Opinions needed...too "out there" for a long rifle or not?

[IanH]

Curly sugar maple simply finished with diluted, satin polyurethane applied in several coats wiped on and then off again with a rag, can be quite striking, particularly against deep blued steel.

 

[Mike in FL]

Psycho, the beauty of building your own longrifle is that YOU can make it just the way you want. Light color, some creative carving, highlighting with a fine tip torch - or even a woodburning tool with it's multitude of tips.
And I, and many others, would admire it as YOUR creation.

That was a very nice thing to say.

 

[HighUintas]

@Psycho Mike , do you know who Wallace Gusler is? Here is one of his rifles. Wallace Gusler's latest rifle

 

[Psycho Mike]

If you make it too white looking it might get confused for an 18th century Imperial Blaster.

Egad! That would be a curse....I'd never be able to hit anything I shot at!

 

[Psycho Mike]

@Psycho Mike , do you know who Wallace Gusler is? Here is one of his rifles. Wallace Gusler's latest rifle

Wow! That is quite the work of art. That's the end of the color spectrum I'm leaning towards, by my skills are massively sub-par to his for everything else...I could see myself attempting to inlet a small Maltese cross (for something simple) but I'd likely go with a Kibler carved stock to satisfy my need for the fancier work.

 

[Psycho Mike]

As I have been looking around and more examples have crossed my path, I'm starting to get a better feel for how I might tackle this (I'll have to find some curly maple to start trying out some of these ideas on....).

For the stock, my leading thought is that I might do some minor torch work just to add some depth to the relief work....and add my custom work (inlay) if I decide to go that way.

For color, I'm leaning towards trying a short pass or two (wipe on, give it 5-10 min, wipe off, sand) with some walnut or mahogany dye to bring up the figure. Final dye would be a fruitwood or golden oak, followed by oiling and then sealing (wax, urethane or polyurethane to finish it off...conditions here, especially during deer season, means a good, weather resistant finish is a must). From what I've seen, a lot of same brand dyes in this sort of combo seem to compliment each other quite well and add "warmth" to the wood, and definitely bring up the figure, without going too far over to yellow.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Not s

Psycho, the beauty of building your own longrifle is that YOU can make it just the way you want. Light color, some creative carving, highlighting with a fine tip torch - or even a woodburning tool with it's multitude of tips.
And I, and many others, would admire it as YOUR creation.

Not something I would admire.

 

[Wncman]

Hey gang,

So, for those who read my intro post, you know I had one of the Lyman Plains Rifles "way back when." It wasn't the Great Plains, but rather more like one of the "off the rack" Hawken style MLs you see these days. The big difference was this one was finished quite light (think honey colored stock that nearly blended with the brass hardware). It had a big, dark knot in the comb and turned a lot of heads...I let that one get away from me and I kinda regret it now.

My question for the group is this: would trying to get a similar finish on a Kibler Woods Runner be tantamount to sacrilege? Most full stock long guns I see are deep brown or red finishes that really highlight the curl (tiger striped) with matching dark finished barrels and locks.

I was thinking of something more along the lines of a carved maple stock, a few passes of aniline fruitwood or pecan (sanded between...to bring up the curl, but not go overly dark...maybe a little torch highlighting of the carving too) and then go to BLO, followed by sealing it all with a wax, or cut spar urethane as a sealer / protector. For the barrel and lock, I was thinking maybe a little mustard treatment and Scotchbright pad work....or cold blue and backing it off with steel wool or fine emery paper...something to get a little protection and color, but not a lot. The brass work would be kept fairly bright (though not high polish...if I want to use this as a hunting rifle too, I don't want to be flashing the critters too much ).

It would certainly be a different look than the current "typical" long rifle... I'm just wondering if it might be too atypical. I dropped a picture of a Plains Rifle (not the one I had) in as my avatar, in case that helps to visualize things better.

Thoughts?

 

[BuffaloSoldier]

It's your rifle, to misquote an old commercial "Do it your way"!

 

[Col. Batguano]

Curly sugar maple simply finished with diluted, satin polyurethane applied in several coats wiped on and then off again with a rag, can be quite striking, particularly against deep blued steel.

I think that's a finish better suited for more modern stuff than we typically see in examples from the 18th century. From what I've seen, very few American guns were blued, though some English and French guns were..

 

[springfield art]

Hey gang,

So, for those who read my intro post, you know I had one of the Lyman Plains Rifles "way back when." It wasn't the Great Plains, but rather more like one of the "off the rack" Hawken style MLs you see these days. The big difference was this one was finished quite light (think honey colored stock that nearly blended with the brass hardware). It had a big, dark knot in the comb and turned a lot of heads...I let that one get away from me and I kinda regret it now.

My question for the group is this: would trying to get a similar finish on a Kibler Woods Runner be tantamount to sacrilege? Most full stock long guns I see are deep brown or red finishes that really highlight the curl (tiger striped) with matching dark finished barrels and locks.

I was thinking of something more along the lines of a carved maple stock, a few passes of aniline fruitwood or pecan (sanded between...to bring up the curl, but not go overly dark...maybe a little torch highlighting of the carving too) and then go to BLO, followed by sealing it all with a wax, or cut spar urethane as a sealer / protector. For the barrel and lock, I was thinking maybe a little mustard treatment and Scotchbright pad work....or cold blue and backing it off with steel wool or fine emery paper...something to get a little protection and color, but not a lot. The brass work would be kept fairly bright (though not high polish...if I want to use this as a hunting rifle too, I don't want to be flashing the critters too much ).

It would certainly be a different look than the current "typical" long rifle... I'm just wondering if it might be too atypical. I dropped a picture of a Plains Rifle (not the one I had) in as my avatar, in case that helps to visualize things better.

