Kibler "Colonial" build thread

[.38 Special]

Old .38 Special is trucking right along! Any of those little flaws, like the nose cap, will disappear when the brass is polished and some patina develops. And if anyone gets their eyeball close enough to see that, and says anything....SLAP THEM!! I doubt that any of the original guns were perfect and un-flawed, unless it was a very high-buck, gold and silver inlaid diamond studded type of rifle, made for some Mr. Money-Bags or the King of Siam or something.

I'm a pretty laid back fellow in general, but I tend to be a little OCD when it comes to this kind of project. I promised myself not to let perfection be the enemy of "good enough", and I'm holding to it. I've intentionally chosen to make a "using" gun rather than a showpiece if for no other reason than that if I let myself, the gun will never actually get done!

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I understand. But keep in mind, as she takes on some patina, a dent or ding or two, a few scratches, perfect won't be so important. But it's good to strive for perfection. Nothing wrong with that. You is doing just fine! That rifle is going to be a beauty to behold.

 

[troy fairweather]

I'm a pretty laid back fellow in general, but I tend to be a little OCD when it comes to this kind of project. I promised myself not to let perfection be the enemy of "good enough", and I'm holding to it. I've intentionally chosen to make a "using" gun rather than a showpiece if for no other reason than that if I let myself, the gun will never actually get done!

Ocd is the reason I don't think I'd carve my stock, any little mess up even if hidden would drive me crazy. Kibler just had a nice video on some simple carving on the WR.

 

[troy fairweather]

I understand. But keep in mind, as she takes on some patina, a dent or ding or two, a few scratches, perfect won't be so important. But it's good to strive for perfection. Nothing wrong with that. You is doing just fine! That rifle is going to be a beauty to behold.

There's a difference tho, for some reason I don't mind dings or scratches happening to a gun but something about my head needs it to be perfect when new.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

There's a difference tho, for some reason I don't mind dings or scratches happening to a gun but something about my head needs it to be perfect when new.

Truth. But, for example, I don't see the pin going through the nose cap as imperfection, more like it's just the way the gun was made. ? Or not. My OCD wouldn't kick in or be "triggered" over that.

 

[.38 Special]

Perfect would be nice, on things like that - especially because I know it is possible, being as the other side of the nosecap is! - but again, I'm making a concious effort not to worry about it.

On the other hand, my order of tools, finishing materials, and replacement patchbox lid is nowhere on the horizon, so absent other things to do, I attacked the trigger guard today. No reason not to let the OCD flag fly - I still plan on pulling the finish back with 0000 steel wool or something like that - so here's what four hours of effort will do, starting at 120 grit and ending with 5000 and Mother's on a rag.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Get down with the OCD! YEAH! That's nice, the higher the level of polish, the nicer will be the patina. I should have polished the brass better on my Bess, but at the time I thought, "leave it alone, let it age". Wrong. Should have done what you did, then let it age.

 

[.38 Special]

Get down with the OCD! YEAH! That's nice, the higher the level of polish, the nicer will be the patina. I should have polished the brass better on my Bess, but at the time I thought, "leave it alone, let it age". Wrong. Should have done what you did, then let it age.

It's honestly kind of ridiculous. The brass is almost white, and just about seems to produce its own light. An interesting exercise, but gee whiz.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

It's honestly kind of ridiculous. The brass is almost white, and just about seems to produce its own light. An interesting exercise, but gee whiz.

Oh no, not ridiculous, (I never would have figured out how to spell that) it will age really nice, really beautiful, superior! Again, wish I had polished the brass on my Bess like that. That's the way to do it, you done well.

 

[troy fairweather]

Think that's why I like the high polish brass look better because it doesn't look like brass lol. In a shop I worked in we had this blue polish made brass crazy looking, almost no color it was like a mirror.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Brass and bronze are both beautiful metals, polished or aged.

 

[.38 Special]

I'm slowly polishing up the rest of the brass to the same standard. I still semi-plan to scuff everything up, but the amount of time I've put into it is making me wonder. At this point I think I'll finish the rifle and then see. The bright red stock finish I have in mind, combined with the don't-look-directly-at-it brass finish, may result in a circus-clown level of attractiveness. Will post pictures either way...

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I'm slowly polishing up the rest of the brass to the same standard. I still semi-plan to scuff everything up, but the amount of time I've put into it is making me wonder. At this point I think I'll finish the rifle and then see. The bright red stock finish I have in mind, combined with the don't-look-directly-at-it brass finish, may result in a circus-clown level of attractiveness. Will post pictures either way...

Don't scruff! Yes, when first done, and all froggy-fresh, it will be a bit over the top. It may require sun-glasses. But shooting it, handling it, take it hiking trekking and exploring, and it will mellow. Heck, just cleaning it after shooting it will dull that brass down fast. Don't fake it!

 

[.38 Special]

Don't scruff! Yes, when first done, and all froggy-fresh, it will be a bit over the top. It may require sun-glasses. But shooting it, handling it, take it hiking trekking and exploring, and it will mellow. Heck, just cleaning it after shooting it will dull that brass down fast. Don't fake it!

We'll see. Originals would never have been polished to that level, except maybe on presentation rifles for Napolean or something. I'll probably leave it high polished for assembly, take some pictures, and then decide...

 

[.38 Special]

Meanwhile, I've been sanding the stock. The last step for tonight was wetting it down for "whiskering", which begins to give me a pretty good idea of how wild this piece of wood might turn out to be.

