "antique finish", but if you want a traditional finish, here is probably your best and easiest way of doing that:

http://www.laurelmountainforge.com/barrel_brown_inst.htm

There is a ton of options for the wood. Stick to LMF, Danglers, or Wahkon bay products. You will probably want aquafortis from your description. I like tru-oil, but will probably be glossier than you desire.

 

[mooman76]

Take your time with it. :hatsoff:

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/303/1/BOOK-GGC

Best tip we could give. :thumbsup:

 

[Grizzly Adams]

The Kibler kits will go together pretty easily. They are all CNC produced and from what I can see, very precise. Draw file the barrel, polish the metal, do some light wood work, and finish it up. Take as long as you can, without losing momentum.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

I would just leave the brass as is and let time antique it for you. I am pretty sure originals were not sold with dingy brass. :shocked2:

 

[Pete G]

The Kibler rifle has iron furniture.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

Ah shucks, I read his question 3 times and put brass into it every time.

 

[MSW]

+1 on Obi-Wan's suggestion! this book looks a bit extravagant at first glance, but I can personally attest
:cursing: :redface: :cursing: :cursing: :redface:
that if you read it through several times, it will more than save you the purchase price in parts you don't ruin because you tried to do things out of order.

good luck with your build!


p.s. if you want a really nice finish, I would go with TruOil or Permalyn. Either can be rubbed back if the sheen is too bright.

 

[vfisher93]

Look at Jims Sight He uses tannic acid first then uses ferric nitrate as the stain.I use chambers oil finish,Follow directions on the can Its an awesome finish.

 

[54ball]

As good as Kirber's kit is, it's still more involved than anything like a CVA/Traditios/TC/Lyman.
There's going to be a rifle building Chambers, Kirber... and other parts sets, class at Calvary Longrifles Warrior AL in Sept. This is a week long class taught by a master blackpowder gunsmith. PM me for details if interested.

 

[Snakebite]

I have one of Jim's rifles. First class builder and first class person. He told me about his class a couple months ago, if I had the time I'd be there but work gets in the way of a lot of my fun.

 

[dave_person]

Hi Jason,
You made a very fine choice. I consider Jim a friend and he went the extra mile to make his kit superb. A simple patch box would look very nice. You bought figured maple, which is great. There are many options for staining and finishing and I have tried a wide variety over 25+ years of making muzzleloaders. I urge you to do the following for the maple, buy a small container of ferric nitrate crystals from the Science Company (they have a web site) and stain the stock with a solution of ferric nitrate and water. You can experiment with the concentration to get the color you desire. Paint the stock with the stain and let dry to an ugly grey brown. Then heat the wood with a heat gun until the color turns to a nice reddish brown and the figure shows very clearly. This replicates old time "aqua fortis" and iron stains used by many of the original makers but it provides much more flexibility to control the color. After staining, wipe the stock with a rag dampened with ammonia to neutralize any residual acid. The original guns likely would be finished with a linseed oil-based varnish. This may have been boiled linseed oil mixed with a resin varnish. Tried and True makes a linseed oil varnish that is very close to the old time formulas. You can adjust the gloss from low sheen to high gloss depending on how many coats you rub in. If you want the finished gun to really look authentic, don't use sandpaper to smooth the wood. Instead buy a package of carpet scraper blades from the hardware store, and scrape the finish smooth. Allow the maple figure to become slightly rippled as the scraper bites deeper into the soft wood and less in the harder wood. A subtly rippled surface is a hallmark of most original maple stocked guns from the period.

dave

 

[Major Dorman]

Thanks for all the advice. The Kibler kit won't be here until this summer. In the meantime, I have a CVA flint lock that I've been refinishing the stock and going to brown the barrel.

 

[54ball]

CVA....Good practice. :grin:

Really study that rifle and study originals.

I assume it's a "Kentucky". If it is there is a lot you ca do to improve the architecture. The main things that limits you on these is the smallish wrist and buttstock vs the very heavy lock panel, lower and upper forestock. So there's not much wood to reshape or remove from the wrist back and plenty, really too much from the lock panels forward. You just have to be thoughtful.

Another factor on these is excessive web between the barrel channel and ramrod groove/hole. This make's the rifle somewhat slab sided and there's not much you can do for that. In reshaping this portion of the rifle, you may not want to go as thin as you see on originals and use the extra width to round off some of that slab sidedness. You'll have to study it.

These's plenty of wood below the ramrod hole. If you reduce wood here and blend it all the way to the wrist, you are goung to reduce the height or distance from the bottom of the lock and the triggers. So keep that in mind. If you take a lot of wood off the bottom of the lower forestock and under the lock panel, you'll have to re inlet and reshape the triggers and trigger guard. It's worth it but it is a lot of tedious work.

I would use the brass spacer as guide. I would reshape it to the shape I thought best and bring the wood down to it.
You may not want to go that far but there is plenty you can do to one of these.