Kibler Plains / Hawken kit

[Roger B]

A .54 cal will serve you well on elk & bison. I think that the performance improvement you might realize by going to .58 cal will be fairly small.  Most original Hawkens that I have handled have been pretty plain mape or , fewer sill, plain walnut. If you're like me, though, you love beautiful wood so curly maple is the way to go.
Roger B.

[foresterdj]

I went with medium fancy maple just because I have mostly walnut guns and one plain maple.  Went with .58 to fill a gap, since I have .36, .45, .50, 2 - .54, a .62 smooth bore and soon a .62 jaeger rifled. Plus I like big holes in the paper, which is the most of my shooting.

[3thumbs]

When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong! Some time ago, when Mr. Kibler was talking about bringing out his version of a Hawken rifle kit, I was strongly opposed to all of the changes he was talking about making, to improve the rifle; blasphemy, to a died-in-the-wool Hawken lover!
But I will admit, when I first looked at the pics of your first completed rifle, I absolutely loved it! You have captured the overall look and "magic" that screams Hawken...I read a few folks that are balking at the price, but if they took time to research all of the parts needed for a quality half-stock Hawken, they will soon find out it takes over a thousand dollars, closer to 1,500 bucks with fancy maple, just for a pile of raw parts, lots of which are castings and take mega hours to clean up before they can be inlet. Add in roughly a hundred hours of tedious labor, and your creation will seem like a bargain!In short, I'm impressed!! I just hope you can keep up with the orders that are sure to be pouring in!! Congratulations on a very fine looking rifle...

[Jim Kibler]

Thank you 3thumbs.  I'm happy this has been well received.  I think it even looks better in person.  The box and inlay package should help it out as well.  I appreciate the kind words from everyone.

[Crow Choker]

The base price on the Kibler Hawken Kit is $1505. If he would have been making his kit as it is today in 1970 when the TC Hawkens first came out,
The price would be $180.00. I don't think TC would have sold many. The cost of things hasn't gone up the value of the dollar has gone down.

Wonder what a TC sold for in 1970?

The 1972 Black Powder Gun Digest has the TC listed at $175 for percussion, $190 for flint. The 1974 Guns and Ammo Complete Guide To Black Powder has percussion listed at $195, $205 for a flinter. If I recall I bought my 45 TC percussion in 1974 for around $150. Three of us area shooters each bought one from a dealer we were made aware of (garage gun shop) who gave us a discount. Of course we each bought 2-3 pounds of Metor FFF powder at around $1.75 a pound and a good supply of some Italian caps in red plastic 'tins' for .99 a hundred. Some .440" balls were also bought along with single cavity Lyman molds. The dealer had two other stops on his journey delivering a half dozen TC's with accessories, hence the rifle discount.

 Still shooting that TC, have harvested a number of Iowa whitetails with it, always a short travel for em after getting shot with a TC maxi-ball. My TC is still in great shape. Back in the 80's I cut the spur off of the trigger guard, stripped the stock and refinished it with a reddish black tint of a stain I worked up with some of Brownell's powdered tints. Finished it off with a stock finish called 'Arrow' similar to Tru-Oil in application and appearance but with a more subdued sheen. Darkened the brass some by using light use of Brownell's Oxpho-Blue and 4'O' steel wool. Alot better looking IMO and what others have advised me.  All the best Jim on sales of your Hawken, possibly could be ordered some day. Great looking rifle. CC

[Daniel Coats]

I stopped buying kits 45 years ago... until this one!

[AZshot]

By next Fall the woods will ring to the tune of "Onward Hawken Soldiers" as legions of men appear from the mists of the forests.  It's a good time to be here.

[ScottH]

I'm sure one or two of these kits will be destined to show up at my place.
My son is very interested. But after shooting my Kibler SMR Flintlock he may be leaning towards a Flintlock - Woodsrunner instead  .

I have a half stock blank in my work room, I've had it for a long time. It is a California grown piece of english walnut with quite a bit of dark stripes. The one side that is more plain in the butt would be the side the patch box would go on.
Decisions - decisions.

Thanks for all of the replies!

[canadianml1]

I prefer walnut which I don't stain, just straight oil plus wax finish.  This makes for a good practical field gun that can be prone to scatches and dents. These can be repaired easily by local sanding and re-oiling. No worries with blending the repair with the surrounding wood.

On the other hand, maple which is treated with aqua fortis is not so easily repaired and blended without witness lines.

This treatment of walnut produces a really nice finish too.  (BTW my Hawken order has been placed!!)

[AZshot]

I like walnut the too, but wanted at to finish a maple gun.  As far as practicality, maybe maple was used more because it is less likely to dent or scratch. Hard maple has a Janka hardness rating of around 1,450 pounds-force, while walnut is around 1,010 pounds-force. I typically would never try to fix or refinish any stock that has a few dings.

[canadianml1]

I am not sure but I think the type of maple that is usually supplied is red maple as it shows better curl. It is not nearly as hard as sugar maple. I think the walnut is at least as hard as red maple. Maybe JK can clarify what he is supplying etc.

[A.Merrill]

   Mr. Kibler that's a great looking Hawken. If I hadn't already collected parts for one I would have bought your kit. How are you attaching the under rib or are you?  What width of butt plate are you using? I'm building a late Hawken for my son and it's a 54cal. and those narrow butt plates has me wondering what the kick will be like and if I install a cap box I don't think it will be deep enough to keep anything in.   Al

[Jim Kibler]

I am not sure but I think the type of maple that is usually supplied is red maple as it shows better curl. It is not nearly as hard as sugar maple. I think the walnut is at least as hard as red maple. Maybe JK can clarify what he is supplying etc.

Yeah, usually any of our maple is red maple.  We do have some sugar, but it's a small percentage.  I just bought some plain hard maple as well, so it's available for anyone who wants it for a stock.  It would work well on the Hawken.

Thanks

[Jim Kibler]

   Mr. Kibler that's a great looking Hawken. If I hadn't already collected parts for one I would have bought your kit. How are you attaching the under rib or are you?  What width of butt plate are you using? I'm building a late Hawken for my son and it's a 54cal. and those narrow butt plates has me wondering what the kick will be like and if I install a cap box I don't think it will be deep enough to keep anything in.   Al

Our buttplate is 1 5/8" wide.  We attach the under rib with screws.

Thanks!