Where are the gun makers??

[Ionian]

 I don't post much here but I love to see the work that members create. There have not been any new rifles posted in a while. I thought late winter was gun building time, yet no new posts. I hope to see the pros posting pictures soon. This is a great site.

Nick

[northmn]

Have you any to post?

DP

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

There's quite a few posted on the Contemporary Blog Site.

[t.caster]

I am finishing up an Andreas Albrecht/Edw. Marshall .58 cal. rifle this week. Just rubbed the 2nd coat of Chambers finish on last night. Metal treatment(etched-blue lock & brrl./tarnished brass) is done.
This is the first rifle I have been able to build since 2000, that wasn't for a customer. I will be posting it "for sale" here soon, if interested.

Then I've got a .40 cal x 44" Getz barreled Bucks Co. "unknown" started that I want to finish up.
And then....

[B Shipman]

I think the BLOG has stolen a lot of our thunder. I think it is much more valuable to discuss things, to take compliments and criticism. The Blog is fine and gets a great response. I tune in every day. But we get nothing out of it as builders but looking at pictures. Here we have discussions of how we did things. And any serious customers will be looking here as well. I'd like to see builders post here as well. From well known makers to first rifle.

[Ionian]

I don't post much because I have never built a rifle, but I am a cabinet maker by trade and I have started to buy parts for my first one. I have a stock blank, lock, but plate, and trigger guard so far. Wish me luck, I'll need plenty.

[Jim Filipski]

The blog site contacted me to ask permission to use some of my stuff ( of course the one that was picked was of my early pieces which wouldn't have been my choice- oh well) but knowing this I don't think you can just post your work there. At least I don't believe so.

We get a glimpse of some builders work if you look closely Wasn't that a peak at t's Edw Marshal in the metal finish post?
Jim

[Roger Fisher]

I think the BLOG has stolen a lot of our thunder. I think it is much more valuable to discuss things, to take compliments and criticism. The Blog is fine and gets a great response. I tune in every day. But we get nothing out of it as builders but looking at pictures. Here we have discussions of how we did things. And any serious customers will be looking here as well. I'd like to see builders post here as well. From well known makers to first rifle.

Well said!

[t.caster]

We get a glimpse of some builders work if you look closely Wasn't that a peak at t's Edw Marshal in the metal finish post?
Jim

Close Jim, that was an early Dickert with a lot of the Moravion/Chr. Spring  influence. I am convinced Dickert was influenced by Albrect and may have trained with or under him. I built that in 07 and posted lots of pics of it back then. Good eye!

[Tom Currie]

I have my Bucks County smoothbore almost completed "in the white" before I add a modest level of embellishment. I will be posting pics here for a "architecture check " within a few weeks before I get down to the detail and finish work. Posted some pics last fall and did some rework to skinny things up a bit.  Plan on having it finished for Dixon's this summer.

[Acer Saccharum]

I don't think the Contemporary site detracts from the ALR at all. In fact, I think it is a great resource for ideas, a way to see work that you never saw before, and a way to educate and whet the appetite of the public.

Personally, I have been distracted as heck trying to make a living, and the gun work has taken a back shelf for the moment. I consider the ALR my home, and I would post here first, always. This site is primarily for builders and the study of longrifles and accoutrements. The purpose of the Contemporary site seems geared mainly toward collectors, with the work of artisans coming first, and only part of that purpose is longrifles.

In the end, I think the two sites are complimentary. And then I must get my axe in gear and post some pictures! Thanks for the prod, Nick.

Tom

[Randy Hedden]

I think the BLOG has stolen a lot of our thunder. I think it is much more valuable to discuss things, to take compliments and criticism. The Blog is fine and gets a great response. I tune in every day. But we get nothing out of it as builders but looking at pictures. Here we have discussions of how we did things. And any serious customers will be looking here as well. I'd like to see builders post here as well. From well known makers to first rifle.

Bill,

I am not sure why you think that BLOG has stolen any of our thunder.  When one of our ALR members has an item posted on the blog someone always posts that fact here and any ALR member who cares to can have a look see.  Any ALR member can also ask questions about the item posted and expect a reply.  The only difference I see is where the photos are posted.

Randy Hedden

[Ken G]

I don't think the blog has really stolen any thunder away.  I think we have seen a lot of work that may not have been posted on the ALR forum.  Especially work that was done years back.
I do see a couple of differences when guns are pictured on the blog rather than the ALR site.  The mentions show up in the Contemporary forum rather than the Building forum.  This puts a little different twist on things.  They are not critiqued / discussed the same way as if they were posted in the Building forum. 
I'm not suggesting they should be critiqued but that does make a big difference in the type things that are discussed about a gun. 
Just my opinion. 
Ken

[Randy Hedden]

I do see a couple of differences when guns are pictured on the blog rather than the ALR site.  The mentions show up in the Contemporary forum rather than the Building forum.  This puts a little different twist on things.  They are not critiqued / discussed the same way as if they were posted in the Building forum. 
Just my opinion. 
Ken

Well Jeez, Ken, since you are the one who usually mentions stuff here on ALR that is found on the BLOG, just be more careful where you put the mention of them.

