doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ken the barrel browner

Has passed away.

A mutual acquaintance has been in contact with Ken's cousin who is cleaning out the house and quite a few orphaned barrel sets have been found. If you had barrels with Ken that have not been returned to you, drop me a note and I will put you in touch with the right folks.
Steve

Steve is talking about Ken Marburger. Due to a lengthy illness years ago he just dropped out of sight and didn't return most customer's barrels Ken passed away in early summer and now a relative is trying to make everything right.

The cousin's name is Chris Agnitsch and his cell phone is 815-871-6923. He welcomes anyone missing barrels sent to Ken and not returned to call. So far, digging through old records Chris has been able to reunite four barrels with their actions but there are about 15 or 16 orphaned barrels still in the house. Pass this around or post it on any site that might have an interest.

Was this the guy whose screen name/handle was “Ken61”?

Yes, that's him. I had two barrels with him when whatever it was hit him. Took two years of threats of legal action and calls to local police before I retrieved them. Never got a refund but at least my Parker was whole again.

Ya. I remember some hullabaloo about him. That sucks, but at least you got your barrels back eventually. I’m still missing an entire lock that Steve Hutton has had going on 4 years now. No threats of legal action & police action or even folks on my behalf going into his shop and physically looking for my lock has turned up anything. Shitty ordeal for sure.
Well, I hope some folks can recover their barrels.

Dustin

Glad to hear that your Parker is whole again Joe!

Ken blued a set of Nitro Special barrels for me. He wanted to take them to 600 grit, lacquer them after blueing and make them look out of this world. I thanked him and said 320 was more in line with how they were when they were new. There were other guys taking American farm implement barrels and polishing them too far. He did what I asked, and they looked period correct and nicely done.

In a conversation I told him I needed a .22 blank pistol for dog training. About three days later, one showed up in the mail from Ken. When I tried to return it, he asked me to keep it, saying his dogs were old, and if he ever needed it again, he knew where it was.

I still have it.

I get that other people had different experiences with him. But, he was a good guy who did a great job for me.

Godspeed.

Best,
Ted

Ted, Ken did a beautiful job on a set of Parker twist barrels and that's what inspired me to send the nightmare barrels to him. And to make it worse Dennis Potter had a customer who wanted his damascus barrels refinished. Without hesitation I recommended Ken. That was all right before the "problem" began. To make it worse we all paid in full in advance. Dennis also spent a couple years trying to get his customer's barrels back. Finally, as memory serves me, his customer made a long drive to Ken's and took possession of what was his. Evidently Ken was incredibly sick and the little his cousin offered today indicated Ken was extremely sick and spent years in facilities and underwent a couple of amputations. I think I'm going to give him a pass on this one. Heavy medications can do some strange things to people.

Dustin, I had a similar experience with Hutton. Sent him an early Clabrough action with a broken top lever spring to replace. It took several years and two requests to the local police to check if he was still alive but I eventually got it back, with a new spring.

This issue shows up with reliable regularity. I have had clients who have encountered the very same issue or problems with gunsmiths, so I know that from their perspective too.

- One side of it is that good craftsmen are not necessarily good office jockeys and circumspect time planners. This is especially the case with one-person enterprises, as many gunsmiths are. And they are all aging. Work piles up, new orders are accepted on top of existing backlogs because money must come in. The most pressing client or the - for whatever reason - the "dearest", closely related, or otherwise most esteemed client is usually served before the oldest order. And isn't it understandable? rather finish three quickly done new jobs expeditiously, before an older and complicated one (parts may lack, shall have to be ordered, or even to be made from scratch, etc...)

- Health issues frequently compound the situation. Illness (not infrequently work-related) may limit the possible working time. An ever-growing backlog of old work burdens the soul, and does not improve your psychic condition. Rather, it demotivates and grinds you further down.

- The other issue is weariness, burnout and depression (in a medical senses). Depression is a very serious condition, it is not laziness. It is a "lack of zeal" and lack of industriousness only as much as a broken leg is - indeed - a "lack of nimblefootedness". Some of you may know that themselves, sadly.

- Few gunsmiths, especially few of those who have some reputation in the market, and work ethics in their heart, find the courage and frankness to respond ASAP to a client, and to reply honestly that: due to this and that circumstance, the completion of this and that task may take several months further at least. Even fewer have a habit of sending relular updates on work progress at least every three months. Although most clients are decent people (the occasional exception notwithstanding) and would understand and accept such apology, when honestly informed about the situation. But shyness or even a certain fear on part of the gunsmiths often do hold them back.

- Lastly, as sad as it to state this, many 'smiths fear that in the former case, clients would terminate the contact (as this their right) and would ask for any advance deposits to be paid back thereupon. And cash liquidity is sadly low for many, especially elder craftsmen. A life of toil, health issues created through it, but no huge bank account. Some can't pay back an advance even though they want.

I could give some advice for affected and afflicted customers, too, but may leave that to a later date.