WKU. 6day Kibler build.

[Comfortably_Numb]

Do you teach anywhere other than the dark side of the moon?
Do you accept rather slow people in your classes.

I used to teach out of my home but I don't anymore. I teach out of the NMLRA's education building at Friendship IN. I won't have any classes in 2024. I will start again in 2025 but not kit assembly. Probably one class per year will be it.
I'm trying to pass on over 40 years of knowledge that I acquired as a fulltime muzzleloading gunmaker and I don't feel like snapping Kibler kit together is passing on all I could.

 

[mikesto44]

Mike I agree with what you are saying. I'm not knocking Jims kits. But their really isn't a whole lot in my opinion that anyone gains in putting them together. Except maybe how a good a proper in let should look like or the staining and Browning of the barrel and parts.
But that's just my opinion.

 

[Polecat_Tom]

I can personally put the colonial or the Whitson rifle together in 4 or 5 hours. I haven't done a Woodsrunner but it looks like a two hour job.

I agree that the Woods runner is a simple assembly, but I have more than two hours in it just waiting for the stock to dry after whiskering.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Mike I agree with what you are saying. I'm not knocking Jims kits. But their really isn't a whole lot in my opinion that anyone gains in putting them together. Except maybe how a good a proper in let should look like or the staining and Browning of the barrel and parts.
But that's just my opinion.

They are an excellent opportunity to learn how the finish wood and metal. Also they are an excellent canvas for carving. One of my carved colonials is in the picture section on his website.
I'm in the process of ordering a woodsrunner and supplying an over-the-top curly blank for it.

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

For kit learning,, one of the kits from MLBS is great. His kits are accurate for shape and appearance, but you sure ain't gonna finish it in a few hours. Lots of wood left on the shaped blank, inlets just started, etc.
I am not going to knock Jim Kibler's kits at all - it produces a fantastically nice firearm in a very short length of time. If you want to carve and embellish the firearms, it is great because you can really concentrate on that instead of getting the lock and barrel properly inletted and fitted.

 

[rod_div]

Mike I agree with what you are saying. I'm not knocking Jims kits. But their really isn't a whole lot in my opinion that anyone gains in putting them together. Except maybe how a good a proper in let should look like or the staining and Browning of the barrel and parts.
But that's just my opinion.

You do get to finish the gun the way you want it. Plus one accurate rifle that's got quality components.

 

[Bucolic Buffalo]

The guys in my class that have the woodsrunner are having issues with the patch box. Not sure exactly what maybe the latch.

I had no difficulty. They are welcome to come downstairs to the carving class and look at mine. But it's so simple that it may just be a humidity problem. I even took the patchbox lid off and it fit my Quaker stock that I am carving on.

 

[Kmcmichael]

The guys in my class that have the woodsrunner are having issues with the patch box. Not sure exactly what maybe the latch.

I was trying to fit the wood until I realized it should not go in a nY further. I filed the latch and made it fit.

 

[Kmcmichael]

I used to teach out of my home but I don't anymore. I teach out of the NMLRA's education building at Friendship IN. I won't have any classes in 2024. I will start again in 2025 but not kit assembly. Probably one class per year will be it.
I'm trying to pass on over 40 years of knowledge that I acquired as a fulltime muzzleloading gunmaker and I don't feel like snapping Kibler kit together is passing on all I could.

They are an excellent opportunity to learn how the finish wood and metal. Also they are an excellent canvas for carving. One of my carved colonials is in the picture section on his website.
I'm in the process of ordering a woodsrunner and supplying an over-the-top curly blank for it.

I was interested in learning to carve. I am unfortunately too old and lazy to drive very far.

 

[mikesto44]

I agree they are a great canvas for carving, wire in lay or what ever. But it's a world of difference between these kits and actually building from a blank.
But they sure beat the heck out of ban sawing and wood rasping....

 

[1:66 twisted]

Finished my 36 cal SMR. I like how it turned out.

 

[TDM]

Looks very nice. Congratulations.

 

[1:66 twisted]

Looks very nice. Congratulations.

Thank you

 

[leam]

Mike I agree with what you are saying. I'm not knocking Jims kits. But their really isn't a whole lot in my opinion that anyone gains in putting them together. Except maybe how a good a proper in let should look like or the staining and Browning of the barrel and parts.
But that's just my opinion.

My Kibler kit is staring at me from the closet. We just moved, and I promised myself I wouldn't open the box until we had the heavy stuff in the new house. So, take what I say with a little bias.

I write fiction as a hobby, and have been writing short stories for most of my life. Back in 2016 I decided to write a 20,000 word short story for a friend's daughter. It wound up being a six book series, and I'm knee deep in a follow-up series now. Finishing the first book's draft had a deep and profound effect on my self-image. I transformed from a person who writes one off scenes to someone who has written an entire book. Writing more books was so much easier, because I knew I could do it.

The Kibler kits offer the same life-altering opportunity. If I can build this kit, then I can build another. My skills will grow over the course of builds, and I may try more complex builds, or less "pre-fit" options. But I will go into any "next build" with the knowledge that I have done this before, and I can do it again.

Jim makes great kits, but he sells personal transformation.

 

[Leatherbark]

The guys in my class that have the woodsrunner are having issues with the patch box. Not sure exactly what maybe the latch.

I buggered my patch box lid up on my woodsrunner trying to get it to fit. It wouldn't slide in but about halfway. After I got it to fit I messed up making the notch to assist opening on top (decided it was too big). All my fault though. I have a new one on order LOL.

Bob