doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Which do you prefer, vintage engraving, or modern?

"The question I have for today's engravers is this: could you knock out a Purdey type engraving of the same quality in a couple days. Or, does the modern buyer demand much more perfection or whatever it's called?"

Joe,

The present day connoisseur of high end double guns does expect a higher level of perfection and the best engravers can provide that.

When we speak of covering a sidelock double gun with rose and scroll in a couple of days you have to keep in mind that shops like Jack Sumner's and Harry Kell's had a number of journeymen and apprentices working for them. When a gunmaker sent in work on Monday with a note saying they needed it by Thursday, several people in the shop worked on the gun at the same time. The opening lever and trigger guard to one engraver, the forend iron and latch to another, the screws to an apprentice and so on.

One British engraver told me, about 30 years ago, that inexpensive Birmingham guns were sometimes engraved using what was known as "punch work" where one engraver cut all of the scroll spirals with a hammer and chisel and another cut the "inside work" with a burin.

Also keep in mind that engravers working for the trade in the UK and Europe receive the gun parts in the white, polished, and in the "soft" pre-hardened state. After engraving the parts are sent back to the maker for hardening and assembly. American engravers working for private customers usually receive a complete, assembled , hardened gun that they must disassemble, strip the finish, polish, engrave in the hardened state, then get refinished and reassembled. This all adds time and difficulty. It is also why American engravers favor air assisted gravers due to having to work on hardened gun steel, especially magnum revolvers.

Cheers,

Roger