I have stated that I am done building rifles, Kibler just released a new historically correct Hawken kit and I am in love with it.
This is their first percussion rifle; every gun kit they have made so far has been flint. For those who haven't heard about Kibler Longrifle kits they have CNC shaped components, everything, lock, stock and barrel. They don't slap together like a TC kit but for a person like me with some building experience, I could probably have it together in a couple of hours or less, one of my scratch builds might take me 150 hours. Most of the inlets for stuff like the lock don't take any more than a light sanding to fit into place, metal and stock finishing is left to the builder and isn't difficult.
Kibler had detailed videos on how to fit all of the components together.
I understand the waiting list is a mile long for these new kits, they haven't started shipping them yet but will very soon. The basic rifle kit will cost around $1500, outrageous you say? People pay more than that for a top-of-the-line recurve, I hear some of the selfbow builders are charging $1200 now for a bow. There are figured stock woods and other options that can run the kit price up a good bit as well. These come in .45, .50, .54, and .58 caliber. The rifle in the picture has what we would call a plain maple stock which would be the baseline stock choice.
love it! The rifle in the picture was finished by Jim Kibler himself so the color, stain and wear patterns were done by one of the premier builders in the country.
