I ordered a Kibler Colonial Rifle in 58 Caliber last month, and it finally arrived. It took me a few days to get it assembled and complete, but man... worth the money and the wait.
All small parts like screw heads, cock jaws, trigger plate, trigger etc... were flame blued. Barrel, lock plate, cock itself, were slow rust blued.
How the rifle arrives. Packaging is done very well.
![]()
Fit up process. The fit out of the box is great already, but some extra work needs to be done. I went a tad too far, but you can't tell now that the barrel is pinned into place.
![]()
After a nights worth of work, almost there.
![]()
Flame blued small parts. I ended up taking the trigger plate back down and doing some more clean up work.
![]()
The barrel with a good layer of fuzzy red rust, ready for the steam pipe. This is what you are looking for when rust blueing.
![]()
The finished project. The curly maple was stained with Laurel Mtn Forge Maple, sealed with permalyn, and then knocked back down to fresh wood and I'm currently finishing it out with 1/3rd mix. Takes a few coats.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
I have not shot this gun yet so I can't comment on that aspect, but as far as quality goes, if anyone is on the fence about a kibler kit, don't be, just do it. It will take a little work, and if you're inexperienced you'll likely have a few things not come out quite as nice, but it's a learning experience and if you have even a slight bit of mechanical ability or skill you can do this. You'll pay twice what these cost for an already built gun.
All small parts like screw heads, cock jaws, trigger plate, trigger etc... were flame blued. Barrel, lock plate, cock itself, were slow rust blued.
How the rifle arrives. Packaging is done very well.
Fit up process. The fit out of the box is great already, but some extra work needs to be done. I went a tad too far, but you can't tell now that the barrel is pinned into place.
After a nights worth of work, almost there.
Flame blued small parts. I ended up taking the trigger plate back down and doing some more clean up work.
The barrel with a good layer of fuzzy red rust, ready for the steam pipe. This is what you are looking for when rust blueing.
The finished project. The curly maple was stained with Laurel Mtn Forge Maple, sealed with permalyn, and then knocked back down to fresh wood and I'm currently finishing it out with 1/3rd mix. Takes a few coats.
I have not shot this gun yet so I can't comment on that aspect, but as far as quality goes, if anyone is on the fence about a kibler kit, don't be, just do it. It will take a little work, and if you're inexperienced you'll likely have a few things not come out quite as nice, but it's a learning experience and if you have even a slight bit of mechanical ability or skill you can do this. You'll pay twice what these cost for an already built gun.
