Yet Another Kibler Woodsrunner

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Kibler's going to need their exclusive section on this forum. Semper Fi.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Great job! I gotta get one. How long is TBE Woods runner barrel, and does Jim offer different lengths?

That's a thing about Kibler. It is what it is. No room for choice other than caliber and patch box. Semper Fi.

 

[Dangus]

Great job! I gotta get one. How long is TBE Woods runner barrel, and does Jim offer different lengths?

39 3/4" for the bbl. No other options other than caliber and wood.

• Weight 7 ½ to 8 Lbs.
• Barrel Length 39 ¾”
• .45, .50, .54 caliber
• Nicely Swamped Barrel
• Pull 13 7/16
• Cast-off 3/16"

 

[oreclan]

Thank you - Cutting all the lines was probably the the most nerve-wracking part of the project. There are some obvious strays here and there and some unevenness in some lines. I used an old Herters single-line checkering tool for the forestock and toe lines.

I tried all sorts of chisels and gouges as I practiced various scrolls and such on some scrap, and I ultimately ended up cutting the cheekpiece design with the pen blade on a Case pocket knife. A small Swiss riffler file was probably my most valuable tool through the entire carving process.

Credit for the design goes to Jim Kibler and his bench copy. I just really like the design. I think it pays homage to the rifle's namesake but tweaks some things to make it a more eye-pleasing design. I considered trying to emulate the relief carving, as well, but a man's gotta know his limitations.

Simple yet elegant. It is keeping within the style and school of the original gun.
This is how I intend mine to be like.

 

[Byron A Rudrow]

 

[Newaygo77]

Fine job. I expect mine to be ready to shoot next week. That Tried & True finish requires a lot of patience.

 

[dave_person]

Hi DH,
Nice gun. I am glad to see you cut some nice decorative lines on the rifle. They make it look so much more finished and enhance the appearance of the gun greatly.

dave

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

Recent first time Kibler experience. I have a custom SMR flintlock in .36 for over 30 years and love that caliber, perfect for my range shooting and small game, extremely accurate and very economical to shoot and may have had over 1000 rounds through it problem free.

I liked the new Woodsrunner flintlock with the beautiful new carvings so entered a request to Kibler with every premium option, best grade maple, double set triggers, in the white, carvings, etc. I knew it would be expensive, most likely close to $3k delivered! The order was turned down because I requested a .36 cal. No reason, just asked to choose one of the stock calibers or order a Kibler SMR in .36 cal. There were 2 more email requests from Kibler for me to change my choice to a SMR in .36 cal.

I just ordered a very similar design (to the Kibler woodsrunner) flintlock rifle in .36 from a custom rifle maker. Very happy.

 

[James Kibler]

Yes, we do not offer the Woodsrunner in .36 caliber. No apologies. It's too small for this style of rifle in my opinion. As to your message not being answered, a little patience is often good. We are swamped with orders and it takes a while to get through the requests. Add on the fact that we just spent 4 days in the hospital with a sick child, and I'm sure you can understand.

Many do not understand that we ship many, many rifles each week. Although it sounds like custom orders would be easy, I can tell you they are not and we often make mistakes with them and loose money. We are a production shop. Not a custom shop.

Sorry we weren't able to help you out. Good luck with your custom build. Hope you chose an excellent builder.

Jim

 

[rkg1]

That is a nice first try.

 

[Garbear34]

You all are bad influences. I can't decide which of the three kits kiblers offers to get for my first build.

 

[nchawkeye]

You all are bad influences. I can't decide which of the three kits kiblers offers to get for my first build.

I would say, the WoodsRunner...The buttplate is machined, not cast and already fit to the stock..This means not a ton of filing, which you have to do with a cast buttplate...The parts like the lock, trigger guard and thimbles fit right into their places so about 75% of the work is finishing the wood as you like and how you want to finish the barrel..

Now, how about caliber??

 

[Garbear34]

That's the other problem. Caliber selection

 

[nchawkeye]

Oh, that's not a problem at all, if hunting with it...54 caliber...

 

[S.Kenton]

I like that darker finish!

 

[Tenring]

I am sure there are more SMR, Woods Runner and Colonials running around the country per capita than you can shake a stick at, And come the end of the month of July I will be joining the ranks I guess. By the way you did a bang up fantastic job on that rifle love the color and carving. Bravo….

 

[Garbear34]

Did you use tannic acid and iron nitrate? Or just iron nitrate? Beautiful rifle. I just ordered a kibler smr and choosing caliber I'm still debating on. My next build going to be the wood runner.

 

[Dangus]

Tannic Acid > Iron Nitrate > Tannic Acid > Iron Nitrate > Blush > Tried & True cut w/Turpentine scrubbed in w/maroon scotch-bright, plus additional coats of straight T&T. Ended up with a total of 5 or 6 coats, I believe. I lost track. Pics in the original post are with two or three coats, if I recall correctly. I've since added two or three more following T&T instructions to a T (versus scrubbing in with scotch-bright which I did for the first two or three coats). The additional coats yieldied a nicer finish, although not so much that it would significantly show in newer pics.

 

[FlintGunsmith]

beautiful rifle

 

[reddogge]

Nice job. Actually, your incised carving is very close to the original Woodsrunner rifle. Kind of simple.