Custom Rifles

CUSTOM RIFLES

Philosophy and Standards

Kilimanjaro Rifles' philosophy is "All Custom – All The Time", and our goal is to produce the finest full custom rifles in the world today. Each of our custom rifles is intended to be a unique creation tailored specifically for you. While we create works of exhibition quality and beauty, our focus is also on the field—rifles which look good and hunt better—the working tool as art. We set out to achieve our goal through the finest craftsmanship, exact attention to detail, stealth lamination to provide superior strength and stability, match-grade tolerances, and stringent accuracy and reliability standards.

The “Kilimanjaro Rifles Standards” is our internal production and quality assurance manual created and refined during our Research & Development effort from the collective experience of our gunsmiths, technical consultants and customers. A confidential document, it contains not only the standards that our custom rifles must meet, but step by step procedures, material specifications, product specifications, action refinement steps and details to achieve the highest quality to which Kilimanjaro Rifles is devoted.

Custom Rifles Process

Unlike most rifle makers, or even so-called “custom” rifle makers, Kilimanjaro Rifles provides full custom rifles tailored to your individual specifications and desires.  We do not merely provide a list of options from which to choose to “customize” a standard rifle.  Our motto is "All Custom – All The Time." We intend each and every rifle we make to be unique.

Full custom can be a daunting proposition, however, no matter your level of experience or certainty of what you want.  We are here to guide you through the process of creating your own special and unique custom rifle, and have a variety of different starting points designed to make the process easier.

Accuracy

Strength, beauty and accuracy – they are each important in every Kilimanjaro creation. For the hunter, one shot does truly matter. The success of that shot will depend much on the hunter’s skills, but dependable accuracy of the rifle is also key. At Kilimanjaro, we maintain a rigorous quality assurance and testing program to ensure the accuracy of our custom rifles. That effort begins with the blue-printing and refinement of our actions with careful attention to the recoil resistance system (a common source of inaccuracy), fitting of a match grade barrel, chambering to match grade specifications, and precision crowning. All of these are important in achieving accuracy, but it is the mating of the barreled action to the stock that is most critical.

Our official guaranty of accuracy, as confirmed by the test targets, is less than 1 MOA, but our internal standards for passing testing are stricter depending on the caliber: 0.5 MOA or better for 30 caliber and below; 0.65 MOA or better up to 375 caliber; and 0.75 MOA for the bigger bores.

Testing

At Kilimanjaro, we understand the inherent variability of materials and the limitation that imposes on the quality that can be achieved in any mass-production, or even semi-custom production effort. As part of our full custom rifle offering, our attention is devoted to each rifle as a unique and special creation. To achieve the highest standards of quality, we insist on multiple performance and accuracy tests during the production of your custom rifle to ensure consistent and reliable function, feed, and dependable accuracy. The gunsmith assigned to your rifle’s creation is principally responsible for this, but each rifle must also pass multiple examinations and tests by our Master Gunsmith at different stages of production, as well as initial and final accuracy testing by our professional tester, and final approval and testing by our President. Only when all of these are satisfied that the rifle meets Kilimanjaro’s exacting standards of quality does your rifle ship to you.

Quality Assurance

Kilimanjaro Rifles' quality assurance program is second to none. Our goal is to produce the finest full custom rifles in the world today, and a rigorous and institutionalized quality assurance program is key to this effort. Our production gunsmiths are the first line in this program. They are selected not just for their skill but their attention to detail and understanding that the creation of the finest rifles is not merely a feat of engineering or craftsmanship, but an art form. Their work, however, must pass inspection of our Master Gunsmith at virtually every stage of the production process – action blue-printing, chamber-thread-fit-crown, trigger tuning, lamination, rough carving, inletting, final shaping, bedding, finishing, checkering, coating, feed and function testing, and accuracy testing. Your rifle does not proceed to the next step, until the quality of the step before has been verified by our Master Gunsmith. Our independent tester and our President provide the final levels of quality assurance.

Load Development

Starting with your requested bullet weight and type, Kilimanjaro Rifles conducts full load development to determine your rifle’s preferred load. We do so as part of our testing and quality assurance program, and to enable you to proceed straight to practice with your rifle before your next hunt.

Production Schedule

Our standard production schedule for our custom wood-stocked rifles is ten to twelve months from date of first deposit, and subject to action availability, we guarantee delivery within this time. Because of the necessary acclimation and cure periods in our production process to achieve Kilimanjaro Rifles' demanding standards, minimum production time is eight months. Our Jaguar Rifles can usually be delivered in quicker fashion. Production time on our Historical Rifles is dependent on each individual order and the parts which must be hand-made for each.