There have always been great variations and great disparities in the "art world" and there have always been the "rich" and the not so rich connoiseur --and the critic. There are great art guns, not so great art guns, plain guns, junk guns, etc...all handmade does not necessarily mean high art, high art does not necessarily mean all handmade [talking about totally handmade lock, stock and barrel]. I can appreciate but not afford the great guns. The rich connoiseur/collector buys the fine guns. The investor/collector buys the fine guns. Very few not so rich do, but a few may believe in the philosophy of the 'one pearl of great worth' and sell everything else to attain one. Then there are the other categories of gun lovers/owners: reenactors, target shooters, hunters, middle class collectors, etc. True, the average joe cannot afford a rifle from some of the better known high dollar makers--and he is not their target clientele. Maybe some started out to sell to the average joe, but that changed. I own a Keith Casteel longrifle--his 50th gun he told me. I traded for it second hand back in 1990--it was made in 1974. I traded a Hawken I made plus $400 for it. Keith's art guns were going for the neighborhood of $50,000 a few years back. The first longrilfe I made cost me $300 in parts [1978] and 166 hrs of labor [I used only hand tools]. If I figured my labor at $50/hr that would add $8300 to the cost. Although the rifle turned out very well for a first attempt, it certainly would not have sold for $8600 in 1978. Two things: an unknown builder and modest quality [high quality parts, all original architecture (which worked, everyone loves it), a few slips of the chisel]. But what if I had continued to build and improve? Who knows what it would be worth today? A friend of mine came from a wealthy background--a ranking DuPont employee's son--his grandmother took in a starving artist and supported him awhile--he left her a few sketches and watercolors as payment--he just died the other day [Andrew Wyeth]--he had paid her "nothing" at the time. What did Hershel get for his early rifles? The typical reenactor or hunter, which comprise the base clientele for the builders, cannot afford more than a $2000 rifle-gun. Many cannot afford that much. The $50,000 gun is not made for them. It is made for folks that can afford an original Wyeth. A whole class of shooters out there can hardly scrape together enough cash to buy a Pedersoli. Fortunately there are builders who are not in it for the money, like my close friend, who has made hundreds of quality guns for little over the cost of materials. Those who are trying to make a living building guns have to charge for their labor and should charge for their labor and deserve a good price for a good product like in any other industry or art form....but the history of art is that few artists get rich in their lifetimes [Wyeth and a few others were exceptions].
