The American long rifle is an art form that is unique to this country. Not only to this country, but to specific regions as well. Not just because of their beauty, but because of the important role they played in our history (and my personal ancestry), I'm strongly in favor of preserving, and protecting, the art form.
Sure, you can put whatever carving you like on your gun. But when you present it, at a shoot, rendezvous, for re-sale, etc... present it for what is is. It's just not cool to present something as traditional, when it's not.
When it comes to protecting the art form, many of us are guilty of infractions. I build southern guns from a blank, and make all the hardware... but I grey the iron. Most all of us think it looks pretty cool, and it can really set a piece off visually. Most importantly... it really helps to sell a gun. But in all my reading, I can't find where it was done historically. Nor were new guns aged and dented when they left the shop.
I can only imagine the string of German explicatives that would have resulted if my ancestors were presented with a new gun that looked like it had spent the last twenty years being ridden hard and put away wet! One of my flintlocks has the artifice of greyed metal... because it looks cool. But when showing it, I do make a point to say that it was done for the visual effect, and is not a traditional metal finish.
We are all on our own journey's here. If I were to present my work for critique i would get a lot of atta-boys from people with less knowledge than me. I would get both compliments and criticism from the experts; and several of them would tell me to "buy more books". They would be right; and there are more books and study in my future, as my budget will permit. When it comes to traditional, I do struggle between what is traditional, what I want to do, and what I'm able to do.
It depends on where a person wants to go. I want continued progress in my knowledge and abilities. When I compare my work to historic pieces, I'm sometimes uncomfortable. That discomfort tells me that my work isn't where I want it to be yet. That's where I want to go. And while I find the carving of some of the experts to be contemporary in some small ways... to my non-expert eyes their work definitely falls within the discipline of traditional designs and rococo art. As the art form continues in it's evolution, I think it's important to stay within the disciplines of the art.
I'm not a kit person... But, I get the impression that... because of the ease in which a high quality kit can be assembled and finished, many people new to the sport don't appreciate the knowledge and work that went into that kit. It seems like mass production and ready availability, while needed in this sport, have diminished the artistic value many place on the gun as a traditional arm. It's a little sad.
A good kit is easy to get now. And it's not going to cost you a month's wages. And if you ruin it, you can always get another one just like it... right? So you can dress your Barbie up any way you want. Traditionalists want to preserve an art form used by our predecessors; whom we admire and emulate. Its a worthy cause/. If the art form becomes lost, it will be because of the people in this sport... not in spite of them.
For whatever it may, or may not, be worth.
