Easier to put together, Woodsrunner or Southern Mountain Rifle

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David LaPell

David LaPell

32 Cal
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Well, I've decided that the only way I am going to get the funds for my Kibler is to just start selling some of my things I don't use. My son had an injury recently and the insurance wouldn't cover his walking boot he needed, so that was out of pocket for three bills, not to mention today will be my fourth co-pay in a month, so I am well up to the four hundred dollar range and it's not likely to end with today. So in the meanwhile, I have to ask, not having put one together but having rebuilt a few kits from other makers and modified them for L & R locks I have some experience, but I have to ask, as a first timer putting together a Kibler when I get one, which one would likely be easier, a Woodsrunner or a Southern Mountain Rifle? I was thinking about a .36 SMR but I already have my .32 Kentucky rifle and I'm wondering how much more fun it would be to hunt deer with a Woodsrunner in .45.
 
My Woodsrunner literally snapped together. I did nothing but sand the wood, draw file the barrel, sand/rasp the brass and that's it. Super simple and super easy. I used sand paper, scotch brite, two screwdrivers, a ball peen hammer and a set of vice grips for the pins.
 
I put together an early SMR kit back when they had a 46" barrel and a Chambers lock, I hear that they are more refined now. It took me about 15 hours to complete my rifle and I have a good bit of gun building experience. The factory inletting was just close, not drop in by any means, the crescent butt plate took the most time to inlet.
 
I have both and put together both. For me the woodsrunner was much easier kit and came out better. Its the rifle I really prefer all around. The trigger gaurd and buttplate come installed.. thats a big deal. I bet a woodsrunner in 45 would be sweet. Maybe a little heavy. Mines a .50 alot of good said about the .54
 
The Woodsrunner is mainly a metal polishing exercise. The metal has small cutter marks on it. The wood just needs sanding. The parts mostly snap together. It goes together a bit easier if you put some windage on all the metal but the buttplate. The WR fit me better.

Never done an SMR.
 
I've done a SMR. Woodsrunner is probably a little easier. I don't think "ease of assembly" should be the OP's first level criterion for choosing, as the difference is not significant, and the skills, tools and knowledge needed to complete either are pretty much on the same level. It seems to me, from re-reading the OP, that his main criterion for use is .45 caliber, and so the choice between the two is pretty much level on that decision point. I think that means the choice devolves down to secondary considerations. And that's how I'd suggest the OP make his choice: not on ease of assembly or on caliber but on which of these two styles of flintlock rifles is most pulling at his heart strings. As that is a comparison point on which the two are the most different.
 
Eric Krewson said:
I put together an early SMR kit back when they had a 46" barrel and a Chambers lock, I hear that they are more refined now. It took me about 15 hours to complete my rifle and I have a good bit of gun building experience. The factory inletting was just close, not drop in by any means, the crescent butt plate took the most time to inlet.
Click to expand...
I'd bet the CNC factor really made the fit better! It's brilliant, using computerized space-age tech to make things from 200 years ago! :)
 
IMG_8565.jpeg
My SMR went together with no problems, very smooth, very balanced gun. .40 calibre, shoots like a dream
 
Woodsrunner is snap together, cut and taper pins, sand and finish the metal. Most complex part is putting the tip on the rammer and sanding it to fit.

SMR needs some corners squared up with sharp chisels, butt plate blued blacked in (plan on a hour or two here if you want it perfect), and used to need the barrel lugs drilled and slotted but maybe not now.

Both are the most refined kits on the market, bar none (I'm sure the fowler is as good as the WR but don't have one yet).
 
The Woodsrunner is the easiest period. The SMR only problem I had was the long tang and removing the barrel from that long skinny fore stock. If not careful you can snap it. But plate isn't to difficult just watch Jim's videos.
Jim keeps tweaking these kits that I swear in another year. All you will have to do is open the lid. Unpack the foam and shake the box. The kit will assemble itself. Lol
 
I'm working on a SMR right now. It's reported to be "a little" more involved to put together than the WR but I'm not seeing anything significant. My lock popped right in with only minor cleaning of the lock cutout. The barrel tang, likewise. Maybe 1/64" of wood removal needed where the plug meets the stock in order to get the tang to sit perfectly in the hole. The butt stock took the most work. Maybe a couple of hours there to remove tiny(!) bits of wood in order to get everything fitting tight. ( It could have gone faster but I don't have faith in my ability to maintain a straight line so took material off with a file about 5 thou at a time, then refit with Prussian blue and repeat.)
There is noting hard in the SMR kit (I have minimal skills with a chisel and file so I go slow.)All in all, I have maybe 12-15 hrs of (enjoyable and unrushed) fiddling into getting the entire gun assembled. I'm now ready to move onto sanding /finishing the wood and metal. This is a really enjoyable project that I almost wish would take more time. I purchased this as Xmas gift to myself to do as winter project. As it stands, I'll have it done in 3 weeks of 2-3 hrs a day putzing around. I may need to do a WR next :)
 
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