Jim Kibler shares update on expansion, new kits, and the Kibler Hawken
Since last year, the muzzleloading community has been a buzz with the idea of Jim Kibler, creator of the CNC lock and longrifle kits known as Kibler’s Longrifles, creating a historically accurate and easy to assemble Hawken Kit. Hawken rifles are arguably the most popular style of muzzle loader in the contemporary era, thanks to their “modification” by companies like Thompson/Center and CVA in the 1980s and now Traditions in the 2020s.
Last year Kibler said the Hawken kit was on the list, but would be a while. In a recent thread on the American Longrifles Forum, Jim gave some insight to where the Kibler Hawken is in production, as well as some of their expansion plans due to the success of the 2021 business year.
Yes, we are working on another rifle offering. This is based to some degree on the original commonly referred to as the "Woodsrunner" rifle. It should make for a fantastic handling rifle. This project is about 75% complete. The fowling piece will follow. It is about 25% complete. Devoting time for developing new designs has been a challenge for us, so this past year we have been fortunate to have the help of Eric Von Aschwege. He has been working to learn wax injection mold making etc. and doing a fine job.
Jim goes on in the thread to clarify that the Kibler Hawken will be a halfstock, percussion lock kit.
For right now, it sounds like we will be getting this “Woodsrunner” type kit first, then the fowling piece, and THEN the Kibler Hawken. Depending on the time it takes to develop these now 3 new kits, we could be looking at the mid to late 2020s before the Kibler Hawken is out. This timeline is estimated on my part, but I do hope we see it sooner. A Kibler Hawken would certainly update a lot of people’s idea of the classic American sporting arm and give newcomers another easy way to add a fine rifle to their collection.
For more on the “woodsrunner” style of rifle, check out the ALR forum posts here - https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=49261.0
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=49297.0
With the addition of some more complex machinery, including a 25,000lb 5 axis machine to work on stocks, Kiblers Longrifles has expanded into sawing their own stock blanks for increased quality control.
We'll be adding some rifles where incised carving is very appropriate to our line-up to take advantage of this capability. In order to carve a stock well, very high-quality stock wood will be required. With this being the case and to secure availability of curly maple, we are in the process of setting up to mill our own logs. This has been a pretty big project but fun. It's involved buying a straight truck to haul logs, a sawmill, drying kiln etc.
Much like we see with companies like Apple in the tech world, Jim is taking more and more of production and putting it under his company umbrella to consistently produce a quality product. While this move is certainly different than we have really ever seen in contemporary longrifle culture, Jim isn’t afraid of bucking the trend.
I can say with certainty that our presence has expanded the world of traditional flintlock rifles. Many of our customers are entirely new and now may become part of this culture we all enjoy. I was talking with a supplier the other day, whom many of you would know. His comment was that all of us are competing for a couple of thousand rifle sales a year. I won't be specific about our sales, but I can say this isn't true. In the recent past, this was much more of an exclusive club. There were significant obstacles to becoming involved. I believe we've changed this. Some might like the idea of this being their little club, but times are changing. Many of the people involved in the muzzleloading world are traditional, older, conservative and don't like change. This goes for organizations as well. When we look at this, it kind of makes us shake our heads.
It’s easy to sit around and bemoan the days gone by of muzzle loading, but to keep it going so we can get to another “great age” like so many miss, it takes hard work and dedication of people like Jim and his team to get us there. Jim has done what people always do, he’s added a new section to an industry where there wasn’t one before. For years you either had to pony up money for parts and wood, as well as tools and a workspace, and then time to do it right, order a custom rifle, or spend your days shackled to a T/C Hawken.
The community is at an age now where the intersection of modern technology and the interest of younger people have intersected, readying itself for a new generation passionate about muzzleloading. Young people like Alex from the Frontier Trading company can save their money and spend it on a rifle they will love for the rest of their life, knowing they have a quality reliable piece right out the gate. You cannot argue with that.
In a time where big companies like Hodgdon are pulling out of the Traditional Muzzleloading market sighting a lack of growth, small dedicated companies like Kibler’s Longrifles are doing more business than ever before. I think that says something, I know I don’t mind giving money to a small businessman like Kibler. Keep it up Jim, and thank you.
