New - and verifying load

[YorkCountian]

Hello, I'm new at this with a recently completed Kibler colonial kit. After few test shots and a trip the range it functions great. The groups at 50 and 100 are good. I'd like to verify the powder charge and can't find reference to that on the forums.
  Based on everything I read here about powder, I purchased 4lbs of 2F Swiss. The rifle is a .54 caliber. I have .530 ball and .018 pre lubed ticking patches. I want to use a solid deer hunting powder charge and I am currently using 90 grains of that 2F Swiss powder. I can't determine if that 90 grains is near maximum? Too much or not enough? The rifle seems just fine. I shot one or two at 95 grains with no change. Is there a chart for the swiss powder and .54 somewhere?
  Additionally, all my shots impact just a bit high. I'm about 4"-5" high at 50 yards and 3" high at 100 yards. The sights luckily are dead on for left and right. Do you file the rear sight if your are hitting high? Or buy a taller front sight? My feeling is that it's not too much powder but I could be wrong.
 I polished that front sight pretty well to make it bright but I didn't think I took any off of it during construction.
Thanks for any help.

[rich pierce]

Your rifle looks great. Yes, file the rear sight down a bit. No need to increase your charge though some do. The gun will handle more powder but it’s diminishing returns on velocity especially at 75-100 yards. I like 70-90 grains of 2F in a .54.

[bluenoser]

If the sight height on the Kibler Colonial is the same as on the SMR, there isn't much rear sight to file down.

[smylee grouch]

Vary your charge until you get the best 5 or 10 shot groups. Don't file any sights until you find your best grouping load.

[MuskratMike]

First of all welcome and that is a darn fine gun you have assembled. As to the load for a .54 I happen to use 3F in all my rifles. I use 75 grains of 3F with velocity wise is the same as 92 grains of 2F. It has cleanly killed deer, elk, Russian boar so you are right in the range you want to be. Good luck and send pictures of its first kill.
"Muskrat" Mike

[YorkCountian]

Thanks for those answers! That helps. I'll give it another session or two before making a sight adjustment. That rear sight is pretty low already. Possibly there could be some variance in the front sight cast. But all the other parts of the Kibler were so precise that I doubt that happened.
 
  I sure wish I could see through the sights like I could when I was 12. I have no business shooting at a deer beyond 100 yards unless he is backed up by a snow bank!

[bluenoser]

In my humble opinion, the sights on Kibler kits - at least the SMR - are not user friendly for those of us who are full-faced and lack excellent eyesight.  If one is full-faced and/or sports a shaggy beard, it is difficult to get down on the sights.  On top of that, the notch in the rear sight is very narrow and shallow and the front sight is correspondingly dainty, making it difficult to establish a good sight picture..  I would not dispute historical correctness.

I am just now putting the finishing touches on a shop-made set of sights for a friend's Kibler SMR after he stopped using the rifle due to frustration with the sights.  The new sights, which I consider to be a little too high, have a wider and deeper rear notch and the taller brass front sight is about .065" thick.

[Daryl]

Sights are a VERY personal thing. Put on whatever sights you want or can shoot best. We are all different.
Aging eye sight sometimes benefits from a wide V and brass bead front sight, especially for a hunting sight.
These were the ultimate Sporting Rifle sights and designed after many years of big game hunting around the world.

[YorkCountian]

Thank you. You guys are exactly where I am with sights. I really appreciate the fine precision of the sights Kibler sends. But they are hard to use to 58 year old eyes. I've spent years welding and now behind  computer. It's a struggle to see sights. I've tried it with my glasses on and off. Everything is a compromise. I can make these Kibler sights work if that front was a thousandths taller.
 I experience the same with bow sights. Usually I use traditional equipment. But on trips and when invited to others properties I use a compound to make it easier on hosts. I just can't see the sights no matter what I do.
Tedd

[Daryl]

This is a simple wide V sight.



This is the sight picture. I find the rear sight's fuzziness disappears with this type of sight.
With a U or V, there is a lot of fuzzies that attempt to fill in the notch. With a wide V - this does not happen.
Some will say this type of sight is a close range sight only. That's pure BS.(rather blunt, but that's how it goes.)

