Jim Klein - J.P. Beck rifle kit

[Ezra]

Have any of you guys ever made one of Jim Kleins J.P. Beck rifle kits?  I have one coming from Jim without the lock inlet so I can use one of Stan Hollenbaughs Ditchburn locks.  If you have made one of these kits from Jim, I would sure like to see some photos and hear of your experience with the kit.  If I remember correctly, Homer Dangler (sp?) originally designed the kit?  Thanks all. 


Ez

[Bart]

Hi Ezra, I have used James Klein's J.P. Beck kits and they are great! The pre- inletted areas are precise and fit tightly, Jim selects nice wood for his kits. His castings are very good as well. In my kit James included some samples of his stains and Homers to. Jim is indeed a gentleman and will talk with you over the phone if you have any questions, I would highly recommend using all of his stuff including his browning solution, it is the very best and used by makers such as Allen Martin and Jim himself, enough said!!

Good Luck,

Bart

[G-Man]

Ezra - Jim built one of these kits up, carved and engraved it for my dad a few years ago.  He was thrilled with it.  A beautiful gun and shoots really well.  It had the single set Walter Cain trigger (which comes standard with the kit, I believe) which took some getting used to, but it is a nice piece. It is a very comfortable gun to shoulder and shoot - it fits me really well.  

I've looked at a lot of Jim's kits at Friendship over the years and the kits are high quality and to me seem about on par with the Chambers kits as far as the inlets and all go, and the castings are really nicely done.  (Not saying this to compare the two versus each other - Jim K and Jim C offer different patterns and both are good quality- just seems like more people are familiar with the Chambers kits so wanted to give you an idea of something comparable in way of quality of the inletting). I think the dimensions are closely patterned off the original Beck in Homer Dangler's collection and it seems a little beefier down through the forend and forearm than the Chambers kits - I think the web between the ramrod and barrel channel may be a little thicker, but you can shape the forend down carefully if you prefer.  

You won't deal with a nicer guy than Mr. Klein as well.

Guy

[Nate McKenzie]

I built one when they were still marketed by Homer Dangler (if you can find his videos grab them- good stuff). It went together just as good as Chambers kits and it doesn't get any better than that.

[oldiemkr]

I didn't "build" a complete Klien kit. An acquaintance of mine bought one awhile ago. It was his first attempt at rifle building and he did a pretty good job.

My part in this was to do all the pinning and drilling and tapping for him. He was a bit apprehensive on this part.

This was a quality kit, up there along with the tops. Jim may not have as big of a selection or the number of sales etc as others but there is no sacrifice on quality as far as I could see.

I was impressed that this guy had not built any gun before but he had done real well with the assembly,inletting and such. Seemed like a good "kit" for that beginner.