Marcus Hunt
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Mike, I don't think you made a mistake coming here. You might have heard a few things you don't like but that's the real world and you've also been given some priceless advice.
Perhaps it was how you worded your first post that gave us the impression that this was your gunsmith's first project. On my journeys across the pond I have seen some fantastic custom rifles made in the US. They were normally made by guys who had a passion for building them but if those guys had to make a living from rifle making they'd never have survived because they were probably making around $5 - $10/hour if the work was costed properly. So if you are willing to properly recompense your rifle maker then more power to you!
If you are serious about this project, do your research about who you choose to engrave it. I'm serious - choose the wrong person and you can ruin your rifle and reduce the value to next to zero. I've seen a shotgun that a certain gunmaker sent to Italy to be engraved. It came back with a spinone engraved on the underside and incorporated in the scenes. Nobody in the UK shoots over these dogs so it just didn't sell. I asked them why they didn't just strike out the engraving and re engrave it but they told me that that would leave them with zero or even negative profit so basically it's a right off just sitting in storage.
You might be lucky and find a good, young engraver who is starting out (not many of these though from what I've seen lately) but if you do, pay them what the engraving is worth and forget promises of "exposure" as they are pretty worthless in my experience and it's this which got the experienced engravers riled. You obviously like English scroll as that is what you are requesting but again, be careful because it's a style which can look dreadful if done by someone not experienced in this style. Good luck in your search but I still feel you need an experienced gun engraver who is well practiced in English scroll rather than a novice.
Perhaps it was how you worded your first post that gave us the impression that this was your gunsmith's first project. On my journeys across the pond I have seen some fantastic custom rifles made in the US. They were normally made by guys who had a passion for building them but if those guys had to make a living from rifle making they'd never have survived because they were probably making around $5 - $10/hour if the work was costed properly. So if you are willing to properly recompense your rifle maker then more power to you!
If you are serious about this project, do your research about who you choose to engrave it. I'm serious - choose the wrong person and you can ruin your rifle and reduce the value to next to zero. I've seen a shotgun that a certain gunmaker sent to Italy to be engraved. It came back with a spinone engraved on the underside and incorporated in the scenes. Nobody in the UK shoots over these dogs so it just didn't sell. I asked them why they didn't just strike out the engraving and re engrave it but they told me that that would leave them with zero or even negative profit so basically it's a right off just sitting in storage.
You might be lucky and find a good, young engraver who is starting out (not many of these though from what I've seen lately) but if you do, pay them what the engraving is worth and forget promises of "exposure" as they are pretty worthless in my experience and it's this which got the experienced engravers riled. You obviously like English scroll as that is what you are requesting but again, be careful because it's a style which can look dreadful if done by someone not experienced in this style. Good luck in your search but I still feel you need an experienced gun engraver who is well practiced in English scroll rather than a novice.
