Ordered a Kibler

[JonBishop]

Hello all,

I ordered a Kibler kit. .50 Colonial, I was looking for a .50 because I still have some .50 stuff from 20+ years ago. And yes I am still working on the Track of the Wolf Bedford County rifle in .36. I also have two other builds going on. A Kentucky pistol and a Brown Bess. These are challenging builds. I go from one to the other. Sometimes you just have to stop and do something else.
From what I have gleaned from this forum is, that the Kibler kits are easy peasy. I’ll ask the question: Will building a Kibler kit make it easier to build my other kits? My Bedford kit is in its final stages. My other two aren’t as far along. I’m trying to avoid the mistakes I’ve made on the Bedford kit, so far.

Thanks, Jon

 

[Norman Brooks]

I would say yes, but I have not bought a Kibler kit. From what I see on Kibler web site everything should be easy fitting. TOTW kits can be a little challenging. I have built 13 customs guns since the mid 80's plus a bunch of kit guns. If I was going to build another it would be a Kibler.

 

[hanshi]

I would think that any sort of building guns from kits would help increase skills simply due to practice. Switching from difficult to easy once in awhile can be a good "rest".

 

[JonBishop]

I would think that any sort of building guns from kits would help increase skills simply due to practice. Switching from difficult to easy once in awhile can be a good "rest".

Yes sir. I am taking a step back on my Bedford build. I messed things up so much I had to order replacement parts. I’ve learned a lot on this build. I pretty much took $1000 dollars of parts and I am in the process of turning it into a rifle that is only worth the lock and barrel.

Jon

 

[Gary Whiteman]

Working on a Kibler .50 colonial right now. Have to say they fall into the easy category. All mine required was a very small amount of wood removal on most inlets, I'm talking thousandths of an inch. Lock took the most time to get perfect. Jim's videos are right on as far as assembly goes. Also built a Track kit, much, much more work involved.

 

[Flintandsteel]

I’ve built well over 100 guns, 3 of which were Kibler kits.
At least ⅔ of those 100+ guns were from a plank.
Kibler kits are awesome, but building one has very little to do with building from a plank.
Put together that Kibler, and enjoy shooting it while you learn to build

 

[Fly Navy]

I love the Kibler kits. I've spent a lifetime working with my hands. A lot of years doing hard work and my hands are in bad shape. If it wasn't for these kits I might not have able to make a rifle. So for me these are great and thanks to all at Kibler Longrifles for making wonderful kits.

 

[Art Caputo]

I recently built a 50ca Kibler Colonial, and shortly after ordered a 58 barrel that I matched up for a drop in. While I have built from a few kits over the fast few decades, I don’t consider myself very skilled in this area, particularly with building from a plank or being able to achieve all the fitment dimensions from basic components. Both shoot very well and can be changed in minutes with great fit. I will say the the Kibler kit was a perfect match for my skill level with minimum room for error. IMO, it shines for the individual that seeks to have good representation of an early period flintlock that they want a particular “look” in terms of wood/metal color-tone and finish. In hind-site, my only (small) regret is that I didn’t attempt some basic period carving(or have someone else commissioned to do it) to fit the style of what turned out to be a great looking/shooting rifle. I stopped carving with the completion of the thumb notch on the sliding wood patch box.......to relieve the anxiety of screwing up.........Maybe next time!

 

[PathfinderNC]

I feel that building a Kibler rifle kind-of falls into the “Instant satisfaction” category.I thoroughly enjoyed building the first and am looking forward to the next several.
I also think it helps to teach how the various parts come together, something like a template for more difficult or complicated rifle building.
Best of luck, don’t rush, and step away when you may be getting frustrated or upset. Just some thoughts....

 

[JonBishop]

Thanks for the replies. My main concern with any of my builds is the stock. The Bedford and Kentucky pistol are pretty much ok. The Bess however is a nightmare. It was inlet from the factory. Just horrible. From everything I’ve read about Kibler’s kits, is that the inletting is spot on. I’m very anxious to get this kit.
I’ll keep working on my builds. The Bedford is the farthest along. I just have to figure a good way to do the forearm. Which I’ve gotten good advice about on another post. Thanks again for the replies.

Jon