Well it arrived yesterday, after four months of waiting I now have in my possession another of these fine kits. I was so impressed with my recent experience in regards to the Kibler Colonial I just had to pull the trigger and let the cock fall... My plan was to build a tracks mountain rifle but IMO it lacked a few key features I personally wanted, a lollipop tang that has always drawn me to these graceful and slender rifles along with a swamped barrel.
That said, I decided on a fancy cherry offering in .45 with RB rifling for my own satisfaction in knowing cleaning would be much easier, accuracy between both types of rifling is of no concern, BOTH will shoot better than I or anyone else ever will. After a long day came home to the usual well packaged crate and a beautiful piece of cherry, right away I can tell the SMR will be much more of a delicate build. I likely would steer someone to the Colonial as a first build due to the long slender stock and fine finessing that is required with the lollipop tang. Even as a first build one should be fine if they exercise caution when removing the barrel from the stock while fitting, the stock is indeed very fine, graceful in architecture and has absolutely no wood needing removed to achieve the correct shape. Unlike the Colonial that IMO needed slimmed in several places, the SMR requires nothing!
In all, I personally feel the SMR will be a much faster build in several areas, all the same finishing and fitting requirement's still apply and the lock is were a substantial amount of time will be spent. The late Ketland lock is your typical high quality offering from Chambers. Having all the same internals as a Siler lock this little guy will be bullet proof! I love the pointed tail and round pan of the lock, feel it gives good visual appeal. Also the roller bearing that the frizzen rides over I think will be a great addition.
Stay tuned, while not a build thread like my pervious Colonial rifle I feel that gave many a good idea what to expect with a Kibler, this thread will just be for enjoyment. I have multiple builds going at once so I'll periodically post progress on this kit as I know they have become very popular.
That said, I decided on a fancy cherry offering in .45 with RB rifling for my own satisfaction in knowing cleaning would be much easier, accuracy between both types of rifling is of no concern, BOTH will shoot better than I or anyone else ever will. After a long day came home to the usual well packaged crate and a beautiful piece of cherry, right away I can tell the SMR will be much more of a delicate build. I likely would steer someone to the Colonial as a first build due to the long slender stock and fine finessing that is required with the lollipop tang. Even as a first build one should be fine if they exercise caution when removing the barrel from the stock while fitting, the stock is indeed very fine, graceful in architecture and has absolutely no wood needing removed to achieve the correct shape. Unlike the Colonial that IMO needed slimmed in several places, the SMR requires nothing!
In all, I personally feel the SMR will be a much faster build in several areas, all the same finishing and fitting requirement's still apply and the lock is were a substantial amount of time will be spent. The late Ketland lock is your typical high quality offering from Chambers. Having all the same internals as a Siler lock this little guy will be bullet proof! I love the pointed tail and round pan of the lock, feel it gives good visual appeal. Also the roller bearing that the frizzen rides over I think will be a great addition.
Stay tuned, while not a build thread like my pervious Colonial rifle I feel that gave many a good idea what to expect with a Kibler, this thread will just be for enjoyment. I have multiple builds going at once so I'll periodically post progress on this kit as I know they have become very popular.