I'm already frustrated, and I've had the gun 30 minutes!

[Mulebrain]

Make darn sure to use the same size or a little smaller punch, or pin.
You can usually push them out carefully, and be sure to install back into the same holes.

Once all fasteners are out, release the barrel carefully upside down.

 

[stink koat]

Before you tap out the pin, grind the point of the punch or nail flat, otherwise the point will keep "jumping away" from the pin and enlarging the hole in the wood around the barrel pin.

Use a finish nail? Hold the small nail with a pair of needle nose plyers and gently tap em out? Pleae note other builders will chime in. I am NOT a builder.

u

 

[ord sgt]

cut off a bicycle spoke cut it again 2 1/2 - 3" file the end flat They make great punches.
Nit Wit

If the bicycle belongs to your wife or kids, you may want to choose another option. Take one from the neighbor that you dislike the most.

 

[SOLANCO]

You may want to consider a ‘gunsmith’ set of screwdrivers, and even then, you have to customize or fit a few for specific screws. Just go slow.

And one way to keep track of components ( at least the steel ones), is to use magnetic bottomed stainless steel part pans. Just a thought.

Don't need those magnet pans often, but my are they sweet when I do!
Midway has a nice, reasonable gunsmith screwdriver set.

 

[GAHUNTER60]

Been sanding and whiskering since this morning (three whisker removals). I put the first coat of stain on her a couple of hours ago. Since I did not pay for upgraded wood, I decided I wanted to stain her a little darker than the iron nitrate everybody uses on the curly maple. So I went with the Laurel Mountain Forge Lancaster Maple stain. Actually, it came out a little darker than I thought it would with just one coat. Right now, it's the color I figured it would be with two or three coats.

I might have to leave it at one and just blend in a few places where it came out a little uneven. Hope to start applying the Minwax Antique Finishing Oil tomorrow (I've used it on several gunstocks, and absolutely love the finish it gives.)

Here's today's results:

 

[tim pauoski]

Keeping things together and avoiding problems. Take a short piece of board, lets say a 1x6 by 14" long draw what might represent all the parts of your rifle, lock stock and barrel, trigger guard, side plate etc.. Now drill holes for all the pins, bolts and screws as they are located on the rifle on to the board and then as you remove the pins/screws during disassembly place them in their proper place on the board. This assures everything goes back where it belongs and without lost parts. And for heavens sake, get a 1/16" punch. Why go cheep when you just spent big bucks on the rifle

 

[beardedhorse]

Many finish nails have a flared point that is larger in diameter than the shaft - a good reason to avoid impromptu substitutes for good pin punches. Finish nails can make good pins if uniform. I use a needle file to file a groove in each pin. Starting a the nose cap with one groove, two grooves for next one (maybe barrel lug), three for third from muzzle, etc. to index each pin. Depending on whether I want to tap out to free an object or refasten it from left to right or right to left, I index the grooves closest to the side I want to start the pin and tap it in with. To avoid denting the wood don't use a rubber, wooden, brass or steel mallet against the pin end and also if the pin punch has a larger, tapered shaft, don't drive it in deep enough to open the size of the hole. Prior to setting pins for barrels, etc. you can use temporary pins that get replaced when doing final filing and sanding. A good trip in installing butt plugs in powder horns, too. Small dents on the wood can be taken out by gentle steaming. Lay a wet washcloth on the dented area and gently iron.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Great idea!

 

[old ugly]

a good way to keep track of the order the pins go into the stock is lay a pc of tape upside down and stick the pins on the tape the order thy come out of the gun.
ou

 

[Oldbear63]

What about causing splinters when you punch out the pin? Doesn't the pin tear out wood as it exits?
Isn't there a specific direction that you have to drive the pin out from. Are they tapered or direction specific?

 

[Grenadier1758]

When I think of a specific direction for installation of pins, wedges, and sights, I look at the bolts in the lock plate and drive anything that is driven in place goes in the same direction as the lock bolts.

 

[Davey Boy]

I enjoy this thread. I would like to do one of these kits. Knowing what to expect is extremely helpful. When instructions if any are unclear and intent is unknown, being able to discuss in this forum is the best.

Guess it's time to become a supporting member.

 

[Col. Batguano]

What about causing splinters when you punch out the pin? Doesn't the pin tear out wood as it exits?
Isn't there a specific direction that you have to drive the pin out from. Are they tapered or direction specific?

They're not particularly direction-specific as one might think of the rear sight on an M1 Carbine dovetail, but most folks drive them right to left because the lock is on the right side. Also, most folks do it the same way each time to help with managing tear-out only happening on the same side all the time. It happens. Just check for it each time. A little wood glue in there will take care of it. Just use your 1/16" (or appropriately sized) bit to re-ream the hole. Do it from both sides, taking care not to go all the way through and potentially break out the far side.

