Good morning everyone! At 8am at the NMLRA Education Center in Friendship, Indiana, students arrived and began setting up for Mike Brooks' Kibler Kit Assembly Class. We've got 8 students here this week, all of various skill levels building a new rifles.
Mike Brooks working with a student on Kibler Colonial Rifle Kit
Wayne Estes works with a student as they fit the barrel and breech to the stock.
Day 1 Morning: Students are working to finish the inletting of their barrels. The Kibler Kits are a tight fit, but require some final carving at the breech to get everything flush. After about an hour everyone' breech is fit and students are adding barrel lugs. Students had a choice of the Kibler Colonial and the Kibler Southern Mountain Rifle Kit. We can't thank Kibler Longrifles enough for working to ensure these students had the necessary kits before the class started, especially in such a busy time.
As of writing, just about everyone is onto setting their hardware. I've talked with Jim but have never seen the kits in person, it's super neat seeing them come together. Students were worried it would be too easy after the minimal amount of barrel work, but the buttplates and side plates are keeping them busy!
A student inlets their trigger guard
Mike and Wayne are encouraging everyone to get the parts on and set today so they can focus on the carving, engraving and getting a nice finish for the rest of the week.
We will be just about ready to shoot by dinner time at this rate! Students are finishing up their patch boxes and fitting their ramrod pipes now, soon they’ll be fitting their locks and draw filing their barrels.
It’s wonderful to chat with each student about their connection with muzzleloading. 6/8 are building their first muzzleloader. Some are accomplishing retirement goals, others connecting with family history, and one is seeking to add some challenge to squirrel hunting season.
These might all start as the same kits, but they are influenced by the builder and their history just as any muzzleloader is.
With 40 minutes left in the day, Wayne showed us how he adds some detail to the cheek piece with a hacksaw and files.
