Carving

[Mike Brooks]

I think the problem is in part due to people not realizing how little they know and understand.  This doesn’t deter them from being outspoken though.  After the frustration passes, about all I can do is shake my head…

Perhaps people know and understand a good deal more than you give them credit for.  Also, you would likely be well served by giving some open-minded thought to what they have to say, rather than writing them off as outspoken know-nothings.

I believe Kibler has far more patience than I do. 

[axelp]

So does one have to "earn" the right to speak what he believes to be true? Not in free America. Hopefully not here either. Yeah, some folks believe things I might consider ill-informed or motivated by fear or anger, but I'd imagine folks think the same of some stuff I believe. I'd never pressure them by shame or popularity to keep silent. Truth is acquired by listening, comparing and contrasting. Like cream it rises to the top eventually.

I appreciate the pictures being posted. They speak volumes.

K

[Austin]

I personally think Jim Kibler has done more for the flintlock community than any one person, by making an affordable, high quality product, that is within arguable historical bounds. His guns have a great appeal to the average guy raising a family, that cannot afford a custom gun, or doesn’t have the ability to build one himself. Please don’t criticize him, if you don’t like his product, dont buy it! Quit the negative nitpicking!
I personally have a hard time criticizing a guy that has went ‘all in’ financially to follow his dream.


PS Jim Kibler wouldn’t know me if I stepped on his foot….

[Tumbledown]

We need "like" buttons...

[Tony N]

We need "like" buttons...

Why?
If you like it, just type “I like it”

[Mike Brooks]

We need "like" buttons...

Why?
If you like it, just type “I like it”

Too complicated. A simple nifty will suffice.

[Tony N]

We need "like" buttons...

Why?
If you like it, just type “I like it”

Too complicated. A simple nifty will suffice.

Pretty nifty response  😉

[Jeff Murray]

Anyone who puts their work out there is likely to get a mixture of comments.  Some are encouraging, some are constructive feedback, others perhaps offered to elevate the critic.  To very roughly paraphrase Teddy R.  "Its not the critic who counts, but the person in the ring, daring greatly ....".  At least Jim is in the ring and deserves credit for that, good or bad feedback not withstanding.  I don't own one of his rifles but have fired a Colonial and it handled very nicely in a hunting environment.

[EC121]

Here is a link to several photos of the original woodsrunner.  My remark is that the original does not have the elaborate carving.  I am making no other observation but I do have a copy of the original and I have handled the original and they are quite different.  As to the name, "ridge runner" does on occasion appear in scholarly articles as some from ASAC but Gusler's name is far more widely recognized.

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=49297.0

By the way you can also say the same for the T/C Hawken and many other "Hawkens".  A model name isn't a museum or bench copy.  It is just a name for a particular model.  Rifles would be hard to differentiate if everything was called a "generic rifle". 

[moseswhite]

Jim , I believe your carving is quite nice !!

[oldtravler61]

  Maybe it's time people realize others have a right to their opinions..!
If we all liked the same things. It would be a very dull world..

[Outlander]

Jim, you are a gift to the Longrifle community.   
An artist, a craftsman and a talented designer and a pretty good businessman I suppose.
You've made a high quality beautifully carved rifle/fowler accessible to the person who can't create one , or afford a custom made one.
I have your extra fancy grade carved Woodsrunner and I take it out once a week or so and admire it and/or shoot it,and try to work up the courage to
carve your Colonial myself.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

[varsity07840]

Jim,

If the carving on a Woodsrunner annoys some people, be prepared for the wrath of the Hawken gods if you follow up with one for your next product.

[Jim Kibler]

Jim,

If the carving on a Woodsrunner annoys some people, be prepared for the wrath of the Hawken gods if you follow up with one for your next product.

I already have my sales tag line...  "What a Hawken should have been" 

Think that will get under anybody's skin!

[A Scanlan]

I like it!  Hawken's are too heavy and have no style.  They are like putting a barrel, triggers and a lock on a fence post.  Who wants one like that.  Actually I bet they were hard to shoot from a galloping horse and were actually made to club the buffalo in the head after you missed.

[Gaeckle]

Jim,

If the carving on a Woodsrunner annoys some people, be prepared for the wrath of the Hawken gods if you follow up with one for your next product.

I already have my sales tag line...  "What a Hawken should have been" 

Think that will get under anybody's skin!

.....that would be Ohio rifles.....or any one of those finely crafted rifles from the great mid-western part of the country: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri

[oldtravler61]

  Gaeckle now watch that reference to Michigan..LOL .Especially for the current Contemporary Builders. Not me of course but Jud Brennan, Dennis Priddy, Tom Castor , Jack Duprey and a slew of others....and that there Ohio feller who makes those kits....Just saying....

[Gaeckle]

  Gaeckle now watch that reference to Michigan..LOL .Especially for the current Contemporary Builders. Not me of course but Jud Brennan, Dennis Priddy, Tom Castor , Jack Duprey and a slew of others....and that there Ohio feller who makes those kits....Just saying....

In that group of illustrious makers is none other than  Dick Miller who made a very interesting rifle. It's typical of Dicks decoration in the carving and engraving arena, but he supplied a placard describing the rifle



Nobody else other than Dick could pull this off. I watched the crowd at the 2022 CLA Show wander past his display and I  wonder how many people actually read what he had written.

As a side note, Dick was in the waste water business and always bragged about  "being number one in the number 2 bussiness"

[bones92]

Gaeckle, that is classic!   Love it.

[Bob Gerard]

It is certainly wonderful to receive compliments on one’s artistic creations.
My experience is that the artist is often his own worst critic.

[mikeyfirelock]

Looks good….very nice.      Illigitamus non carborundum.
mikeyfirelock

[mony]

I believe Mr. Brooks said it all; “Nifty”

Dave