Worlds best Builder..."words cannot describe"

[jerrywh]

 The best thing about building a $50,000.00 gun is you can sell it and buy 50 good hunting guns or a Suzuki 450 king quad and 30 or 40 hunting guns and a trailer for the king quad.

[nosrettap1958]

There is a lot of people out there that wouldn't think twice about paying $50,000 for a beautiful rifle or $100.000 for a shotgun that they'll wait 3 or 4 years to get. I ain't one of them but good for them.

I was auditing a nursing home and one of the staff had a catering business on the side. During a smoke break we were talking and she told me about a job she took as a subcontractor to cater a DuPont birthday party. They were all situated on the grounds and from the guest house she could see a rather large building but couldn't figure out what it was. She asked the head caterer what it was and she said, that's the hanger for the family helicopters. 

There's a whole nuther world out there.

[Dean2]

Taylor, I have to say that I think you give this Judd fellow too much credit. I have one of your rifles and to me it is a truly functional work of art.

I took pictures of the Judd rifle and blew them up several times so I could see the fine detail. Not only do I not care for the architecture/lines of the rifle, when you get it blown up enough you will see that the detail in the engraving, inletting, wood to metal fit etc is not near as good as it looks at a distance. He no doubt spent a lot of time on this gun but to me he missed both the basic gun design and the detailed art work lacks precision and quality. As an educated consumer, I have learned a lot over the past 5 years about long rifles, with no illusions of being a builder I think I can fairly comment after looking at so many other builders who I think produce far better quality.

Some of you quality builders should blow up the pictures your self and see if you don't end up agreeing with me though I know most of you are too much a gentleman to post that publicly.

[blienemann]

To all and moderators,

It might be time to close this thread.  Or to continue the conversation without a specific rifle as the example.  The man who built this rifle is a quiet, humble and talented fellow who has done much for our interest.  He did not post this rifle here, and he certainly would not use these terms to describe either himself or his work.  He is busy studying the old guns and building what a variety of customers want - some fancy, some fantasy, some plain like a wonderful quick Lancaster rifle he built for me, and the occasional bench copy.  Take a look at his website to see a recently completed version of the Edward Marshall rifle, including making the lock, triggers and mounts from scratch.

We all have friends here who are suppliers or gunstockers, and it's fine that we offer "hugs" or praise for our friends.  We should be able to talk some up without talking others down.  It pains me to see someone's work criticized when it was never presented here for that purpose.

Bob Lienemann

[Mike Brooks]

Taylor, I have to say that I think you give this Judd fellow too much credit. I have one of your rifles and to me it is a truly functional work of art.

I took pictures of the Judd rifle and blew them up several times so I could see the fine detail. Not only do I not care for the architecture/lines of the rifle, when you get it blown up enough you will see that the detail in the engraving, inletting, wood to metal fit etc is not near as good as it looks at a distance. He no doubt spent a lot of time on this gun but to me he missed both the basic gun design and the detailed art work lacks precision and quality. As an educated consumer, I have learned a lot over the past 5 years about long rifles, with no illusions of being a builder I think I can fairly comment after looking at so many other builders who I think produce far better quality.

Some of you quality builders should blow up the pictures your self and see if you don't end up agreeing with me though I know most of you are too much a gentleman to post that publicly.

I have never had to blow up any pictures of Jud's guns, I have held them in hand and have never seen anything that you describe.

[rich pierce]

Probably should have shut this thread long ago.  If any amateur builders hope to learn from pros, it’s best to not bash work that commands 25 times more than what they are likely to turn out.  It’s not good for any of us if this forum is seen as bashing pro work that was not even posted here for critique. Not going to attract pro builders with much advice to offer.