I now have a shooter

[sespe]

Thank you, Jim Kibler, for the excellent kit.  It might not meet the high standards of this forum, but I got what I wanted:  a shooter.


I had the camera all set up but must have bumped it, because I lost the focus.  But that will make the next picture less painful to view:



I just centered the sights on the barrel by eye and took it to the range.  I shot the first 3 shots, tapped the rear sight the tiniest bit, and shot the second two:



Then I tried offhand.  Need to work on my breathing!



60 grains of 3F (what I had in my horn), some really old .535 balls I found in a box, and some random pillow tick pre-cut patches. 

I'm a happy man.

[Iktomi]

Looks pretty good for the first shots. What caliber, and what load did you use? Nice looking smokepole too 

[varsity07840]

My .45 cal SMR from Jim does the same thing. A joy to shoot.

[hanshi]

Very good looking rifle; and it can obviously shoot, too.  I crave one of Kibler's .45 SMR rifle kits.

[stubshaft]

Great looking build.  Shoots dang well too.

[KC]

That turned out real nice. It also appears to shoot real nice. Great job.
K.C.

[dogcreek]

That rifle is a beauty. And I believe it was Townsend Whelen who said, "Only accurate rifles are interesting." By that standard  your flintlock is VERY interesting. Good job!

[Percy]

Well done, nothing painful about those pictures. What finish did you use?

Percy

[sespe]

Jim Kibler's iron nitrate stain and tannic acid, permalyn sealer, and then 3 coats of Jim Chamber's Traditional Oil stock finish.  It came out darker than I expected but I was afraid to sand it back after the stain.  This was his "plain" stock but it sure looks fine to me.