It's really simple don't work on the gun without proper tools don't remove anything you don't have to and jack was a great guy always treated me great .when I have questions about the trade or gun work I really miss jack and len.
Mark;
When Jack Rowe (one of the Dean's of British Gunsmithing) agreed to work with Midway to produce the videos of Jack demonstrating techniques mostly of Boxlock British guns, Jack was already about 5 years into suffering significantly from Parkinson's Disease. He had only a couple of more years to live. In his case the Parkinson's caused many issues, one of which was his word pronunciation and in a year or so it was almost impossible for me to understand what he was saying our telephone calls of about every two weeks--sometimes I could only pick up maybe 20 per cent of what he was telling me about the gun trade of Birmingham to where I could take note.
Jack was extremely interested in teaching others how to properly repair and build British guns and he wanted to do the Midway videos very much. One of the venues of his teaching was down at Tishomingo, Oklahoma at the Murray State College where he was scheduled to teach several days. Jack did not show up for this class and someone drove up to his home and found him dead (I think my memory was correct in this).
Back in 1999 I videoed much of his lecture at Murray State College and have it on a VHS video--all in the clear voice and humor of his own. If there is a reader here who is capable of taking this video and downloading it to modern video format I would like to know about it so that I can then have it to give to others at only the cost occurred in making the copy. This video shows Jack's famous flaming linseed oil soaked T shirt wrapped bun buttstock bending as well as some of the "tales" of the Birmingham gun trade---Jack did not suffer the under-educated easily.
Unfortunately, I never met Len.
Kindest Regards;
Stephen Howell