doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com laser engraving poll...

RDD,
Pictures of it would help us decide further.
Karl

I'm often an oddball. In this case it's because I see a shotgun more as a tool than an object d'art. If a gun won't do what I expect of it no amount of artistic work can satisfy me. That said, I really appreciate some hand engraving. But, I'd much rather have laser engraving than some of the hand engraving I have seen come out of Spain and Pakistan. The best of both worlds is to have a gun that shoots "lights out" for you, and looks like a dream, too.

But, when it really comes down to it, pretty is as pretty does ............. for me. A good friend once won a shoot-off for champion of a side by side event at a major sporting clays shoot. He was shooting against a gent who was using a Purdey. My buddy was shooting a very worn Parker with several wraps of electrical tape holding the forend in place. After my friend won a spectator walked up to him and said "You've just got to respect a man that wins with a taped up gun".

So, I may be in the minority, but I'm not alone. When you're listed as "also ran", nobody remembers that your gun was hand engraved. No one on the bird field will either, but they will remember how you shot. I'd rather be remembered that way than for what I have.

SRH

I�d rather no engraving then either laser, or, poorly done hand engraving. I will also say I have seen very little game scene engraving that I consider well done.
Not everybody is Winston Churchill. But, too often, that doesn�t stop them from trying.

Best,
Ted

I shoot around a lot of folks who ooh and aw over lavishly laser engraved guns and barely even glance at a modestly hand engraved gun. But to not be hard on them they have no knowledge of or appreciation of the skill required to properly design and hand cut engraving one piece at a time. I find many who matured in an age of mass production and cannot comprehend what is required of a hand crafter article. Oh well......

My Rizzini Br550 has nice deep lasered engraving. Could never afford hand cut stuff nowadays. most of the surface lasered stuff does look very cheap though. Rather have none at all.

[img]https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv25485hei3/[/img]

Orvis Classic by Chapuis

Not very good at attaching images yet... hopefully this works. It is an Orvis Classic by Chapuis

Some people are fascinated by engraving (including myself), some are so-so while others see no use in it at all. There is a lot of territory in between.

Having studied and practiced firearms engraving for over 50 years now I have run into all kinds of opinions. And of course all levels of engraving quality.

It always boils down to personal preference.

I always approach a project with functionality at the forefront.

Laser engraving is simply mass product and though it has greatly improved over the years, remains lifeless to my eye. The "beauty" of it is very dependent on the design which is where most of it fails for me.

I have found the actual "art" portion of a project is the first few hours of developing the design. The next three or four hundred hours are pure craftsmanship.

Perhaps Kutter will chime in...

Yep.

I bought a cheap Yildiz 20ga from Academy Sports recently. On it, the laser engraving doesn't look too bad...Geo

Rizzini laser engraving. It is quite deep.

https://youtu.be/v58Yx_N1fFA