Brass tacks and other bling

Flintandsteel · Sep 15, 2020

I think the brass was .030” .
RB Powell, I understand where you’re coming from, and You probably don’t like the aged patina either. To each his own. Myself and MANY others like it. So we’ll have to agree to disagree.
I’ve built over 100 guns to date, and I’d say 85% have some patina, versus shiny and plastic looking.
Just my own preferences.

FishDFly · Sep 15, 2020

RB POWELL said:
I don't get the fascination with faux wrist repairs. Frankly, I find them distracting from the natural grace, or line the rifle builder intended. AND, it is fake.

Have to agree with you and TXflyhog. Even if you pull the tacks ou,t the stock it is marred for life, un-repairable.

Loyalist Dave · Sep 15, 2020

TreeMan said:
Kinda wondering what a Native American owned trade gun may have looked like with their personal touches added.

IF you're going to do this sort of decoration, JUST be sure you have solid brass tacks, as often what is sold at the hardware store as "brass tacks" is brass plated steel, and that stuff comes off easy.

Here are some examples for you...,

LD

RB POWELL · Sep 15, 2020

Flintandsteel said:
I think the brass was .030” .
RB Powell, I understand where you’re coming from, and You probably don’t like the aged patina either. To each his own. Myself and MANY others like it. So we’ll have to agree to disagree.
I’ve built over 100 guns to date, and I’d say 85% have some patina, versus shiny and plastic looking.
Just my own preferences.

Well, I don't mind patina, wood staining, and the rest. But, faking a flaw, or something broken is beyond me. Brass tacks? Not my thing either, but they aren't faux. Have at it.

FishDFly · Sep 15, 2020

Putting a faux wrist repairs on a new rifle makes as much since as putting a dent in a new car fender.

TreeMan · Sep 15, 2020

Flintandsteel said:
Ok, I found a couple of closer views of the faux wrist repair.View attachment 43182 View attachment 43183

I really like that. Thanks for the pics!

Flintandsteel · Sep 15, 2020

Like the song says.....Ya can’t please everyone, so you got please yourself!

jonathan butcher · Sep 15, 2020

Have to agree with you Flintandsteel, I'm a fan of patina on guns and frankly on other things too- some types of furniture, leather jackets. Not on new cars though. Or on ice cream.
I may be old but I haves my standards.

Flintandsteel said:
I think the brass was .030” .
RB Powell, I understand where you’re coming from, and You probably don’t like the aged patina either. To each his own. Myself and MANY others like it. So we’ll have to agree to disagree.
I’ve built over 100 guns to date, and I’d say 85% have some patina, versus shiny and plastic looking.
Just my own preferences.

Jaeger · Sep 15, 2020

There is no acounting for taste

Flintandsteel · Sep 15, 2020

Nope, but I sure don’t have any problem selling them!

Tumbledown · Sep 16, 2020

Somebody asked for pictures, what he got was a lot of negative opinions. Mine? If you don't like it, just move on.

Some people like the look of an old, well-used firearm and wish to replicate it, "repairs" and all. Creating such a piece is an art, just as much as building the gun itself, and I like seeing the results.

TreeMan · Sep 16, 2020

JB67 said:
Somebody asked for pictures, what he got was a lot of negative opinions. Mine? If you don't like it, just move on.

Some people like the look of an old, well-used firearm and wish to replicate it, "repairs" and all. Creating such a piece is an art, just as much as building the gun itself, and I like seeing the results.

Exactly. I have a Pedersoli 20ga trade gun that I actually hunt with a LOT. I will never sell it so I was just debating with myself about making it unique. It’s also gonna get some jaeger type sling swivels and a sling added too it. That should really raise some hackles on the “Fowlers didn’t have slings” crowd. No one is in the woods critiquing my historical correctness when I’m humping it up a rocky mountainside with that 20ga sling over my shoulder lol.

jonathan butcher · Sep 16, 2020

Looking forwad to seeing it after your done!

