For those of us from Indiana, Marvin's work has been well-known and appreciated for a number of years now. He's always had a better-than-most eye for what a rifle should look like, i.e. correct lines, and takes whatever time is needed so that the work has proper architecture - which makes or breaks most rifles. The quality of his work is only exceeded by the quality of Marvin himself, a great person who is enjoyable to get to know.
Marvin restocked the parts of the only known William Turner Bryan (son of gunsmith Daniel Bryan of Bryan's Station fame) rifle for me a couple of years ago. He was meticulous in his preparation, using two other Bryan rifles to provide any needed stock details. The end result was a superbly rebuilt rifle...the twin of the CLA auction rifle...which I am proud to have in my collection. One insightful story about the build explains Marvin's character and personal values more than a hundred words.
When discussing the Bryan project, Marvin asked about the quality of stock wood. Since the gun would be a restocked piece, I didn't believe it needed a fancy stock, so I told Marvin to use an average piece of maple, nothing great, so curl was there but faded in and out a little. When I picked the rifle up, I was amazed at the quality of the wood in the stock, a superb blank of finest curl from end to end, top to bottom. I looked at Marvin in disbelief and asked him how the gun ended up with such great wood. He paused a moment, then told me with a straight face, "It was just one of my average blanks." I'm sure I got the better end of the deal with the wood, not to mention the hand-made triggers he spent hours filing out rather than modifying a modern set as I had suggested. The gun had become a labor of love for Marvin as he got more vested in it, almost as if it were his own gun. That's Marvin, a superb builder and great human being all rolled into one. Shelby Gallien