[Pukka Bundook]

Daryl,
I have always like the express sight, as you show above.
I think it's one of the best for me, at any rate.

[YorkCountian]

Where is a sight like that sold? Or did you make it?
Thanks,

[Daryl]

Take a normal U or V rear sight and use a file on it to cut the angles to the bottom of the V.
Might take more than one front sight, (also made) to get heights correct for sighting.
These are typical front sights for this sort of rear sight.
In making the bead front sight for the bottom rifle pictured, I used a fine Swiss needle file to file a rounded groove in the top of a blade sight
then soldered a piece of round brass onto it. I cut the brass to the correct length with side cutters, then filed it to the tapered shape needed,
pointy end towards the muzzle. If the centre of the bead is just a few though lower than the bottom of the rear sight's notch, it will be about correct
for elevation, for most rifles & give a zero at 25 and 50 yards. It will be about 4" low, at 100yards.

[RichG]

Another option might be a small full buckhorn and use it as an aperture sight, or there is a traditional rear sight sold that has a small aperture instead of a notch.  I've gone to the deep "V" like Daryl shows and it works well. I can still see the front sight, but the rear is lust a blur. As to a load, anything between 85-100 grains will work for hunting. Just find what shoots best with your gun and components and adjust your sights to that load.

[YorkCountian]

80 and 85 grains didn't seem to lower my point of impact at 50 yards. I shot a dozen or so more times. Always strikes high.
I made a deer cutout and placed it at 100 yards. Holding at the bottom edge of deer makes a killing shot. I hate to do but have to change that front sight. The one I ordered is thicker. hopefully that helps to see it.
I should be able to zero at 100 yards now. If I still can't see the sights good enough I'll make a wide V rear sight.

[TDM]

As said already, the Kibler sights are not the best for old eyes. I have swapped out to taller rear sights for my SMRs and Woodsrunners. I actually made one sight myself, the others came from TOW and have to be fitted. I believe Jim is selling taller sights now for the Colonial and Woodsrunner.

[snapper]

70 grains of powder is not too little.   Give it a try and see where you are.   I bet that if it is still high at 50 yards it will not be enough that it matters for deer hunting.

70 grains of powder is plenty to kill deer.

Fleener

[Freedom]

My Kolonial rear sight was vastly improved by filing a square notch in it.
 I just used the smallest/narrowest flat file that I have, turned on edge and filed a notch to the bottom of the tiny V that comes  cast into the sight.
 This also lowered my point of impact. It even added a few points to my woodswalk match scores.

[Daryl]

70 grains of powder is not too little.   Give it a try and see where you are.   I bet that if it is still high at 50 yards it will not be enough that it matters for deer hunting.

70 grains of powder is plenty to kill deer.

Fleener

If it shoots accurately with that load, yes. Deer are easily killed, even with a pistol. Of course, the X ring on a deer is quite large.

[Leatherbark]

You will find out soon that if your Colonial is like the SMR and Woodsrunner, the front sight base is larger than .375 inch.

It is somewhere north of .390 inch. So, if your new sight has a .375 base, you will need to swage the base to make it longer and re-file the angles.

Plus, a lot of those aftermarket sights leave a gap between the barrel and the blade that really doesn't look correct.

A good tinkerer can build up the original front sight with solder and re-file.

Can you just hold a finer bead when sighting?  Or compensate by holding lower on the deer's body when shooting?

Bob

[bluenoser]

To compound the gap problem, the front dovetail on a Kibler SMR is only .050" deep.  In my experience, most aftermarket front sights have approximately .062" bases. The good news is - that would provide extra material for swaging and re-dovetailing an after market front sight.  However, proper fitting would require some very fine hand work.
The rear sight dovetail on a Kibler SMR is even shallower, measuring .032".

[YorkCountian]

I carefully widened and deepen the rear sight groove. That really helped to be able to see the front. It doesn't take much.  I haven't lowered the flat of the sight. So the point of impact is the same. But at least I can see the front blade now!

[Sharpsman]

Purchase a new/higher front sight and file down in increments so as to hit as you desire!

[Daryl]

Yes Sharpsman - the "fix" for a desired point of aim is VERY simple.