Randy Hedden

[Ken G]

   I didn't say I thought it was wrong to post in the contemporary, just different.  Maybe I'm somewhat agreeing with Bill even though i started off disagreeing with him. 
I've agreed to disagree before but now I think I have disagreed to agree. 

Ken

[KLMoors]

Hi All. First post here.

Well, I'm certainly no pro but I'll introduce myself with a couple of pics.(hopefully)

My name is Ken and I live in North Carolina. Due to a recent spate of gainfull unemployment I've been working on a couple of guns. I finished this Don Stith full stock a couple of weeks ago.

I built a Great Plains Rifle many, many years  ago so this is my first try at a more difficult build.

I've got a 1/2 stock Hawken style gun from TOTW that I should have done in a few days and I'll post some pics of it when it's done too.

Go easy on me.

[billd]

I love the blog, but like this site even better. Here you can ask the builder questions and even ask for more photos of different views. Also, the lesser known builders can post here and I feel some of those guns are every bit as nice as the ones on the blog.

Bill

[B Shipman]

Guys, I'm not critical of the BLOG. We get to see a lot of stuff. And stuff from the past as well. Here, however, we have a back and forth with the builder , how or why  he did this or that, where he got that part, rather than just comments by onlookers though comments are certainly appreciated. I think one of the BLOG's greatest assets it that it allows a compilation of material.

Capt. Fred, Looks a lot better than one of my early ones. Nice work.

[40Haines]

Where is this blog thing ?

How do I find it ?

[t.caster]

40Haines, try this:

http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/

[40Haines]

Thank you Tom !

[El Mac]

Hi All. First post here.

Well, I'm certainly no pro but I'll introduce myself with a couple of pics.(hopefully)

My name is Ken and I live in North Carolina. Due to a recent spate of gainfull unemployment I've been working on a couple of guns. I finished this Don Stith full stock a couple of weeks ago.

I built a Great Plains Rifle many, many years  ago so this is my first try at a more difficult build.

I've got a 1/2 stock Hawken style gun from TOTW that I should have done in a few days and I'll post some pics of it when it's done too.

Go easy on me.

I don't know much, but to me that looks like a @!*% fine rifle!!

[Acer Saccharum]

I did notice in our 'contemporary' section, for example, that the pictures are seldom posted/hosted on the ALR, but a link is pasted in to the Contemporary Blog site.

I don't have a problem with that. It speaks of how popular the Contemp Blog has become. It also lets our threads open quicker without the pictures. You can have the blog pics on one tab of your browser, and the ALR commentary on another.

I think there haven't beenmany guns posted because the guns have gotten so fancy, it takes years to complete them. So in a couple of years everyone is going to post their work all at once. 

[Mike Brooks]

I would imagine the fact that many of the posters here have their own web sites keeps them from posting alot of pictures of their work here. I used to post my work here quite a bit before I had my own site, but now I just post on my site and figure if anyone wants to see my stuff they just go over there.

[rich pierce]

I'll post some slow (glacial speed) progress. With making flints every night progress is slow.
 The project is a tribute to RCA #19. This walnut-stocked smooth rifle has very early styling, an octagon to round barrel, a French fusil buttplate engraved with a lady with a liberty cap, and an early styled guard engraved with a panther standing, holding a pike.  The carving is very simple, just a lobe behind the tang and a volute behind the cheekpiece.  Shumway attributed it tentatively to Berks county but it's generic and probably fits into the 1750's-1770's.  It has great architecture like an English sporter.  This one may be a keeper for me.

The project starts with a Getz oct to round barrel profiled off the original, but this one is .54 rifled.  I am using a fancy piece of black walnut, very dense.  A Chambers Early Germanic lock is being modified, not done yet, but I got rid of some of the banana.  I made the buttplate from Reeves Goehring's "blob" I think, and modified a marshall guard including adding more to the spur.

Here is the rough sawn buttstock, about wore my arm out.


Top view


Lock inletted


Here's the buttstock rough shaped, first pass, when I was still figuring things out and asking for advice.  I was tempted to put in a subtle stepped wrist, bad idea.

Other side


More progress


At this point I asked Taylor and Tom Curran for advice as I am gtting into the shaping stage and there's no going back once wood is removed.  I got good advice that I followed the last couple days and made a couple more changes as well that brings it into better form. 



I don't have pix yet but  I inletted the front of the tang of the buttplate deeper to fix the comb line more to the original as suggested by Tom (above).  Then I fixed the toe line to be straight.  Last night I saw the pitch on the buttplate was off so I re-sawed the buttplate "inlet", taking about 5/16" off at the toe and tapering it up to nothing.  The Reeves buttplate is so soft and thin it conformed easily to the new shape.  It's coming along and I should be able to post more pix later this week.