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Kibler Brown Bess?

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Would you buy a Kibler Brown Bess kit?

  • Yes

    Votes: 88 70.4%
  • No

    Votes: 37 29.6%

  • Total voters
    125
I would like to see a smooth bore furtrade era pistol.

A good Bess would be cool, but honestly I’m not sure how broad the market would actually be for that outside our small world of historical interest.

The French gun was more common and a better weapon…but no one outside of the real hobbyist nerds know that info.

What about a Commitee of Safety style Musket? Uniquely American, most lay people would think it’s a Bess, lots of historical relevance and a bit easier in the hand and useful in the field.

Most COS muskets are parts guns, not a true pattern.

How would a COS musket handle any different from a brown Bess? There were no COS specific standards.

This would drift into the militia muskets too which were a little more standard.

To be honest the original so called COS guns I’ve seen looked like they were slapped together in a weekend. One of them even had a very early sea service lock with three bolts.
 
Since I know Jim is watching this thread…a question…

How many guns do you need to sell to make a project profitable for you? Economies of Scale exist for all manufactured products…would you give us a ballpark number?

I also believe that offering a Bess, even if you only broke even on the project, would be an excellent Loss Leader to build awareness and bring sales to the rest of your line.
 
Yes, I would happily buy a Kibler Brown Bess, whatever model he puts out.
But if I might make a suggestion as to which pattern to make— I would suggest a 1756 long land pattern.
One possible advantage to a P1756 is that it shares many parts (such as the lock) with the 1769 short land Bess. Thus, it might be possible to offer both patterns, without having to remanufacture two different sets of parts. Offering both the 1756 and the 1769 patterns would cover both the early and late periods of the Revolutionary War.
 
Yes, I would happily buy a Kibler Brown Bess, whatever model he puts out.
But if I might make a suggestion as to which pattern to make— I would suggest a 1756 long land pattern.
One possible advantage to a P1756 is that it shares many parts (such as the lock) with the 1769 short land Bess. Thus, it might be possible to offer both patterns, without having to remanufacture two different sets of parts. Offering both the 1756 and the 1769 patterns would cover both the early and late periods of the Revolutionary War.
I don’t disagree and the differences were not major, but the 1769 went out of proportion in 1777 with the new model of that year taking its place. The 1777 was made in massive volumes for the times, was even contracted in Belgium and was the late war musket.
 
I would like to see a smooth bore furtrade era pistol.

A good Bess would be cool, but honestly I’m not sure how broad the market would actually be for that outside our small world of historical interest.

The French gun was more common and a better weapon…but no one outside of the real hobbyist nerds know that info.

What about a Commitee of Safety style Musket? Uniquely American, most lay people would think it’s a Bess, lots of historical relevance and a bit easier in the hand and useful in the field.
How true is that about historical interest, After the Revolution the US thought so much of that French Rifle the first truly American made rifle they copied the Charleville to almost the letter. So cool..
 
I voted no simply because I have an 11 bore and though I love besses I don’t really want one. My limited resources would go toward something else beside a bess
 
Me thinks this pole is being skewed by folks who wouldn't buy a Bess regardless of who made it cause they don't want one. Perhaps directing the question towards those of us who want a Bess to begin with would have been better?

Don't get me wrong. I expected there to be no's when I saw this as for some reason there are folks on this forum like to be as rude to ol JK as they can whenever the chance arises.
 
Don't get me wrong. I expected there to be no's when I saw this as for some reason there are folks on this forum like to be as rude to ol JK as they can whenever the chance arises.
I was a no but don't think I was rude about. Some have been blunt in stating their "no" but if we look at the OP (below), it doesn't include any qualifiers as to who or why. I don't know when how or where Kibler queried so..... it's an open question.


"Jim Kibler asked the question on if he should consider offering a Brown Bess musket kit in the future. I am making this poll to further the discussion. What are your thoughts on the matter? Would you like seeing one? And if so, which model of Bess would you be interested in?"
 
I have to wonder just how many customers he has. CNC isn't cheap, and multiple just compounds the matter. It must be higher demand than we would think. After all, not every fan of traditionally styled longrifles is here yakking about how much they love them. For every one of us I imagine there's a good number more that aren't members of an online forum and just keep to themselves.
 
Me thinks this pole is being skewed by folks who wouldn't buy a Bess regardless of who made it cause they don't want one. Perhaps directing the question towards those of us who want a Bess to begin with would have been better?

Don't get me wrong. I expected there to be no's when I saw this as for some reason there are folks on this forum like to be as rude to ol JK as they can whenever the chance arises.
How could the pole have been skewed by people who said NO? The question was would you be interested in purchasing one if it was offered.
 
How could the pole have been skewed by people who said NO? The question was would you be interested in purchasing one if it was offered.
This pole was a direct response to Kibler asking that same question in another thread. The open-ended pole that didn't specify that left it open to folks that wouldn't be buying a Bess to begin with and I don't think that was the intent. However, narrowing the pole too much would skew it the other way.
 
I was a no but don't think I was rude about. Some have been blunt in stating their "no" but if we look at the OP (below), it doesn't include any qualifiers as to who or why. I don't know when how or where Kibler queried so..... it's an open question.


"Jim Kibler asked the question on if he should consider offering a Brown Bess musket kit in the future. I am making this poll to further the discussion. What are your thoughts on the matter? Would you like seeing one? And if so, which model of Bess would you be interested in?"
I wasn't trying to say that anyone that says no was trying to be rude, but I see how that can be taken from that. I'm on or lurk other forums he visits. For some reason this one in particular has more than its fair share of people that go out of their way to argue with him and won't stop.
 
I wasn't trying to say that anyone that says no was trying to be rude, but I see how that can be taken from that. I'm on or lurk other forums he visits. For some reason this one in particular has more than its fair share of people that go out of their way to argue with him and won't stop.

If you’re telling people they can only say yes, not much of a poll.
 
If you’re telling people they can only say yes, not much of a poll.
For crying out loud that's not what I said or meant.


Nope, wait. After a whole 2 seconds of irrational thought. The only right answer is my answer anything else is wrong. That is a joke btw.
 
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