What's the consensus on Kibler rifles Steel finish?

[duca]

I see where I'm going wrong! I'm not holding my mouth right.

My next build is going to be all steel polished bright and left that way. Thinking about taking the blue off my TC locks and barrels and polishing bright

lol, I remember as a kid my Dad would be working on something and looked exactly like that… too Cool

 

[longcruise]

@duca I know what you mean. My son in law insists that how he holds his mouth determines how his luck goes fishing. Now he's got me doing it.

 

[Kmcmichael]

I’ve done a few. I’ve used Jax Black. I’ve browned but I rust blued my last Woodsrunner. It is my gun that I hunt with. I will never do one for me that is not rust blued. It is now my favorite. I don’t care if someone says it wasn’t done. Many use short starters. Did they exist at that time?

 

[Siringo]

Of a many, many flintlocks I’ve seen for sale at TOW by major builders, the vast majority are browned. These were older builds where I surmise browning was used to replicate how the metal parts would look after aging decades. Nowadays I view metal staining/etching as an easier method. But it affords no metal protection, which is what I want.

 

[Kmcmichael]

I’ll also add an example. The top gun is done with Jax Black. The bottom is rust blued. The second pic is the rust blued barrel.

 

[Rich Wormington]

I browned my colonial.

Very Nice! I really like it.

 

[MSW]

I’ll also add an example. The top gun is done with Jax Black. The bottom is rust blued. The second pic is the rust blued barrel.

that looks nice!

 

[kansas_volunteer]

I see where I'm going wrong! I'm not holding my mouth right.

My next build is going to be all steel polished bright and left that way. Thinking about taking the blue off my TC locks and barrels and polishing bright

Remember, Hawken rifles of the early 1800s were blued. T/C rifles are more Ohio style than Hawken style. Me impression is most Ohios were either blued or browned, not bright.

 

[Rich Wormington]

I like a deep brown Kibler...polished fire bluing optional.
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Very Nice! I like it.

 

[Rich Wormington]

Brown it. I don't know if that is the period correct finish or not, but I think it looks best and is
probably the most durable.

 

[flatcreek]

My next rifle will be bright, last was browned. thinking the bright will be easy to shine up if it gets a scratch. Brown is not to hard to touch up, but it's never perfect.

 

[Bill Bryan]

I browned my Woodsrunner lock and barrel with plumb brown. I like the look. Bill

 

[mikesto44]

All three methods were used but late 17 - 18 th century were mostly brown or blued according to records of the time. Seems no !after what you do you can't go wrong.

 

[olskool]

i have built 9 Kibler's, two of them woods runners, and one more WR on the way. on 8 of them i have used cold super blue. then buffed back with 000 wool. simple, correct, and it looks great,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[sportster73hp]

Built my colonial in July 2019 , left in the white. Today it looks a bit unkept. I may repolish and brown it. Built a smr in 2021 and browned the metal. The steel castings have a beautiful and unique appearance. They were filed , sanded , and buffed with a wheel before browning. The barrel was draw filed and sanded to 320 and browned . Barrel has a more course appearance and steel took finish faster with fewer applications of solution.

 

[Ballshooter]

And it looks AWESOME!! Beautiful Rifle Sir! Nice work!

Thank you.

 

[tenngun]

To my eye nothing looks better then brown.. I only own one browned right now.
I like cold browns but as that gun shows hot brown looks as good and you will find it as tough

 

[olskool]

here is a Kibler

SMR i finished a few weeks ago. i did something different, i fire blued the iron. i think it is good with the wild cherry wood,,,,,,,,,

 

[Cayman like]

here is a KiblerView attachment 311791 SMR i finished a few weeks ago. i did something different, i fire blued the iron. i think it is good with the wild cherry wood,,,,,,,,,
View attachment 311774View attachment 311776View attachment 311777View attachment 311780View attachment 311781View attachment 311792View attachment 311793View attachment 311789

I think it looks good with the stock finish.

 

[olskool]

thank you, i have been debating with myself whether or not to sell it. the wood is increasable for cherry, and the fire blue is very nice,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,