Stock Clean up on a Kibler Southern Mountain Flintlock stocked in Cherry

The Kibler Longrifles muzzleloader kits are some of the best on the market. Using CNC technology has dramatically changed the muzzleloader kit industry, but there is still work to be done on these kits.

In this video, we go over some stock clean up methods to enhance the look of your Kibler kit.

While the video is about the Kibler Southern Mountain Rifle, the tools and processes work on the Kibler Colonial kit.

As you know, the Kibler Longrifles kits come with a CNC shaped stock. This makes for a beautiful stock with hardly any effort on our part as the builder, but the CNC machinery can leave some less than desirable tooling marks on the stock.

Note: I’m not a professional builder, I’m just sharing my experience with this kit. Your mileage may vary, try getting in touch with a local gunsmith, or post photos on a forum for some feedback.

My kit is stocked in Cherry, and very hard Cherry at that, making the marks weirdly noticeable. You can see in the picture (below) the marks run perpendicular to the length of the stock.

As I head towards final assembly, I want to remove those marks so we have a nice even finish. To a trained eye, this won’t pass as “curl” in the grain of the stock.

To start, use a fine flat file or a course sand paper, around 150 grit backed by a file and begin working the stock. Make sure you are always backing your sandpaper with a file when doing this, it will protect the nice edges and lines Kibler has programmed into the stock.

You may be able to get away with sandpaper but I found the file was needed to really remove the marks. After wetting the stock, I found the machine lines where still there, so I went back through with my file and was a bit more aggressive on the second go around.

Work carefully around the entire stock, always in line with the stock, and check your work often by adjusting the stock under a light. Check various angles to see if those machine lines are still there. When in doubt, rub a little water on the stock. The dramatic color change will show you if you’ve done enough.

As you work around the curves of the buttstock or around the lock plate, I recommend switching to a round or half round file, it will make working these areas much easier.

With some extra work, I took about 2 hours to do this, you can make one of these kits all the better.