Hi Poole,
I am selling this because I enjoy building them! I have built and sold a Colonial LR earlier and wanted to do a SMR next. (My primary work is a Mountain Dulcimer/musical instrument builder).
The barrel has been cold-browned and allowed to pitt some, and I then carded it back to get an aged look. The wood is figured Cherry which I dyed to get that deep reddish-brown color. You can see the variations of graining and tones within the wood. This is lovely character of the wood, much nicer than standard "clear" Cherry I think.
Regarding the ramrod/wiping stick, the end you see has a spiral-carved groove which I added for grip. It has a steel, threaded ferrule (pinned and epoxied as well) on the other end on the ramrod, which the jags can thread into. However, I suggest using the steel Range Rod instead, which I am also including to use for ramming and swabbing the barrel, as well as for doing any ball-extraction. The Range Rod is the one Kibler sells.
Thanks for looking and for the good questions.
~Bob