After a night of thunderstorms in Friendship, Indiana, students arrived ready to learn at the second Kibler Kit assembly class with Mike Brooks and Wayne Estes. Workstations are spread apart in the NMLRA Education Center, giving students enough room to spread out their tools through the week. Many of the 7 students have come with their rifles still in the box, but a couple have already assembled their kits, looking to focus on learning to carve traditional motifs into their longrifle stocks.
The Southern Mountain Rifle was a favorite during last year's class, but the Kibler Colonial makes up the majority of this week’s class at 5.
With a coffee pot going, students begin inletting and fitting the parts of their Kibler Kits. Barrels and buttplates go on first, providing some stability and protection to the stocks.
Mike and Wayne have brought a few pieces from their personal collections for students to take inspiration from. There is no better reference than a fine rifle in person to guide the decisions of these new builders.
By noon on the first day, students have their locks and their trigger assemblies inlet. After a break for lunch students returned to their benches. Both Mike and Wayne have remarked how far ahead this class is over the last one. By the end of today, students will have spent nearly ¼ of the day on wood and hardware cleanup.
If we are able to keep at this pace, the students will have two days to add carving and other details to their Kibler Kits.
