A very good discussion with a lot of valid points.
I stated collecting pre-war custom rifles a long time ago with the idea that I would get one rifle from all the better pre-war makers. I decided that “Better- Maker” is very subjective and I would collect and write about the makers that I thought made a nice rifle. Not counting the many “Unknown” makers, some who were very good there are many who I will not be writing about.
I have had a lot of correspondence over the years asking why I don’t write about Mr. X and his fabulous custom rifles. Some I just don’t have all the information I need but many I just don’t care for. When I started writing about them I made a rule that it was unfair to me or the reader if I wrote about a maker whose rifle I just saw a picture of or read what some other writer had to say about them. I like to see as many of the makers work as I can, Living in Alaska kind of limits me but I have traveled to some wonderful collections, and of course the big gun shows at one time had scores of old custom rifles to look at and handle.
With makers like Adolph Minar it was just luck that I found and bought a like-new rifle of his then I got to handle O’Connor’s. I have tried to own, take apart, shoot and live with at least one rifle from every maker I write about. My business or collector plan soon went out the window regarding some makers like Wundhammer who I have owned about a half-dozen of his rifles over the years. I’m embarrassed to tell you how many S.R. Griffins there have been.
I’ve been lucky and had a lot of help and encouragement over the years in preserving the history of these makers. Many custom makers like Jerry Fisher has been very supportive of my work. One year in Vegas Jerry took me to task because he felt I had been too hard on Alvin Linden, when he got home he sent me a Linden stock for my collection.
This is getting a bit long but the truth was I was in the right place at the right time. I think many of you are at the same place in regard to post-war makers, good luck.
