Kibler Kit Workshop with Gary Ludwig    September 16 - 21, 2024 Class has filled - please contact us about next available dates 

 6 day workshop. $600 plus $30 materials fee. Class price does not include the cost of your tools or your rifle kit.  Beginners are welcome!  

  ...So maybe you're a novice interested in building a longrifle, but you feel you may not have the necessary skills to do the job? Or perhaps you have built a kit gun or two before, but you'd like to learn some new techniques to sharpen your skills... either way, Gary Ludwig's Kibler Kit Workshop may be exactly what you need.

This is a hands - on class where you will learn how to build your own muzzleloading rifle. The class will take place at the midwest's bastion of the American longrifle culture - the Log Cabin Sport Shop in Lodi, Ohio.  Participants will learn proper kit construction, plus a variety of finishing techniques for wood and metal, effective use of hand tools, lock and set trigger assembly, custom touches to personalize your gun, and much more!

​Class size limited to 6. For more info, click the box below
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Instructor Gary Ludwig and a gallery of his work. Gary builds rifles both from "scratch" and from kits. 

Gary started building muzzleloaders in 2013 when he was invited to attend the Gunmakers Seminar at Canter's Cave. He attended the seminar for many years afterwards gaining valuable experience under the tutelage of Hershel and John House, Jim Kibler, Ken Gahagan and Ian Pratt. He has also attended other gunmaking classes including the gunbuilding and metal engraving classes with Brad and Shane Emig at Cabin Creek and the NMLRA Gunsmithing Seminar with Frank House.

Gary has taken many other classes offered by the Southern Ohio Artisan Workshops including knifemaking with Hershel and John House, Belt Axe Making with rich McDonald, Engraving with Tom Curran, Southern Banded Powder Horns with Billy Griner, Fire Steel Making with Ian Pratt, and Flintknapping with Johnny Faulkner. Gary also plies his hand at blacksmithing and has attended classes at the Goshen Historical Society School of Blacksmithing including Forging Iron Gun Mounts withe Frank House and Joe Seabolt.

When he isn't building guns or accoutrements, Gary spends time promoting the Southern Ohio Artisan Workshops whenever and wherever he can. He also designs and sells SOAW merchandise. The profits are used to fund our scholarships, buy tools and equipment that are shared between the various SOAW classes, or to support other efforts related to SOAW's mission.