Berks county rifle finished!

[Topknot]

Greg, I really think that you nailed it on this rifle.Your carving and engraving is superb. I tell you what, send it to me and let me study it and get it sighted in for you.I promise to return it after a few years, ok? Really it is simply gorgeous.

                                                                                         topknot

[Hemo]

That's what I call a beautiful rifle; wish I could do that kind of work.  An interesting thing is apparent with your fine rifle and the last rifle I had built.  We both seem to have used the same, or similar, lock.  In both our rifles the lock panel shows lots of wood around the lock, identical, it appears.  When I posted a pic of mine and finally confessed it was a TVM, one poster could think of nothing good to say.  So his only comment was "the lock panel is too big".  DUH!?  I just hope that poster isn't as weird as his comment.  Only the TVM admission pulled it out of him and that would have been your fate had you joked it was a TVM.

Seeing your beautiful - mine is a plain poor boy - rifle makes me feel much, much better about mine.  That is, if an obviously beautiful rifle shares a feature with my rifle then mine ain't so bad after all.  Your carving and engraving are something else, by the way.     

Thanks, Hanshi and all, for your additional comments. We all learn and try to improve, however, and I recently attended the NMLRA gunmakers seminar in Bowling Green, KY, where I took the carving class taught by Mark Silver and Jim Kibler. I took this rifle with me and got both Mark and Jim to critique it so I could improve my next one.  They both had useful criticisms. One thing Jim said was that my lock panel moulding was too wide, especially at the top of the lock. After looking back at photos of the originals, I'd have to say I agree.  Next time around, my lock panels will be tighter!

Gregg