Thread: thoughts
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Old 05-05-2008, 07:14 AM
charles starks charles starks is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: idaho
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Default Re: thoughts

The thing to remember is just as we have been discussing , times , and regions show great changes .
Grancsay’s book is a very good one but just like Lenk’s book , it profiles other types of weapons makers and doesn’t focus on American weapons specifically .
While most certainly the engraving and examples are wonderful , the work was in most cases at a much higher caliber then what would have been found on the rifles like the one Cody is working on..
Now this isn’t to say it didn’t exist on these rifles.
To put it simply during the time frame these were being produced here in the colonies , it was not uncommon for a gunsmith to use what he had . As such we find side plates , locks , and other hardware from both British and French weapons being used especially on ordnance made weapons .

This relates back to what puffer was saying earlier .
Basically we can do what ever we like or what the customer likes or wants on a piece . Nothing wrong with that as each of these are a work of art in and of themselves .
However if we are shooting for an example of a specific time frame, location and maker then the work should be true to the existing documented examples . As such one has to study specifics

Its also interesting to not that by looking at the original example we can tell not only what school a maker was from but what area of specialty they trained in .
Normally say a person who was more inline with wood working skills will show an example that has very well done carving and inletting . But their bright work normally suffers .
The opposite is also true in that if a person/ maker was more skilled in metal work , their engraving and bright work would be of a higher quality then their wood work those the wood areas suffered in compression.
The better smiths normally show a balance of equal skill . These are the people we most often read about today and who’s names live on
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