 

[JeffG]

 

[troy fairweather]

What wood grade you get again, fancy? The I hate spending the extra for fancy I think I'd wished I did, I really like the stripping and the standard grade has very little. Doing firewood we cut up some very nice wood, last year we had probably the nicest curly maple I've ever seen. Unfortunately I was not bucking and only seen it when we first started splitting it. I did save a piece but got lost. Had a 48-52" curly ash a few years back that was amazing . Really wish we would get a sawmill,

 

[.38 Special]

What wood grade you get again, fancy? The I hate spending the extra for fancy I think I'd wished I did, I really like the stripping and the standard grade has very little. Doing firewood we cut up some very nice wood, last year we had probably the nicest curly maple I've ever seen. Unfortunately I was not bucking and only seen it when we first started splitting it. I did save a piece but got lost. Had a 48-52" curly ash a few years back that was amazing . Really wish we would get a sawmill,

I'm not sure, actually. The stock was originally a "quick ship" that they listed as higher grade than "extra fancy", but with a bark inclusion that kept it from the usual sales channel. Then before shipping they saw that it was warped and offered to find me a "comparable replacement", so I'm guessing this one would be either "extra fancy" or whatever they would call one that is the next step up from that.

 

[hawg]

That's beautiful. I've got a stock that looks pretty close to that I bought from Richards Microfit. It was advertised as curly maple but a guy that knows wood said it was English walnut. All I know is it's the hardest stick of wood I ever saw unless live oak is harder. I'm not good with wood to start with but I can't do anything with it.

 

[.38 Special]

Little bit of a milestone today.


Got the gun completely together. Lots of little things to address, but if Triple George invades tomorrow I can do my part.

Thoughts so far:

1) The quality of this kit is beyond belief. If I didn't care at all about cosmetics I could have thrown it together into a functional rifle in a few hours. A few more hours of filing and sanding, and some Home Depot stains and sealants, and you'd have a rifle that would beat the best thing Pedersoli ever dreamed of. For a grand and change... yes.

2) Unless you really, really know what you're doing, there will be some bits you're not perfectly happy with. There are some gaps between the stock and barrel, for example. My fault? Probably - but I don't know exactly why. Maybe the draw filing was too aggressive, or maybe I cleaned up the barrel channel a little too much, or maybe that's just the way it was always going to be and too bad. Unless a true expert handles it, nobody will ever know but me, and I'll just have to find a way to live with it.

3) I've been using purple sandpaper. It may be my imagination, but I think I see some purple in the stock. I'm going to get some wood-colored sandpaper...

4) Really good quality wood chisels are close to a hundred bucks a throw. I tried to save money by getting a "miniature" set of high quality chisels, for about a hundred bucks. In retrospect, one single $100 adult-sized 1/4" chisel would have been the better way to go.

5) There is no such thing as "too sharp" when it comes to chisels. If you don't already know what you're about, watch the YouTube videos, buy the $70 stone, and practice sharpening until the thing cuts like a laser beam. I tried "kind of" sharp, and then I tried "pretty darn" sharp, and then I finally discovered that anything less than "Holy %&#$!" sharp just isn't good enough.

6) If you're OCD, you'll probably have to find a way to live with it.

I'm looking forward to getting my finishing supplies and making this thing as pretty as I can. The order was put in weeks ago and shows no sign of progress. I've been putting the project off for at least a decade so have no right to whine. I hope to update the thread soon...

 

[Rustmangler]

Great right up!!! Yes on the purple I have seen it before.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Really good quality wood chisels are close to a hundred bucks a throw.

I can do $100 bucks in damage with a chisel in a matter of minutes. A $100 buck chisel plus the damage, is $200 a throw in my hands. Never have to sharpen them. Use once for two minutes, put away still nice and sharp and hopefully never try using again. Metal work, I'm not half bad.

 

[.38 Special]

Track of the Wolf got a spring vise to me this afternoon, so I took apart the lock for polishing. One of my least favorite traditions is losing the fly, which I seem to do more often than not. This one just wouldn't come out. Tweezers, magnets, tapping this way and that... it was really in there. Just to be safe, I cleaned out under the bench vise and put down a piece of cardboard. Then I put the lock into the vise to tap the tumbler out from the hammer, and the fly fell right out, hit the cardboard, and bounced into The Void. I spent a half hour on my hands and knees with no luck. Emailed Kibler and got an "Out of the office until the 17th" reply, and seriously considered throwing myself off the roof. My fifteen year old took pity on me, searched for 30 seconds (oh, to have 15 year old eyes again!) and then handed me the magic piece. Best twenty bucks I ever spent.



Edit: those little detailing sanders are from an outfit called "Lumberton" and were just a few bucks on Amazon. They come in five different grits and include a good supply of extra sanding belts. I wish I had known about them sooner; they are just perfect for this sort of work.

 

[troy fairweather]

Wow a whole child for $20 lol, those 1.5-2 gallon zip lock bags work pretty good for removing things that may go flying. Cut one end off so a hand can be used from each side. We all loose things tho, I lost a very large punch one time that shot up into the insulated ceiling trying to drive out a kingpin on a truck. Worked 2 years thinking every time I walked by that spot it would fall out and crack me in the head lol.

 

[Rustmangler]

I keep magnets around for searching. It will pull things out uf carpet or grass like magic.