doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Selling custom rifles

Rem,

I'm not saying he doesn't do nice work, rather that he didn't follow my instructions. And of course the price was a surprise.

The rifle weighs 9lbs, 11&3/4 oz. without a tang sight on it.
The LOP is 14 inches to the pad, 13.5 on the wood. I have a reproduction Sharps hard rubber plate which could be fit, I went with the modern Colt Sharps pad because it is a .45-70.

One of the other things I looked at was taking the rifle to one of the larger shows. The issue there is cost. The nearest one to me is Tulsa which is held twice a year in April & October. I actually bought the varmint rifle this project started with at that show in 1999. A table is $140, plus $75 in gas, a couple of motel nights and three days worth of meals. That looks like $500 to me, and the rifle might not sell. Unless you are a dealer who can amortize the fixed cost over more units, the show route does not look very good either.

Why in nearly 10 years have you never fired the gun?

Sorry to say, but even in flush times, there's just not much market for a rifle like this, no matter how nice, or even if it were factory original.
I doubt you will ever recover you cost of having an antique rifle action built into a custom rifle. The same is true of complete professional restoration of old rifles or shotguns.

I'm not sure what I can add that will help.

I understand how frustrated and disillusioned one can become when they do not get what they ordered. Money badly spent has a way of bothering one for a long time. I'm still pi$$ed over a hundred and some dollars spent for a mould that I could not ever use.

Any modern custom rifle for sale regardless of the maker is going to take a hit, price wise. When folks want a custom rifle they want it made to their ideas and not that of someone else. If the maker is well known and respected not much is lost but the general rule seems about 50% if you want to get it gone.

The first thing I noticed when I saw your ad was "AS IS - No refund or exchange" for me this is a red flag and I normally never look much further.

The next thing IMO is the rifle looks like a well made sporter but the action is still military. The sling swivel base is still there. I don't know if this was your idea , the smith did not know better or he did not do what you asked. It just does not look right, but that's just me others might disagree.

You need to look at all the questions asked here and address them in the ad. List the barrel length (or did I miss that) and at least one overall picture of the rifle.

This is a story I wrote a few weeks back, not a custom build, rather a restoration that would probably bring less than 50% of what I paid. The big difference is I get to enjoy my gun and it seems you can't enjoy yours. Hard to put a price on that.

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=226634&page=1

I believe that making a custom rifle should be for enjoyment. It is too bad that you did not get what you wanted. I personally would have been furious.

Restoration of a gun (especially a high grade rifle or shotgun) is not so much a risk; however, it is unfortunate that making a custom firearm, rifle or shotgun, is like a teenager fixing up and old car. He pours a lot of money into it in wheels, paint, tires, stereo etc and when he grows up, he is lucky to get 50 cents on the dollar from another teenager.

I have been lucky enough to have benefited from someone who did the same with a 20ga superposed. Rust blued barrels, case harden frame, custom stock by Art's gun shop, engraving and gold inlays, w/ briley chokes. To duplicate I estimated at 8 to 10 grand. I bought it for under 4G's. And that was when the economy was good.

Again, I am sorry to hear that you never got the enjoyment you deserved.

Jerry Mele

PS If you are looking for someone who I think is pretty fair with his customers who consign guns to him, you might try Jerry Kito at Ivory Beads in Covina, CA.

No return, the lack of closeup pictures showing whether or not the receiver edges and lettering were ruined in the finishing, the fact that many potential customers have no idea of Brian Burgin's reputation, the use of a tacky '70s butt treatment, as MP mentions, the swivel base, you name it. Brian Burgin, unfortunately, will be even less well known in the future. He was a niche gunsmith of good talent who worked on many types of project, was not a well known custom rifle maker. I would be keeping and enjoying that gun. Better guns that this by unknown gunsmiths have sold for half your asking price. I would not let any middleman have your money.

Figure it's worth half what you paid, the second that you walk out the door with it. And that's if you're LUCKY!

Very much like custom/restored cars or boats, it's far, far better to let someone else take the initial hit for the restoration $.

And it's been my experience and observation that auction houses are places to avoid like the plague. Even if they're honest (a very few actually ARE), their charges are ridiculously high IMO and they frequently are wrong on their prices and descriptions.

Plenty of good photos and a complete & knowledgeable description will go a long way toward selling it on Gunbroker or one of the internet talk forums.
Regards, Joe

To echo the opinions expressed here, a custom rifle is just that; one made especially for YOU. To expect a profit, or even most of your money back, is unrealistic. When you bought the rifle, you bought someone elses dream from the 30's; and were happy with the low price you paid in 1999.

You then set out to make it your dream in 2002. It is unfortunate that some things did not work out, and it is unforgivable that your smith got the LOP wrong; sort of like the surgeon opperating on the wrong knee. Was any explanation given? Did he cut too much off the butt? Was there enough wood on the semi-inlet stock?

I worked for a number of years as a gunsmith, and have a bit of an issue as to what is overcharging. Any craftsman who works at an hourly rate has only his time to sell. Was this job done on a contract or hourly basis. If hourly, was an estimate given before work started? From what I can see in the photos, the quality of workmanship is good. The smith had to profile, thread, chamber, polish, and mount sights on the barrel. The action needed to be bushed for the new pin which had to be fitted along with the new extractor. It was then carefully polished. The stocks were then fitted. Although a semi-inlet blank was used; the last 2% of wood removed takes 98% of the time which is why I generally work from a "square blank". The stocks were finish shaped, sanded and finished. The barrel and action were rust blued, the breechblock etc. case hardened. Was this done in house or sent out? Still time and money. Your $3300 looks OK to me , but then, as you said; that is an oppinion. Even by 2002 standards, the smith did not get rich on your project. As I recall at about that time, my local garage was charging $65 an hour for the average parts replacer at "flat rate". Which means a skilled mechanic could do the job in half the time. Your gunsmith had to work to a much higher level of care and skill.

All the best,

Mal