Thoughts?

Do or make what you want! Somebody's bound to look at it and be impressed! I'm liking the painted blue or red stocks I've read about but probably won't actually get or make one unless there was a screwed-up stock on it that I could paint for fun.

 

[Mzzlldrinpa]

A man's rifle is a man's rifle. Does it matter what century it is? Make what you want.

 

[Psycho Mike]

A man's rifle is a man's rifle. Does it matter what century it is? Make what you want.

Mzzlldrinpa! To use a Minnesota expression: Cheese and Sprinkles!! The bottom one...how was that stock finished? I might want to try for a little darker figure, but that is pretty much the sort of coloration I had envisaged! With a patina'd grey barrel and lock (about the color of the top one's lock....barrel to match via mustard "French greying") it would be most akin to how I (personally) think an original coming "fresh outta the shop" in the latter 1700s would have looked. It would also pay a nice homage to my old Plains Rifle.

I know the stereotypical long rifle these days is "dark, dark, dark", but I think (again personally) a lot of that has come from media and individuals looking at surviving originals that have oxidized over the last few hundred years and basing their work on them. I'm not saying it is wrong, or bad...folks have just gravitated toward it. I've seen some fantastic darker finished rifles....even drooled after a good many in my past...but for building one myself (even if it is a "snap together" kit as some folks would call it), I've always wanted to give a something lighter a shot.

 

[Mzzlldrinpa]

So just for reference, the top one is curly cherry, and the bottom is maple. My dad and I did them last winter. I shaped and inletted, and he sanded and finished. Both sanded down to 1000 grit paper, wet down in between each grit. We used Mountain Laurel Forge nut brown stain diluted 1:1 with isopropyl alchohol. Two coats of stain, then six coats of boiled linseed oil followed by 4 coats of tung oil. Letting soak in and dry between each coat. Wiping off excess before applying next coat. Then, once it was all dried and wiped off, put two coats of wax on. My dad did all that. He is very patient I might add. He put the same treatment on both rifles. I am quite pleased with his work to say the least. It definitely was a project we are proud of.

 

[Terrier]

As I have been looking around and more examples have crossed my path, I'm starting to get a better feel for how I might tackle this (I'll have to find some curly maple to start trying out some of these ideas on....).

For the stock, my leading thought is that I might do some minor torch work just to add some depth to the relief work....and add my custom work (inlay) if I decide to go that way.

For color, I'm leaning towards trying a short pass or two (wipe on, give it 5-10 min, wipe off, sand) with some walnut or mahogany dye to bring up the figure. Final dye would be a fruitwood or golden oak, followed by oiling and then sealing (wax, urethane or polyurethane to finish it off...conditions here, especially during deer season, means a good, weather resistant finish is a must). From what I've seen, a lot of same brand dyes in this sort of combo seem to compliment each other quite well and add "warmth" to the wood, and definitely bring up the figure, without going too far over to yellow.

Psych Mike,

I’d suggest sending the photo of gun you now pine for directly to Jim Kibler and ask if he thinks he could hook you up with a similar stock on a SMR or WR (whichever you’re interested in.)

It was indeed a very pretty stock. If anyone could identify the wood species and make a recommendation on how to duplicate the finish, I’d put my money on Jim.

He might even stand a chance at finding one with some similar burl in the butt.

Can’t hurt to try…

 

[Terrier]

@Psycho Mike

https://kiblerslongrifles.com/products/clearance-colonial-stock-1
The link says Colonial, but it's for an SMR. Strangely similar to your old gun...

 

[Psycho Mike]

Psych Mike,

I’d suggest sending the photo of gun you now pine for directly to Jim Kibler and ask if he thinks he could hook you up with a similar stock on a SMR or WR (whichever you’re interested in.)

It was indeed a very pretty stock. If anyone could identify the wood species and make a recommendation on how to duplicate the finish, I’d put my money on Jim.

He might even stand a chance at finding one with some similar burl in the butt.

Can’t hurt to try…

I think my time with the Bess changed me a bit and as much as I loved that little Lyman, I'm not after another Hawken, cap and ball or any other form of direct replacement. Tribute piece is fine.

Knots and inclusions are fine, but not a "need" for what I have planned. I'll still be keeping an eye on the Kibler "B stock pages...just in case something jumps out at me or catches my eye. I'm pretty sure the Lyman was something like Beech...so, I don't need to have the exact same wood. I'd be content with a similar looking finish, even if not exactly the same.

I did reach out to the folks at KLR and they did provide some ideas...including going with the regular maple wood. Between my thoughts, the KLR input and what Mzzllrdinpa has shared, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do to try to replicate the overall look while still having the long rifle I want to be shooting these days. It may not be conventional by today's standards, but this thread makes it sound like there is some room for a blonde in this world of brunettes and redheads.

 

[Rifleman1776]

would trying to get a similar finish on a Kibler Woods Runner be tantamount to sacrilege?

Short answer: No. This is, and always has been, a do yer own thang game. A wide variety of finishes have been used on guns since the day of the first bang. Some have had a serious case of the ughs but it was what the owner wanted. I once had an original fowler that was painted red. It is now in the hands of a thief. Probably a proper ending for it.

 

[spurrpote]

A man's rifle is a man's rifle. Does it matter what century it is? Make what you want.
View attachment 271089

Wow! Beautiful wood and rifles. You made these rifles?

 

[Mzzlldrinpa]

Wow! Beautiful wood and rifles. You made these rifles?

Yes sir that is correct. I did the inletting and shaping, my father sanded and applied the finish. Thank you for the kind words.