One of the aspects of stock work that I noticed while looking at the rifles and guns that Jim Chambers built and owns, and that you can see in Jerry’s piece in the first photo posted above, is how slender the fore stock is on these guns and rifles. The forends ,as shown in Jerrywh piece, is very thin as can be seen of how little of the wood shows alongside the stock, there is a bit of camera lens distortion in a photo from this angle but nevertheless the wood along the stock is very thin and is one primary keys to attaining the graceful lines of these firearms.. also, Jim Chambers has an original English Fowler, I believe, from, I’m taking a guess here and Jim is welcome to correct me and add his insight about this gun that’s from around the latter 4th quarter of the 19th century. When I handled it, it was very light, looked very graceful and the stock had some very interesting lines along the bottom of the butt stock that were very subtle but added greatly to the overall grace. I’m 82 years young and forgetful so I can’t remember the details and neglected to take photos of these lines, maybe Jim can help out on this one. Sometimes soon, with Jim’s permission, I’d like to go over the mountain and measure, in detail, the dimensions of some of his guns with a plastic vernier caliper, a cloth tape measure and take copious photos.
Jim’s guns and rifles a gorgeous and are worthy of any museum. It is a wonderful opportunity to be able to buy any of the firearms Jim is selling and they are well worth the money.
Cheers, Richard
