Clementine is done

[foresterdj]

Another beautiful Kibler SMR assembled by an amateur. Likely some of my minor "customizations" will be critiqued, to each his own. The basics, .36 caliber, walnut stock. Stock finished with multiple coats of Danish oil. Iron work treated with Jax Black, slight rub back with 0000 steel wool, so still fairly dark.
full right side.

full left side


Clementine toe plate (my first engraving project, so be kind).

two lines on check piece and an inlaid medallion.


muzzle adornment.


Skinner Lo Pro peep sight at rear, original rear doveltail slot filled with a thin metal piece, filed smooth, nearly invisible.







sight has elevation adjustment, windage will be by drifting front sight.
Also a different taller front sight, since peep was taller



Happy owner, looking forward to first shots tomorrow, it is supposed to be 27 degrees.

[Daniel Coats]

She's a darlin Clementine. Did you have a good time building her?

[Panzerschwein]

I think it looks great. The peeps help our aging eyes.

[foresterdj]

Yes, building was fun and some lessons learned.

1. When metal engraving, do not stop and use your bare thumb to wipe chips off the top of your work, some of them are still attached and sharp as razor blades. Bled all over the place.
2. when selecting a piece of scrap steel for a toe plate, remember that as you inlay it downward, the stock gets wider. I found a piece that was "just right", then realized it wasn't and had to file the stock cross section a little to bring the wood in to the toe plate for a bevel.
3. I watched all the Jim Kibler videos on building the SMR. In his video, the trigger guard was a tiny bit too long, so he carefully scribed with knife then stabbed in and removed that little arc of wood for a perfect fit. My trigger guard was the same, I thought I did the same work, but when I put it back in I had about a 1/32nd gap. I used a little acra-glass to fill it back in.
4. I used the drill guide set up which came with the kit, which works like it is supposed to. When drilling the rear pin of the trigger guard, after spotting it and drilling through the metal off the gun, I put it back in and it did not quite let the pin through. So, I eased the drill in and through the metal. Then, being a stupid amateur, I decided to just run the drill all the way through. Well dang if it did not follow the existing hole and when I looked there were 2 holes coming out. A tiny hole easy enough to fix with a little epoxy and filing dust, but I knew better, don't drill all the way though, go half way in from each side.
5. THEN, even though I learned the lesson to round off the pin ends before inserting on my first gun (this is third) and did have them rounded, when tapping through this same rear guard hole on the other side a chip came out, not big, about 1/4" by less than that. I would have just glued the little chip back in, but it was nowhere to be found. So I puzzled over how to patch that chip with some epoxy and filing dust, being right along the pin channel. I decided the best option was to just fill it, and the pin hole issue on the other side, and convert the rear trigger guard attachment to a small countersunk screw.

I must acclaim that the Kibler kit is a precision masterpiece. The barrel went in with zero work. The long tang fit with zero work. Just a couple tiny scrapper clean ups in the lock inlay corners and it went in perfect. Just a little filing on butt plate to get it up snug and lined up with the holes.

Everyone should have at least one of his kits!

[wolf]

nice gun! if you can line all the screw slots the same direction,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Chris in SE PA]

Did you drill and tap the tang for that sight? I'm very interested in that.

[hanshi]

I like the color of that stock.  Clementine is a beauty.

[Ravenshurst]

Very nice.  I like that peep sight.  Who made that?

[Daryl]

Skinner, Lo Pro model, I assume.
Very nicely done, forestnerdj. Nice piece of walnut too.

[Cooter]

I'd like to learn more about the sights, also.   Good looking rifle!

[foresterdj]

The peep is a Skinner Lo Pro from St. Ignatius MT. Of all his sight options it sets the lowest to the barrel, a threaded stem 8 by 40 TPI with a threaded eye that takes a screw in aperture. The Aperture can screw in from either side, so elevation is in half turn increments. He has apertures of different diameters, so far I have the default one it came with. There are a total of 7 full threads below the lock ring, so I suppose 3 for height adjustment to keep 4 in the hole.  Yes, drilled and tapped the blind hole vertical down into the breach plug bolster. I drilled 0.300" deep, which ends just above the cross hole for the lock bolt. Started the thread with a normal plug tap, until I had a couple threads, then switched to a bottoming tap. Did a couple turns, then dumped the chips and continued. When screwed all the way down the aperture center is 0.275" over the barrel flat. I use Boelube for thread tapping. I was turned on to it by a logger near here and it works good, with no oily mess. Windage adjustment will be by drifting the front sight and soon as I hit send I will be heading out for the first shots.

[duca]

nice job,, looks great! I to like the peep site. Let us know how it shoots

[foresterdj]

First shots, 1/8/2023, afternoon sun to rear over right shoulder, 25 yards, 21 degrees, no wind, sitting on a chair laying fore end on sandbag on a sawhorse, Hoppes black powder cleaner and lube, .350 Hornady buckshot, FFFg loads with 4Fg prime. Loads and patches as noted, sight adjustments as noted. 28 total shots and never once any thought that I needed to clean between shots. Original flint, that was snapped multiple times before and during construction, got dull and I swapped it out for a fresh one, part way through. Other than the few times the prime did not light because of the dull flint, it fired every time with one shot seeming a little slow, others seemed instant.

Target was a piece of foam filled white board, I drew 5 - 2" diameter bulls and made 1" grids around them

Group A. 30 gr., .015 patch 7 total shots a bit low and left. Shot 7 is just under number 5, a ragged hole.



Group B switched to 35 gr, stayed with .015 patch after 3 shots I tapped front sight over a little for 4 more, putting it closer L/R.




Group C, went to 40 gr and .018 patch, this was for sure the best 3 shot group of the day, still a bit low. I had also taken a few swipes with a file on front sight bringing group up a little.




Group D went back to 30 gr and .015, screwed the Lo Pro sight up 1 turn. Five shots with one Oops, that was when flint got dull and I cocked and fired 3 times before it went off, the last time not being fully settled on target when I pulled - my bad.






Group E went to 35 gr and .018, shots 1 and 2 good, 3 was probably me.




Lastly, Group F, looking back at group C I decided to go back to 40 gr and .018 patch. Two shots very good, touching inside the 2" bull, third shot out and low. Called it quits for today.




Shoots nice, no recoil at all.

Examined some patches, the .015" pretty much blown apart, the .018" looked good to me.

[Ravenshurst]

Very very nice.  Congratulations.  On re-reading your posts, I realized you had already ID'd the rear sight.  My bad.  Good shooting.

[duca]

Good job sighting in, thanks for the up date

Anthony

[Dave]

Very nice work! I like the peep sight, not big and obstructive. I've been thinking if one for myself.

[foresterdj]

Officially now a squirrel gun

[Daryl]

Well done, ram rod's too long, though.

[foresterdj]

A little tip of ram rod past barrel and I can get ahold of it better.

[Daryl]

I was just kidding. We have a bit of a go-around on that "feature" here, some time ago.
On that style of rifle, appears to have been a common trait.