doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Cost of stocking a sidelock action

A couple other words that should be entertained here are, "rarity", and "efficiency".

Steve only has maybe 2500 hrs to use per year. Similarly for all of the fabulous craftsmen around the world. Steve's work is distinguished by it's rarity. Medium grade work is not rare.

In an efficient market, rarity has value.
I think in their prime, London and Birmingham operated as efficient markets. Same for Leige, Suhl, Gardone, etc., and other concentrated firearms manufacturing sites.
The US firearms market is very efficient.

I said Steve [by no means to the exclusion of other craftsmen(and women) worldwide], because he posted such beautiful photos of very rare work.


Anything I may have posted is in support of a full spectrum of price/utility values.

I can certainly appreciate the skill that is required to inlet a sidelock to the standards that SDH and other top tier stockers adhere to. Having inletted one (and only one) myself, during building a longrifle, I have a much greater appreciation for the best work.

As I recall I spent somewhere around 16 hours doing this. I knew what the best work was supposed to look like, I just was incapable of achieving it. I left the inlet unstained intentionally, and sealed it with shellac.



This is the lock that rests in that hole.



SRH

I inlet dozens of flint and percussion locks entirely with hand tools, even a hand drill before I ever did a hammerless sidelock. I never stained the inlet either. Hope you had John Bivins instructions, it looks like you did, nice work.

I didn't have Bivin's book at the time, but had a mentor who showed me some lock inlets he had done so that I knew what I was shooting for.

There are some glaring errors that are obvious to me. I posted this so that others can see and compare the difference between average work and the best. The more we see, the easier quality is to recognize, IMO.

Thanks for you positive comment, Steven. That makes my day.

SRH