Kibler Hawken

Noticed you spend time on both sides of the razor wire. Trust you know that, under the current rules, you would be unable to bring a reproduction flint pistol into Canada.
"...designed to kill the most amount of people, in the least amount of time."

Thank gawd for the Liberal overlords. Who wants to live in a country awash in clandestine flintlock pistols!? Think of the children.
 
Jokes aside. Kibler is known for being the best in the current business of kit guns, but I can't help buy to be put back in my seat at the cost. Are there tariffs being put in place by Canada on his product, or has the cost of everything BP just shot up without me bring aware?
 
Jokes aside. Kibler is known for being the best in the current business of kit guns, but I can't help buy to be put back in my seat at the cost. Are there tariffs being put in place by Canada on his product, or has the cost of everything BP just shot up without me bring aware?
Unfortunately, prices have just gone up alot in the last 5 years on pretty much everything. Canada doesn’t have any tariffs in place on US goods but you do have to pay GST and PST when it crosses the border. Exchange and shipping hurt a lot too.
 
I think Kibler is breathing new life into the traditional muzzleloading scene with these kits.Now you can get a historically accurate custom quality gun that only few could afford in the past.They are a far cry from the muzzleloaders of the 70s when muzzleloading started to boom in popularity
It reminds me of when Shiloh started producing Sharps rifles and started that craze(which I enjoy to this day)

I would like to see them do a nice flint English half stock sporting rifle
 
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Agree with most of what barbarossa said, but there is something that should be understood. As nice as it is, I consider the Kibler Hawken to be anything but historically accurate. I seem to recall Jim saying he was building his Hawken the way he believed the originals should have been built.
 
There was quite the discussion about Jim's interpretation of what a Hawken should be, over at americanlongrifles.org.
There are those who believe that a true Hawken reproduction should be muzzle heavy, 12 pounds or more, as many of the originals were. That would be most authentic.

Jim's current project isa Long Land pattern musket, for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. It should be a winner.

I hope he doesn't get over-extended, offering too many products.
 
Are you having a problem with it jelling in the can after it gets down a bit? Have tried storing the container upside down and decanting it into smaller containers with unsatisfactory results. Appears it might be best to purchase in smaller containers.
Or you can just add a lead bar to the can, whatever smount you need to bring the level back to the top. Just keep adding “ballast” to keep the level at the top.
 
I think Kibler is breathing new life into the traditional muzzleloading scene with these kits.Now you can get a historically accurate custom quality gun that only few could afford in the past.They are a far cry from the muzzleloaders of the 70s when muzzleloading started to boom in popularity
It reminds me of when Shiloh started producing Sharps rifles and started that craze(which I enjoy to this day)

I would like to see them do a nice flint English half stock sporting rifle
Yes and no. Jim Chambers has been offering kits for decades that are every bit as good as Kiblers as far as quality materials and proper architecture. What Kibler has introduced is the same quality as Chambers always has but Kiblers appear to be pretty much assemble and finish. Chambers kits required a little bit of skill to do well.
 
Well said and Chambers is also migrating to CNC machining. The Chambers kits allow for considerably more individual interpretation than do the Kibler offerings but, as said, require substantially more skill and time to build. You build a Chambers kit as opposed to assembling a Kibler kit. Both have their place in the market.

I believe we have drifed off topic.
 
Yes and no. Jim Chambers has been offering kits for decades that are every bit as good as Kiblers as far as quality materials and proper architecture. What Kibler has introduced is the same quality as Chambers always has but Kiblers appear to be pretty much assemble and finish. Chambers kits required a little bit of skill to do well.
But that is the point the Kibler kits allow people to build a nice gun with little experience giving them the confidence to eventually try a harder kit or even make one from scratch once they hone their skills.
 
Interesting discussion for sure. I have built from scratch as well as from Chambers kits. I enjoyed building all of them. The Chambers fowler is top notch but it did take more fit and finish. I assembled my first Kibler about 4 years ago and it is a 45 cal SMR, I really love that rifle. If is so light and long it is like shooting a lightning rod. I bought his kit because I wanted that style of rifle but didn’t have time for a scratch build. For me handling these Kiblers is a study in long rifle architecture. Jim gets the curves and balance perfectly. I am hoping my next scratch build (after I retire in about 10 years) will be of the same quality and balance as a Kibler but that seems unlikely.

We have a very active blackpowder club in Saskatoon (you are all welcome to come to our shoots saskatoonmuzzleloadingclub.ca) and there are a wide range of rifles used. The most common is still TC hawken rifles and they have proven the test of time. Last year at our annual shoot, my buddy Dell shot a 49 out of 50 off hand with the TC that he has owned for 35 years. He beat me hands down and I was shooting my woodsrunner. I suspect I am not going to hear the end of it for a while as we were standing side by side on the firing line. The point is, Muzzleloading is a great fun sport and I am thankful that there are lots of rifles available to us.
 
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