I don't have any more skill than anyone else. I am not not magical and do not have decades of training by some creepy old guy on top of a mountain in China. What people think of as skill is usually just knowledge and attention to detail. Both of which come from practice. It takes practice to learn how to use the tools properly on different materials and get them to do what you want. Knowledge is also required to know what to do with the tools. You have to know how a Hawken is put together, the proper shape, etc. That comes from study. If you get to know every little detail of a Hawken rifle and how it goes together, then learn how to use your tools and pay attention to what you are doing, you will have no trouble building a rifle. That is all there is to having skill. I am not capable of doing anything that you are not. If I can do it, then you can too.
My videos can provide you with some of the knowledge, but the rest of it, and all of the attention to detail is up to you. If you think that inletting a barrel will be hard, then get a cheap piece of maple and inlet the barrel into that. You will learn a lot about using chisels doing that. If it comes out all sloppy it because either you have not yet learned enough about the chisels or because you missed some of the details as you went. All it takes is practice. If you mess it up, then do it again. When you can do a good job, do it for real. Same for the lock and any other part of it. Important thing is to give up on any type of schedule that you may have. It you have to inlet the lock into a piece of scrap wood 5 times before you get it right, then do it 5 times. Let it take as long as it is going to take.
Don't compare your work to mine or anyone else's. That is something that does not matter at all. There are plenty of people out there doing better work than me and that does not bother me one bit. The trick is to do the best job that you are capable of at every step. What I do as I am working is to continually ask myself if I could make it any better. If so, then I do it even if it is a lot more work and takes a lot longer. If you do that you will have a gun that you will be proud of and each gun will be better than the last.
The new guys are always worried they will spend $1000 on parts and screw it all up. If you have that attitude you are just getting in your own way. You do NOT build a gun because you want a new gun. If you want a new gun, buy. Don't build a gun unless you want to build a gun. The goal is building a gun. Not getting a gun. If you go on a cruise you will spend well over $1000. It last a few days and when you get home all you have to show for it is a t-shirt. You think it was money well spent and can't wait to do it again. That is gun building. It is an ENTERTAINMENT expense. You get to go for months without turning on the stupid TV and having a great time. If your goal is to enjoy building a gun more than having a gun when it is done, then it is not possible to fail.
