AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: looper on August 15, 2019, 04:26:28 PM
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Here is the start of a what will be a beauty.
Bucks County profile, Grade 2 Hard Maple, 44" Colerain B weight .50 caliber
(https://i.imgur.com/Ih2qMI6.jpg?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/ovuuV7D.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/uL24sIP.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZvONeqp.jpg)
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Sure will be a beauty. Btw, that's some collection of stocks in the back! You're going to be busy for a heck of a longtime.
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Those are just the patterns. You should see my hoard of blanks.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ME0zth23q/?igshid=1uopzrfxta2mn
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Wow, that's some operation!
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Whoa there!
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Have you determined what Pbox, Bplate and TG you'll be using.... always interested in BC builds. Will the combline be straight or have a curve? Any particular BC original builder you'll use as a guide?.....Fred
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Actually this particular stock and barrel are going to someone else to build. I’ll build one this winter.
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Are you in the precarve business by chance?
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I am. Back in March, I bought Scott Kelley's stock carving business and moved the whole shebang down to Pickens, SC. I've spent the last several months improving my skills, refining old patterns, developing new ones, fine tuning equipment, sourcing suppliers, building inventory, etc. I'm at a point where I've worked out the kinks and am comfortable with the product I can produce. I'm fortunate to have a wise old owl, one Don Bruton, just down the road to give me good feedback and honest critique.
Right now, I'm building spec stuff. I've got a good supply of excellent maple, walnut, cherry, ash, and birch. I've also been building up an inventory of barrels. So far I'm taking a good piece of wood, inletting a barrel, drilling the ramrod hole, carving the back half, and selling the combo.
That's been attractive to several builders so far. It's saving them a lot of time on the tedious work as well as saving a lot on shipping. For the guy that buys one barrel at a time, by the time he buys one from TOW, and a stock from Dunlap, by the time he gets it to someone to inlet the barrel for him, he's going to spend upwards of $80 on shipping. That's not insignificant, at least to me. With what I'm doing, they can get the same barrel, the same quality blank, have me do the boring stuff and come out way ahead in both time and $.
I do have a few guys that are ordering regularly from me. They just tell me what grade wood and barrel they want, and I carve it up, from the simple barrel inlet all the way up to a full carve.
I'm still doing some experimenting with creating barrel patterns for new barrel profiles, so I can inlet for folks that already have a barrel. I know that others have probably already determined the best, most efficient way, but I'm always hesitant to ask advice from a potential competitor. I know how valuable trade secrets can be.
I also haven't used anyone else's wood yet. After seeing what some folks are paying for blanks these days, it makes me mighty nervous at the prospect of messing up someone's $500 blank. Not that I think I would, but at this stage of game, my early mistakes are still fresh in my mind. I may just stick with doing spec stuff and leave that task to others.
Mike, you probably were looking for a simple answer, so forgive me for rambling on.
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That was some good looking work of yours I saw at CLA. Nice clean barrel inlets. Your Virginia rifle has pretty architecture to my eye. I wish you well. God bless, Marc
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Cheney, your answer to Mike Brooks gave good info to many other folks - good marketing! I'll be sure to give you a shout after I finish these darned "Plains Rifles"!