I ultimately returned the barrel to Kibler and was told Jim would evaluate it and bend it as needed to correct the point of impact. Months went by without any word-- likely because this all coincided with production of the Kibler Hawken. When I finally called to check on its status, I was given a bit of a runaround: reassured that Jim had it in hand and that it would ship the following week, which never happened. Eventually, they sent me a replacement barrel instead.
I was admittedly disappointed, as I really liked how the original barrel's finish had turned out. In the end, though, it worked out for the best. The replacement barrel proved to be exceptionally accurate, and I went on to win the Coeur d'Alene Muzzleloaders' woods walk a couple months later with a near-perfect rifle score.
True to form, I just recently sold that SMR to fund another purchase. Kevin jokes that I have a gun-buying and trading disorder -and he's probably not wrong- but my interests have been shifting more toward living history, particularly the colonial period, rather than the mountain man era. As enjoyable and accurate as the Southern Mountain Rifle is, it no longer fit my personal focus. I've also found that I'm increasingly drawn to custom guns with more individual character, rather than the more uniform, kit-built rifles like those from Kibler. Those Kibler guns sure do run though! They're like the Swiss watch of flintlocks. If I could get a Kibler with just enough relief carving and engraving to keep it from looking like one of the many owned by every Tom, Dick, and Harry, I suspect it would be a forever gun.
Photos of the finished SMR below:
Topic: Off centered sights (Read 27 times)