I wish Hatfield a lot of luck with his most recent venture. Here is his web site with a recent American Rifleman article:

http://hatfield-usa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=28

My opinion, the Hatfield black powder rifles were very good rifles and well made. I own two of Hatfield's "dead" SxS and the field grade was heavily used on South Texas dove (white wing and morning dove) for 10 seasons (I'd be lying if I even tried to guess at a round count) before I retired it this year as a gift to my youngest daughter. I am not saying I shot it all that well mind you (both my old Hatfield 20s are fairly tightly choked), but it did go bang with each pull of the trigger and I really enjoyed shooting it and I have no doubt it will serve my daughter and future generations very well.

My graded Hatfield 20 ga SxS (again of the same vintage) is a beautifully executed shotgun. It is the most beautiful firearm I have ever (and will likely ever) own, and a commercial failure.

If we were to judge the quality of an item by its commercial success, most of our beloved firearms are failures. In fact, odds are, if you really, really love it, the gun flopped years ago.

English, German, Italian and Spanish guns are imported, yet we seldom hear of any racist term applied to these workers. The Turks have been pretty strong allies of ours in a rather hostile part of the world, and most likely anything of recent vintage that you really prize for being "German made," was made by a Turkish worker in Germany. Just ask the CEO of MB/Chrysler his thoughts on the matter.*

I can agree that one should not speak to the quality of the new Hatfield/Kimber, unless they have seen or better yet actually shot one.




*Dr. Dieter Zetsche (also known as Dr. Z) is the Chairman of DaimlerChrysler. He was born on May 5, 1953 in Istanbul, Turkey, where his father was employed in the construction of bridges. The family returned to Germany in 1956. Zetsche first joined Daimler-Benz in 1976. He became a member of the board in 1998, and on January 1, 2006, succeeded Jürgen Schrempp as Chairman.