Marrinan
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I live in the heart of some of the largest quail hunting plantations around.. Ted Turner, Leslie Wexiner Live on Olin's Plantation. (a small private piece of in the middle of it anyway. Winfield "Orvis top rated is a mile away. Never sold anything to any of them. That's okay, Ray Viramontize (sp) told me ne has never sold anything locally either. So to day I was in our one "real" Gun Shop looking at what they had and two pieces caught my attention. The first was a cold mini auto in .25 cal. The proprietor said it was hand engraved. Glancing at it in hand it was clearly etched. I pointed out how to tell the difference and what the clear tell-tail signs were. Let him use my pocket magnifier to see for himself what the signs were. Next was a 1911 that was literally ruined with the cutting. There was absolutely no shading cuts. the dot punch background was a disaster-going ever which way, overrun onto the design,(term used very loosely). No scrollwork at all just leaves and swirls helter skelter. He said he was waiting on a letter from colt to verify it was done in the custom shop. I tried to explain the process shared by Mike Dubber to become a Colt Master. Said the piece was very raree and had a sign on it saying it could not be handled because of it's value. I don't think I am allowed in his store any more. Sorry but I tried to be gentle, don't think I did the engraving community much good today. Just made a man feel foolish for not knowing what he was talking about. Fred