The slight chamfer you put on each end should prevent most tear out risk. Feel for burrs developing on the pins too, and stone them off as they are developing.

A bigger issue that you may encounter down the road is the pins being very tight in one season, and easy to drive in another. Because of the curl in the wood, the wood will move both radially and longitudinally across the grain, which causes the stock to elongate (due to the oblique angles within the waves of the curl grain). The curlier the stock, the more the movement. That wood movement makes the holes in the tabs shift their positions relative to the hole in the wood. To solve for that, you need to elongate the holes in the tabs some (if that isn't done already for you). The further you get from the breech the more you have to elongate the holes.

As a case in point; I have one gun with a very curly stock and a 48" barrel that the muzzle cap set back is about .080" this time of year, and it's dang near proud to the muzzle in August. Wood movement is predictable, but difficult to calculate just how much you're going to get due to the hidden nature of the grain and direction within the stock. But a rule of thumb is 1/4" per 12" of radial grain, and 1/8" of longitudinal span. You can use trigonometry to calculate it based on the number of waves in the stock between the breech and the muzzle.

 

[PMurph]

I just got my Kibler Colonial in the white, and there is not one word on how to remove the barrel from the stock for finishing. There's like ten pins on the stock, but no instruction on which, if any, have to be removed to separate the stock and barrel. I guess if I had built the gun, I'd know these things, but I didn't, so I don't!

I assume I'll have to remove them all to sand and finish the stock. Where in the world do you get a punch that small (especially one that's not tapered)? At the moment my blood pressure is rising so fast, I'm about three minutes from having a stroke! The funny thing is all the people on here who told me how easy it would be to buy the kit and put it together, and I can't even handle the simple task of removing the barrel and hardware!

As many have pointed out watch Jim’s videos on YouTube. I think it’s a collection of 8 building your exact rifle. I’m putting a .54 Colonial rifle together right now. Everything you need to know is in those videos. Have some fun!

 

[Bucolic Buffalo]

Jim's videos are great.

A menu tab with the assembly instructions is at the bottom of this page. They can be printed.
Colonial Instructions

 

[Professor flintlock]

Jim's videos are great.

A menu tab with the assembly instructions is at the bottom of this page. They can be printed.
Colonial Instructions

Jim's videos are great.

A menu tab with the assembly instructions is at the bottom of this page. They can be printed.
Colonial Instructions

Flag down. Your snap on man. Best punches in the world. Their 1/16 punch is tough. They have excellent screw drivers but not hollow ground. Their bits for the magnetic tip screwdriver are . They have thin ones that will fit the screws found on most flintlocks.

 

[GAHUNTER60]

Okay, now I have a question about finishing the barrel. Jim's polishing guy did an excellent job finishing the five flats that are exposed above the barrel channel. I'm able to get them mirror smooth with nothing courser than .400 grit sandpaper. The other three flats look like they have not been touched since being built. They have some kind of weird dimpling from muzzle to breech. It would take me weeks, if not months, to smooth them out with my hand tools

Since these flats are not exposed, is there any reason to worry about getting these flats smooth before browning the barrel as long as the five exposed flats are smooth?

 

[Vaino]

I use 1/16 dia hardened music wire for all the pins in my builds....it's very uniform in dia so all the pins can be driven in or out w/o a whole lot of force. After finishing the stock, I hand twist a 1/16 drill in each hole to clean out any finish. I start on one side and twist the drill through and out the other side....have never had any splintering on the far side.

The pins w/ a chamfer on both ends should nearly be able to be pushed in w/ a finger. although I use a section of soft pine board to push the pins flush w/ the stock. My home made drift is a section of Allen wrench w/ the corners stoned off for a nice fit w/ the hole.....the end has a slight chamfer for easy starting in the hole. The section of Allen wrench is pushed into a hole drilled into a square length of brass.

Because the drift has a tendency to "skate" off the pin, a firm grip on the drift keeps the drift centered on the pin when lightly struck w/ a small hammer. When both ends of the pins are below the stock surface, some dark shoe polish hides the pins. This is a fairly long post for what should be a simple task.... but many pin holes can be buggered up.....Fred

 

[LawrenceA]

Okay, now I have a question about finishing the barrel. Jim's polishing guy did an excellent job finishing the five flats that are exposed above the barrel channel. I'm able to get them mirror smooth with nothing courser than .400 grit sandpaper. The other three flats look like they have not been touched since being built. They have some kind of weird dimpling from muzzle to breech. It would take me weeks, if not months, to smooth them out with my hand tools

Since these flats are not exposed, is there any reason to worry about getting these flats smooth before browning the barrel as long as the five exposed flats are smooth?

Traditionally the bottom flats were not done. I have heard that Kibler's barrel maching is pretty smooth and little is required but the whole job, as you pointed out. is not required.

 

[Dwight Rutherford]

Jim’s U-Tube on creating patina on the metal parts covers draw filing the barrel and how many flats to file.