Kibler "Colonial" build thread

[Ugly Sauce]

Magnets have saved my life many times. My garage/shop has a gravel floor. Not a good place to drop small parts. I do have plywood down for a "floor" in some areas, and carboard over that. Amazing how far little things can bounce off the plywood cardboard floor, and find gravel.

 

[.38 Special]

I did actually use the magnet trick. Discovered things that have been lost since the dawn of time, but still didn't come up with anything useful. I assume the gods just felt the need to teach me some kind of lesson.

 

[hawg]

I launched a 1911 recoil spring and plug across the kitchen. I found the spring right off. I searched everywhere for the plug. I finally found it inside a big mixing bowl on top of the kitchen cabinet with less than two inches of clearance to get in.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I did actually use the magnet trick. Discovered things that have been lost since the dawn of time, but still didn't come up with anything useful. I assume the gods just felt the need to teach me some kind of lesson.

The lesson was: "kitchen table". When wife is not home.

 

[hawg]

The lesson was: "kitchen table". When wife is not home.

It wouldn't have mattered. I used it whether she was home or not.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Well me too, but some women don't like kitchen table "projects". !!! I was still casting ball and bullet on the kitchen stove, but we got a new one that has some kind of "safety" feature or something, and won't melt lead. Now I do it in the garage, have a little one-burner coleman stove that works fine.

 

[troy fairweather]

My dad rebuilt quite a few engines and transmissions on the kitchen table when I was a kid, sometimes it's all you got.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Built quite a few motorcycles in the house, and that's where they lived at night. Was the only place where they wouldn't get stolen. Keeping one in the garage pretty much assured you would not have it in the morning!

 

[.38 Special]

I was polishing the faceplate on the kitchen table last night. My wife came home late from her exercise class and helped herself to leftovers. Then she looked at the mess on the table and said "Maybe I'll eat in the dining room". I replied "Well, you're always looking for extra iron intake, yes? So have a seat." She gave me that look which lets me know that I may or may not be in trouble, but she did eat at the kitchen table while I introduced steel particles into the environment.

 

[.38 Special]

My dad rebuilt quite a few engines and transmissions on the kitchen table when I was a kid, sometimes it's all you got.

Built quite a few motorcycles in the house, and that's where they lived at night. Was the only place where they wouldn't get stolen. Keeping one in the garage pretty much assured you would not have it in the morning!

My older brother rebuilt a '28 Triumph Speed Twin engine in the rumpus room. After the divorce, of course.

 

[troy fairweather]

I've did a few top end rebuilds on some dirt bikes in the house, worst I've gotten yeld at was for washing my muzzleloader in the bathtub, mom didn't even hear me saying it will all clean up.

 

[.38 Special]

I've did a few top end rebuilds on some dirt bikes in the house, worst I've gotten yeld at was for washing my muzzleloader in the bathtub, mom didn't even hear me saying it will all clean up.

I remember being 14 or so and emerging from the shower with a flintlock barrel. We were both squeaky clean, which didn't mollify my mother at all.

She was genuinely upset, though, when I used her good cast iron pot to boil a percussion revolver.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

That's almost as bad as putting the gun in the dishwasher, kinda like washing your socks in it. Guaranteed to produce hollering and squawking.

 

[hawg]

I started casting on the kitchen stove with a bean can when I was 12. Mom never said a word about it. My first wife however wasn't too keen on it but she didn't say anything about cleaning or working on guns on the kitchen table.

 

[shafter]

I've heard amazing things about the Kibler kits and I'm about to order my first. I'm going to go with a Woodsrunner but not sure yet on the wood.

The Colonial is one fine looking rifle. Keep us posted with details and pics as you go along!

 

[.38 Special]

I've heard amazing things about the Kibler kits and I'm about to order my first. I'm going to go with a Woodsrunner but not sure yet on the wood.

The Colonial is one fine looking rifle. Keep us posted with details and pics as you go along!

Glad you're enjoying the thread. I think you'll be very happy with the kit. It's hard to imagine they could improve upon it, but apparently they have with the Woodsrunner.

I'm a sucker for nice maple, so didn't at all mind paying for the upgrade. Even their "plain" stuff seems pretty nice though.

I've been polishing the lock the last few evenings, which honestly isn't all that much fun. If nothing else, my fingers have been too dirty to touch the camera! I'm close to done with it and will post some pictures then. Next step will be blacking the steel parts with Jax black and then cutting it back with Scotch Brite for a "gray" finish - maybe this weekend.

 

[.38 Special]

The lock is all polished up except for the hammer. I knew that piece was going to be involved, so have been putting it off, but gee whiz.



This is the result of about one-and-half hours of detail filing. I haven't even finished with the files - all of the sanding looms large on my horizon. Getting the cast surface smoothed out without creating facets or interfering with the curves is a trick. I'm maybe ten percent done. So PSA: if you get the kit, consider just leaving the hammer as cast. Or get yourself a good bottle of bourbon and the whole set of jeweler's files.

Pray for me boys; I'm going back in.

 

[.38 Special]

Got the lock finished, and cleaned up the butt plate to 7000 grit (it came with a headlight polishing kit my son bought, and it's kind of hard to tell which side is the abrasive!) and Mother's.



I should have taken a "before" shot of the butt plate. It was fairly nasty, with big gates and parting lines. It's a "glamor" piece, though, and so was kind of fun to clean up - as opposed to the hammer, which was a real chore.

I also got myself a top shelf dovetail file, smooth on two sides and fine cut on one. I do a surprising number of dovetail cuts - usually to add useful front sights to percussion revolvers - and feel a bit silly for having waited so long to get a file better than the Home Depot (and home modified) special that I've always used. I guess fifty bucks for a file always struck me as extravagant, but in light of all the "not quite right" dovetails I've cut over the years...