TreeMan said:
Exactly. I have a Pedersoli 20ga trade gun that I actually hunt with a LOT. I will never sell it so I was just debating with myself about making it unique. It’s also gonna get some jaeger type sling swivels and a sling added too it. That should really raise some hackles on the “Fowlers didn’t have slings” crowd. No one is in the woods critiquing my historical correctness when I’m humping it up a rocky mountainside with that 20ga sling over my shoulder lol.

Notchy Bob · Sep 16, 2020

Before there were tacks, there was wampum bead inlay:

The stock pictured above was recovered from the wreckage of a ship which sailed from Massachusetts toward Quebec in 1690. There is more about it on the Deerfield Raid website, here: Trade Gun

You don't see a lot of bead inlay, but a few people have used it. Don Bruton built this gun, which has some simple and tasteful bead inlay:

I really like Don's work. I don't think his "Trade Guns" are direct copies of originals, but they certainly capture the spirit. There are more pictures of this gun in the Gallery on Don's website: "Aged Smoothbore"

This trade gun by Jeffrey Lore was finished with black paint (!) with red-painted vines overlaid, as well as some subtle bead inlay:

I don't know much about bead inlay, how common it may have been, or even if it has been seriously studied. However, I like the way these two builders used it. These are both nice-looking guns.

I shamelessly lifted the images of the Jeffrey Lore gun from the Contemporary Makers Blogspot: Trade Gun by Jeffrey Lore Click the link to see a very terse description and a lot more pictures. I had not heard of this builder before, but I think he's on to something good.

Notchy Bob

markh · Sep 17, 2020

Well I like brass tacks. I originally built this CVA kit as a teen in the 1980s. I kept it all this time and a couple years ago freshened it up and added a bunch of tacks. Yesterday I used this gun to run a 4H Shooting Sports program on muzzleloaders. The kids each tried 3 shots with it.

ekettenburg · Sep 18, 2020

I love wrist repairs but honestly, if you're going to do one *AND* want to to be believable, you're really going to have to break something. I have never in my life seen a wrapped wrist repair on any antique which displayed no crack or other damage whatsoever on either side of the repair. This is just a matter of taste, though - it's more a difference of 'contemporary aging' vs. attempting to simulate genuine age.

Notchy Bob · Sep 18, 2020

markh said:
Well I like brass tacks. I originally built this CVA kit as a teen in the 1980s. I kept it all this time and a couple years ago freshened it up and added a bunch of tacks. Yesterday I used this gun to run a 4H Shooting Sports program on muzzleloaders. The kids each tried 3 shots with it.View attachment 43368 View attachment 43369

Markh, you did a nice job on that rifle. It looks like it came right down out of the Rocky Mountains! I would not have known it was a CVA kit gun.

I don't know if your stock finish looked like that when you first built it, or if it acquired a patina over the past ~35 years of use, but I like the way it looks. :thumb:

Notchy Bob

Notchy Bob · Oct 10, 2020

Here is another original. This old rifle is believed (by some folks) to have been owned by James Beckwourth, the mountain man. I lifted these photos from a webpage sponsored by Muzzleloader magazine: The James P. Beckwourth Rifle

Full length view of the lock side:

Better detail of the breech and buttstock of the lock side of the rifle, showing both the tackwork as well as a grimy old rawhide wrist repair:

...and finally, the off side of the breech and buttstock:

Whoever owned this rifle did a nice job with the tacks. Sometimes, less is more.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Griz44Mag · Oct 11, 2020

To each their own. It's your gun, your choice.
To me tacks in a gun are like a tattoo, nose ring and other facial piercings on an otherwise very pretty woman.
It produces a permanent scar that is hard to reverse. Once done, you can't go back and change your mind without consequences.
There have been several otherwise very nice rifles I would have bought in a heartbeat but did not because of tacks.
Whether you are willing to admit it or not the tacks will make the gun harder to market and will likely reduce it's value as well.

Eric Krewson · Oct 11, 2020

A friend gave me this Gustomsky trad gun when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I have really enjoyed owning it.

Brass tacks and other bling

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