Miller,
Hindsight being 20/20, I should note that the term junk was a bit harsh, and I'm sorry I used it. I was thinking in general terms as to what a top gunsmith might want to busy himself with, not a particular gun. As Keith has pointed out, most guns have some issues that keep them from being perfect, and it is up to us to figure out which gun, and which issues, we can live with. Some guys love their 'Smiths, or Cresents.
The idea that a top gunsmith is the equivalent of an auto mechanic is a bit flawed. In my little hamlet, of 60,000 souls, I have perhaps a dozen auto mechanics well qualified to work on anything I have ever owned, within 2 miles. I'd be willing to bet there are 200+ mechanics who can fix cars in town, and I'd bet there are 1000 or more of them working in Anoka county.
I do not believe there is a gunsmith who is the equivalent of a Dewey Vicknair, James Flynn, Kirk Merrington, or Paul Hodgins living in the state of Minnesota.
If there was one of those guys living here, I'd suggest he would likely be uninterested in working on any lower grade guns. As none other than the Beaner explained to us (and, who is more accurate about all thing LC Smith than the Beaner?) low grade "Smiths aren't really worth any money.
Bingo.
I've known perhaps a dozen honest English best shotgun owners, and perhaps a dozen more who could have bought in, easily, but used something closer to the second tier, still very valuable guns. NONE of them question the price charged for the guns, for the maintenance, or for any repairs. They don't have to, and they grasp that who is working on those guns is not just the guy who can fix a car.
While I can't speak for any of the guys in the above group, I can certainly understand that after they had spent 30-40 years aquiring the tools, skill, and knowledge to make the best guns in the world right, you might not be interested in standing toe to toe with a guy who inherited Gumpa's low end double gun, and trying to explain to him that the repairs it needed were going to be substantially more than the gun was worth, and, further, that you aren't interested in compromising your gunsmithing down to a level at which he would be able to pay. These are guys who have chosen to work on double guns, a design that is pretty much obsolete, and with obsolete quality standards, very rarely seen with anything built today. I don't blame them in the least for wanting to be compensated at the very highest level, and that is going to take working on the very best guns.
There are plenty of general practicioner gunsmiths, to work on everything else.
Best,
Ted