So I'm not far from the finish line now. I need to fit the sights and clean them up a bit, and I still need to finish a couple of ramrod pipes. My order of finishing materials and patchbox lid is still nowhere to be seen, so I cancelled it, asked Kibler's to send out just the lid, and have ordered the blacking agent and the stock finishing potions from other suppliers. Hopefully by next week I will be applying final finishes!

 

[troy fairweather]

Got the lock finished, and cleaned up the butt plate to 7000 grit (it came with a headlight polishing kit my son bought, and it's kind of hard to tell which side is the abrasive!) and Mother's.

View attachment 1161912

I should have taken a "before" shot of the butt plate. It was fairly nasty, with big gates and parting lines. It's a "glamor" piece, though, and so was kind of fun to clean up - as opposed to the hammer, which was a real chore.

I also got myself a top shelf dovetail file, smooth on two sides and fine cut on one. I do a surprising number of dovetail cuts - usually to add useful front sights to percussion revolvers - and feel a bit silly for having waited so long to get a file better than the Home Depot (and home modified) special that I've always used. I guess fifty bucks for a file always struck me as extravagant, but in light of all the "not quite right" dovetails I've cut over the years...

So I'm not far from the finish line now. I need to fit the sights and clean them up a bit, and I still need to finish a couple of ramrod pipes. My order of finishing materials and patchbox lid is still nowhere to be seen, so I cancelled it, asked Kibler's to send out just the lid, and have ordered the blacking agent and the stock finishing potions from other suppliers. Hopefully by next week I will be applying final finishes!

What brand file, it's hard to get good files I've never had luck finding nos ones cheap like some guys to. Dont think you'll ever wear out a dovetail file if that helps justifying the price.i'm surprised it's taking them so long for your stuff there normally quick on shipping, maybe there waiting for there restock.

Parts look nice, on the woodsrunner there's not much work to do on the butt plate being it's cnc made. Jim said when there not so busy they will start cnc on the other kits so day to.I'm really thinking the next kit will be a flower, the WR stock and lock is pretty much the same so should be easier for them.

 

[.38 Special]

What brand file, it's hard to get good files I've never had luck finding nos ones cheap like some guys to. Dont think you'll ever wear out a dovetail file if that helps justifying the price.i'm surprised it's taking them so long for your stuff there normally quick on shipping, maybe there waiting for there restock.

Parts look nice, on the woodsrunner there's not much work to do on the butt plate being it's cnc made. Jim said when there not so busy they will start cnc on the other kits so day to.I'm really thinking the next kit will be a flower, the WR stock and lock is pretty much the same so should be easier for them.

The file is Grobet, sold through Brownell's. And yeah, I don't expect to ever need another one!

One of the things I ordered is on backorder, and I wouldn't be surprised if that held up the whole thing. Not worth complaining about, anyway. I'm just really excited to go shooting, so every day feels like a week.

 

[troy fairweather]

The file is Grobet, sold through Brownell's. And yeah, I don't expect to ever need another one!

One of the things I ordered is on backorder, and I wouldn't be surprised if that held up the whole thing. Not worth complaining about, anyway. I'm just really excited to go shooting, so every day feels like a week.

Tell us what powder, patch and balls you trying first, what range you sighting in at.

 

[.38 Special]

Tell us what powder, patch and balls you trying first, what range you sighting in at.

Going to start with .530 and .010 patches - I generally prefer a looser combination than do most folks. Powder will be 2f - I have a good supply of Swiss and Olde Eynsford - and probably will start with 80 grains.

I probably will zero at 100 yards. I'm actually a fan of the old "Maximum point blank range" theory, which makes an 80 yard zero seem like a good idea, but it's sort of splitting hairs - between my old eyes and the fact that none of my local ranges will allow 80 yard targets, I'm probably just not going to worry about it.

(Suggestions, by the way, are welcome. I've toyed around with .54 but have never done anything serious with it. The only caveat is that I refuse to pound loads down the bore with a short starter.)

 

[troy fairweather]

Going to start with .530 and .010 patches - I generally prefer a looser combination than do most folks. Powder will be 2f - I have a good supply of Swiss and Olde Eynsford - and probably will start with 80 grains.

I probably will zero at 100 yards. I'm actually a fan of the old "Maximum point blank range" theory, which makes an 80 yard zero seem like a good idea, but it's sort of splitting hairs - between my old eyes and the fact that none of my local ranges will allow 80 yard targets, I'm probably just not going to worry about it.

(Suggestions, by the way, are welcome. I've toyed around with .54 but have never done anything serious with it. The only caveat is that I refuse to pound loads down the bore with a short starter.)

I'd like to try a coned muzzle one day, I don't like a tight fitting ball, especially since we have to use pyrodex so much. It's like grit feeling down the bore after shooting. I will have to find some black out of state of I get a kit, can only have 5 pounds tho. I've always like pillow ticking and it's nice Wal-Mart has it for about $5 a yard. Think they have some .010" stuff to, I know they got thick stuff to its like 30-40 tho and used it for my qball mortor.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I like to use a patch around .018-.023", and a ball small enough to load easily. The thin patches seem to be more prone to tearing/burning, etc.

The muzzle on my Jeager is coned, it's a big plus. As I hunt more than shoot, using a short starter does not appeal to me. I also "dished" my muzzle, which makes centering the patch faster and easier, although, in the field, I use a loading block.

In this pic you can see my file work is not perfect, but when handling the rifle it is not noticeable.

 

[Acorn Mush]

Very nice job on the muzzle Mr. Sauce! Your file work looks pretty good to me.