doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com To Shoot or Not to Shoot? That is the question.

No hijack Daryl. Matter of fact I've been meaning to thank you and Terry for the adding to the perspective. Seems like I've shot the above Baker (and the Three-barreled gun GRIN). You've been very generous allowing me (and many others) to shoot some of your historic examples. And that was the crux of this post in the first place.

Daryl and I are very lucky to attend Sunday shoots at a good friend's ranch with shotguns and clays, rifles with steel from 25-300 yards, informal bench shooting for sighting in and paper, and the occasional handgun. Tim has all of this set-up next to the barn, under cover, with a chronograph, three clay target throwers (needed to test the three-barreled gun), spotting scope etc., just a few hundred yards from the Gallatin River.

By invitation, the shooters bring interesting guns, many vintage or custom. While accuracy and performance are noted and always topics of discussion, nobody ever keeps any kind of score and a good shot is always heartily acknowledged.
Unfortunately, I seldom take a camera, but here is a pic one sunny Montana summer day, with Daryl operating the trap, recognize him?


We shoot a lot of different guns, many that most folks seldom get to see and Daryl is a big part of that.

(Now as far as the last two Baker guns and the Hoffman shown on this thread, I'd find it very difficult to believe that the engraving was done by the same hand!)

Steve, I apologize for the off subject question but since I joined this board I've been meaning to ask you...Martin's still got great sourdough pancakes?

SDH, I see what you mean on the engraving. Consider, though, that MP's photo is much better than the other two. The first Baker was done in the same style as MP's gun, that is with the engraver's cuts making the outline of the dog. The dog on the first Baker was much smaller than MPs, I think, thus when blown up so large, less detail.

The second Baker was done in the style of taking out the background and leaving the object, ala Holland and Holland. My photograph shows only part of the detail actually on the dog.

One thing I noticed when "forced" to pay attention to some of my Baker trap guns, is that Kornbrath usually put birds on the right side and dogs on the left. MP, is it the same with your Hoffman ?

Daryl,

Yes, the Hoffman has a bird on the right side.

MP, thanks. I should have added to my reply above to SDH, that the Baker guns were done about 10 years before the Hoffman.

Only my opinion and I consider all three guns to be exquisite historic artifacts.

When I look at engraving I see a bunch of tool marks, and I imagine the shape of the tool and the directional force used to make the marks. The artistic sophistication is usually judged by the skill of using the tools to give visual impressions of depth, texture, tonal values and repeated consistency.
Evaluating the three guns shown, in my opinion, from the limited views I'd say they were done by three different hands. To my eye the BAKER lettering even looks very different gun to gun (different tools, force and layout).

The skill level displayed by the Hoffman gun is far more advanced (IMO) than the Baker guns. The ten year difference (and maybe many more $'s) might account for the differences, but the dogs have only being canine and facing in the same direction in common; again, to my eye.
Of course I prefer Daryl's gun having shot it and all...

(tim, Martin's is now the Northern Pacific Beanery, been through at least two different ownerships, and I haven't had a pancake. Livingston is still a very lively town and things keep changing.)

I had him turn around for a different view.