A couple Lester Smith rifles

[snapper]

I had the pleasure of seeing these rifle in person at Friendship.   They are truly stunning.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Wayne of Stoner Creek, and enjoyed getting to know him. 

Hanging out for a few hours at Brooks and Stoner Creek's booth on Saturday was enjoyable and we had a nice visit.

I think Mike enjoyed getting back to Friendship and seeing what he has missed for the past 15 years.

Fleener

[Stoner creek]

Mike or Wayne - The first rifle pictured, what material for all those inlays?  It looks like silver, either sterling or pure.  I think if I had made it, I would have used Sterling as it is a bit more scratch and dent resistant.
Both are absolutely wonderful to see.

I can’t say with total certainty. My best guess would be German Silver. The engraving kinda indicates a harder metal than sterling or coin silver. I believe that the name plate on the barrel is probably sterling.

[Tim Crosby]

Try inletting this one.  I can't even imagine it.

 That look like one of Rase's tricks of letting the tree grow around the metal

  Tim

[Mike Brooks]

Mike or Wayne - The first rifle pictured, what material for all those inlays?  It looks like silver, either sterling or pure.  I think if I had made it, I would have used Sterling as it is a bit more scratch and dent resistant.
Both are absolutely wonderful to see.

I can’t say with total certainty. My best guess would be German Silver. The engraving kinda indicates a harder metal than sterling or coin silver. I believe that the name plate on the barrel is probably sterling.

Looks like german silver to me.

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... Mike, .. I heard somewhere that Lester & Hacker used a lot of coin silver in some of their inlays,... don't know what the proof of that is,... but has to be more than white brass,...!!!

[Mike Brooks]

... Mike, .. I heard somewhere that Lester & Hacker used a lot of coin silver in some of their inlays,... don't know what the proof of that is,... but has to be more than white brass,...!!!

That may be true, but I think these are german silver except for the name plate in the barrel.

[Don Steele]

I had the pleasure of seeing these rifle in person at Friendship.   They are truly stunning.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Wayne of Stoner Creek, and enjoyed getting to know him. 

Hanging out for a few hours at Brooks and Stoner Creek's booth on Saturday was enjoyable and we had a nice visit.

I think Mike enjoyed getting back to Friendship and seeing what he has missed for the past 15 years.

Fleener

Yup.
I also enjoyed Wayne's hospitality and enjoyed spending time in the booth he was sharing with Mike. At one time or another, I looked around and found the "group" at that booth, besides Wayne and myself consisted of: Mike Brooks, Jim Chambers, Mike Miller and Charlie Burton. Pretty serious company of some of our very best builders to be afforded the opportunity to socialize with and learn a little from.
Thank you Wayne.