Making progress
My Kibler Colonial as she stands. My apologies to Jacob Dickert, William Antes, Peter Ginger, William Turkey and Jacob Ferree for my outright theft-abuse of their work! Someone on this forum wisely told me to do my research. I acquired the books Rifles of Colonial America by George Shumway and buried my nose in them. The result of that research, this is my attempt at the Lancaster pattern.
Jim Kibler’s’ Colonial seemed a perfect candidate for that style. He builds a long long gun, 60” from butt to muzzle. With a 43.25”barrel. And the barrel has a taper from breach (1.130”) to a waist (0.80”) at around inch 33, then flairs again to (0.87) at the muzzle. Very, very nice! Stamped on the underside of the barrel is “Kibler, GM, 50cal. 1:70”. The GM is the Green Mountain foundry and the 1 in 70 twist is NMHO the ideal ball and patch combo.
I decided to keep the Colonial “in the white” and not blue or brown the barrel. The barrel was well finished right out of the box, but I thought she would look good with a polished finish.
The lock is a work of art in its own right, and I changed nothing about it. It has a strong main spring, but the action is so smooth and light.
Curly maple is hard! Sharp tools are required. I found cutting cross grain with a razor sharp gouge was easier than with the grain, because the grain is a roller coaster! Even with a sharp edge little chip outs were a constant issue.
I have left the patch pocket lid mostly unworked, the angle of the grain on the stock did not match the lid. I emailed Lorie and asked to purchase another lid with a matching grain angle. She emailed me back an apology, and that Jim would find a lid that would match more closely my stock at no charge! I love working with those folks!
Thanks for looking
Shadowalker
My Kibler Colonial as she stands. My apologies to Jacob Dickert, William Antes, Peter Ginger, William Turkey and Jacob Ferree for my outright theft-abuse of their work! Someone on this forum wisely told me to do my research. I acquired the books Rifles of Colonial America by George Shumway and buried my nose in them. The result of that research, this is my attempt at the Lancaster pattern.
Jim Kibler’s’ Colonial seemed a perfect candidate for that style. He builds a long long gun, 60” from butt to muzzle. With a 43.25”barrel. And the barrel has a taper from breach (1.130”) to a waist (0.80”) at around inch 33, then flairs again to (0.87) at the muzzle. Very, very nice! Stamped on the underside of the barrel is “Kibler, GM, 50cal. 1:70”. The GM is the Green Mountain foundry and the 1 in 70 twist is NMHO the ideal ball and patch combo.
I decided to keep the Colonial “in the white” and not blue or brown the barrel. The barrel was well finished right out of the box, but I thought she would look good with a polished finish.
The lock is a work of art in its own right, and I changed nothing about it. It has a strong main spring, but the action is so smooth and light.
Curly maple is hard! Sharp tools are required. I found cutting cross grain with a razor sharp gouge was easier than with the grain, because the grain is a roller coaster! Even with a sharp edge little chip outs were a constant issue.
I have left the patch pocket lid mostly unworked, the angle of the grain on the stock did not match the lid. I emailed Lorie and asked to purchase another lid with a matching grain angle. She emailed me back an apology, and that Jim would find a lid that would match more closely my stock at no charge! I love working with those folks!
Thanks for looking
Shadowalker
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