Customizing a Kibler SMR

[45dash100]

Nose cap looks good! And it looks like you did good work fitting the butt plate as well.

Thanks!

The butt plate went on pretty well, just kept removing material until things worked.  Did need to drill new holes for the screws on the top, and I need to sand everything to final level.  That can wait until I get the toeplate, and any inlays installed. 

Was talking to my brother yesterday, he thinks acorns or oak leaves might make good inlays.  Fitting bait for squirrels and deer at least.

[Jim Kibler]

Please no acorns and oak leaves!  These can be dressed up, but I think it’s best to follow originals for a bit of guidance.  Gary Ludwig posted a kit a while back that looked pretty awesome.  Search for it.  Might give you some ideas.  But, in the end, if it makes you guys happy that’s good enough for me

[45dash100]

Please no acorns and oak leaves!  These can be dressed up, but I think it’s best to follow originals for a bit of guidance.  Gary Ludwig posted a kit a while back that looked pretty awesome.  Search for it.  Might give you some ideas.  But, in the end, if it makes you guys happy that’s good enough for me

Hahaha.  With that strong of a reaction, I guess it was further away from normal than I thought.  I've been searching for original guns as much as I can online, and have purchased a few books.  A lot of the most recommended ones are hard to find.  Figured since simple geometric shapes, both abstract and real were common, it wouldn't be that out there.  Maybe I just stopped taking things as seriously after I found a gun with a chicken inlay.   

A lot of the more abstract guns, along with the chicken were from Georgia, maybe there's something in the water down there.  I probably need to do a better job separating regions.  I'm from the far west, so most states that far away from me kinda get lumped into "East Coast", and "South" in my mind.   Sorry if that's insulting.   

I did order a ton of CD's and thumb drives and images from the Kentucky Rifle Foundation this last weekend.  Hopefully they get here soon, and I can find an external CD drive (think they stopped using those back in the percussion era).  That'l give me some more stuff to look at.

I'll also see if I can find Gary's recent gun.

[45dash100]

I've got the toeplate patchbox from MBS, but the knuckle spacing is such that it'l look bad and not leave enough material on the outer knuckles when trimmed to fit the narrow SMR.

Read the great tutorial on bending hinges by Acer Saccharum here:  https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=22371.0

The tool he made looked really handy.  While I could make something like this out of metal, filing would take forever, and my CNC router would make a mess (I really need to run coolant when cutting steel). Thought about wood, but figured it'd split out way too easy.  Since plastic worked last time, thought I might try it again.

I decided to try a two stage approach.  Wasn't sure if a small lip would break or not.  This is PLA plastic.  It's the cheapest and easiest stuff to 3D print.  Quite strong, but not very heat resistant.  Cost about 60 cents to make.


Hammered the metal flat over the edge of the vice first, then put the bigger former in place.



Pried up with a screwdriver a bit, then hammered to 90ish.



Swapped out the big former for the small lip version, and hammered the rest of the way over.


It worked very well.  A piece of the 1/16 wire that comes with the Kibler kit for pinning stuff together dropped right in.



Was surprisingly easy to hammer it cleanly around the wire.





Now, this material is thinner than I plan to use (it's 22 gauge - .030"), but I'm still impressed by how easy it was.  It probably only took me 5 minutes to make, and I've never tried to do a hinge before.

If the thicker material works this well when it gets here, I'll be very happy.

[flinchrocket]

If you are looking for pictures of original southern rifles there are several in the library on this forum.

[45dash100]

If you are looking for pictures of original southern rifles there are several in the library on this forum.

I've done some browsing through the library, and there's some good stuff on here.  Lots of broken links, and broken pictures as well.  Some of that being the typical photobucket rot.  May take some time to make a list of stuff to fix, and see if I can salvage the broken photobucket links.

I got the KRF pictures in the mail.  And fortunately, even though it says CD's on their website, everything came on thumb drives.  Much easier to deal with in case anybody else was thinking of ordering from them.

[45dash100]

The thicker sheet metal for the patchbox didn't arrive on time, so I've spent the weekend on accessories for the gun instead. 

First time working with veg tanned leather, but it really came out well.  Always good to start with something simple.

It's tiny, but holds 25-26 .440 round balls.  Should be perfect for a small hunting pouch to go with the SMR.



Just gotta design and make a pouch for it.

Here's a build thread for the flask.  https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=78588.0

[45dash100]

Got the steel for the toeplate yesterday, so I can hopefully get some work done on it this weekend.

Drew this up quickly as I wanted to figure out a good release mechanism.  Also modded the hinge a bit, as I wanted it as low profile as possible.  Then I realized doing so would make it impossible to install the pin.   





Oh well, I'll just have to deal with a hinge that sticks out more, or flip things around and make the hinge bump hidden.  I will also likely make the door longer, but this will suffice for now as I play with different release mechanisms.  I'd like a semi-recessed button so that it can't be accidentally triggered sending all my stuff onto the ground.

[Crow Choker]

What's the latest skinny on the nosecap? Waiting for some different steel or just going to let that project sit awhile before you go back and get a final result? Interested in your final outcome.

[45dash100]

What's the latest skinny on the nosecap? Waiting for some different steel or just going to let that project sit awhile before you go back and get a final result? Interested in your final outcome.

Actually, I think I'm done with the nosecap.  The last one I made is the one I plan to use, just haven't decided on length for it yet.  I need to take the time to get some better measurements of the actual stock rather than relying on the picture in the first post.  It worked fine for a rough outline, but for more complex areas like the lock, I want exact dimensions.  Once that's done, I'll be able to see the whole thing in the computer before I decide to start removing wood.

I want to do a good CAD model for more than just checking how things look.  It'l be good practice for designing my own gun.  I'm one of those people who's relatively tall, with freakishly long arms and wide shoulders.  Generally wingspan matches height, but I'm way over.  Would like to make something with a 15-15.5 inch length of pull.  I can adjust to shorter (normal rifles), but it's not as comfortable as a proper length buttstock.

[Elnathan]

I will also likely make the door longer, but this will suffice for now as I play with different release mechanisms.  I'd like a semi-recessed button so that it can't be accidentally triggered sending all my stuff onto the ground.

The original just used a catch like this one: https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=2613.0

[Crow Choker]

Curious 45dash, you have your SMR completed with new nosecap. Hae any pics?