My new short range economy rifle

Longone

Active Member
This is a Kibler kit that I put together, it’s 36 cal. It will be easy on lead rb’s and powder, should be a fun little gun as long as the wind is nonexistent. Just waiting for a decent day to take it out and make some smoke.
 

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KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Very pretty wood on that. Is a flat underside of the buttstock typical for guns of this genre?
 

300BLK

Well-Known Member
The flat toe is typical on rifles and smooth rifles, but normally rounded on fowlers.

That is a very nice piece of curly maple. What did you use for stain?

Chambers Late Ketland lock?
 

Longone

Active Member
Yes, late Ketland lock by Chambers. Very smooth lock with roller on the frizzen. Stain is two coats of Birchwood Casey Walnut, I tried a bunch of different stains on the inside of the barrel channel and settled on the BC. Just waiting for a day that is almost warm and not too windy. I cast a bunch of balls with a Lee mold and they were very consistent and came out .353” so they should fit the 48” Rice barrel well.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
So, do they make a long barreled version? :rofl:

Ha! Obviously kidding. Beautiful, need closer pix. How long is that barrel?
I'm thinking that it should shoot pretty quietly, pressure should be pretty low by the
time the bullet gets to the muzzle.

Bill
 

Longone

Active Member
That’s about as long as they make them, you know, “poke your eye out with that thing”. That’s a four foot pipe and I imagine your right, the little bit of powder should be about all burned up by the time it see’s the muzzle.
If you are building a custom you can get a longer barrel, there is a rifle over on the ALR forum with I think a six foot barrel, over all length is eight feet of rifle. Need a special case and a full size truck to transport that one.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I have a little 36 cal cap lock rifle I picked up many years back. It's a boys rifle, short butt and barrel. Once I got the patching figured out, (it wants a .015 patch with a .350 ball), it turned out to be a shooter. I've dropped porkies out of trees with head shots and had complete penetration. I think of it as a 22 mag on steroids, or an under loaded 32-20. Excellent small game rifle. Yours is lots nicer!
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Shot a fair number of tree rats with a 32 and 40 cal rifle like that. Kills far better than you expect. That little 35 cal ball at 1400 fps will out perform a 22 LR all day long on game. Just don't hit me in the should or you have nothing left to eat.
 

Longone

Active Member
I'm kinda hoping that the load development will be short because of the smaller caliber. I bought some patches and also cut some from different thickness material, my cast balls as stated come in @.353" and the box of Hornady swaged balls are .350". Either way should be fun day, don't know if anybody else plays with RB stuff but I am VERY happy with Lehigh Valley Lube for a patch lube. No swabbing between shots and can easily shoot all day without a build up in the barrel.
Pretty neat tang also.
 

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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
You could easily shoot 25-35 gr of 3F. 30 gr is where I would start.
Most rifles like that are accurate with a range of loads.
 

Longone

Active Member
Rice barrels is kind enough to offer a starting load of 20 grains and a max load of 45 grains of 3f. I agree that 30 is probably where I’ll start, the “sweet” spot is generally a bit wider with these RB guns.
This latest batch of Goex 2F I have must be a little slower because it needs another 5 grains to group as well as the last batch did.
This will be my first adventure with anything smaller than a 45, should be fun, just need some warm days and no wind.
 

300BLK

Well-Known Member
Does that rear tang screw go into the trigger plate(like a real Hawken)? If so, it was to strengthen the wrist by sandwiching it between opposing plates of steel.

I generally shoot fffg Goex in my own rocklocks, and Lehigh Valley is my choice at the range. For hunting deer when the PRB might be in the bore for days or weeks, I use mink oil. It doesn't freeze and won't contaminate the powder charge.
 

Longone

Active Member
Yes the rear tang screw does go through to the trigger plate. Funny you mention the Hawken, without a doubt my favorite muzzleloader rifle.
I just ordered a new capper and also got a container of Mink oil to try. I’ve never tried it before so it will be a new avenue.
 

300BLK

Well-Known Member
Lehigh Valley Lube is the better range lube as it allows all day shooting without the need to clean (with Goex). Mink oil works pretty well in that regard, but will need cleaning long before LVL. I don't shoot anything less than .45cal, so can't comment on what to expect from that looooong barreled .36. My longest is a 42" .50.
 

Longone

Active Member
Anyone try Swiss or Old Eynsford? I just tried Swiss 2F in my 45 Pennsylvania and it was a snap to clean up, so much so that the bucket of water wasn’t even discolored.
It also put 4 into one hole at 50 yards, now to see if I can duplicate it next time out.