Tip Curtis Rifles

[MAC1967]

I don't own one, but in honor of his passing . . . I think it would be good to start a threat of pics of Tip Curtis' work. I always loved going to his booth at Friendship and looking at his rifles. He built great guns at a good price. . . filled a niche that leaves a big hole now. I sure there are many on this forum indebted to this craftsman who might like to share pics with us.

 

[smo]

Here’s my Tip .54 cal. 42” Colerain barrel , round bottom rifling.
Purchased in 2012..

My 16 gauge Smoothbore by Tip .
44” Colerain barrel, purchased in 2016.

RIP Mr. Tip

 

[MAC1967]

Beautiful rifles . . . love the pic of Tip doing some finishing work.

 

[MAC1967]

BTW - awesome buck too !!!!

 

[Artie Peltier]

Great tribute to a true craftsman

 

[Ole Frog]

I am saddened to hear of Tip's passing
He was a treasure
Visiting his shop was always a joy
I am proud to say I own one of his rifles

 

[MAC1967]

That's a beauty ! Love that color . . very nice piece of maple . . .like the set trigger position too. Great looking rifle. Thanks for posting it. Tip did nice work !

 

[smo]

Beautiful gun! A Tribute too Mr. Tips work for sure.

 

[Don Steele]

This is the 50 cal. "John Brooks" rifle Tip built for me. I picked it up at Friendship and took this picture in the campground. On a visit to his shop, I went through everything he had on the racks...which was considerable. The "John Brooks" rifle he had felt the best, but he didn't have it in Left hand at that time. I was about to just go ahead and buy the right hand model but Tip said "Don, let me just build you a left hand rifle". Who was I to argue..??!

Took it home and after a little load development...put these 4 balls downrange from a rest at 50 yds. I reckon she'll do.

 

[jdw276]

View attachment 36174
This is the 50 cal. "John Brooks" rifle Tip built for me. I picked it up at Friendship and took this picture in the campground. On a visit to his shop, I went through everything he had on the racks...which was considerable. The "John Brooks" rifle he had felt the best, but he didn't have it in Left hand at that time. I was about to just go ahead and buy the right hand model but Tip said "Don, let me just build you a left hand rifle". Who was I to argue..??!
View attachment 36175
Took it home and after a little load development...put these 4 balls downrange from a rest at 50 yds. I reckon she'll do.

So you got a custom gun built by tip curtis. Very lucky man you be. I am fellow lefty. He did great work.

 

[MAC1967]

Great story . . . I am left handed too . . . always appreciated that Tip would show up at Friendship with a few LH rifles. Lovely rifle !!

 

[smo]

Great looking rifle Don Thanks for posting,

Great group too!

 

[BJm]

I don't own one, but in honor of his passing . . . I think it would be good to start a threat of pics of Tip Curtis' work. I always loved going to his booth at Friendship and looking at his rifles. He built great guns at a good price. . . filled a niche that leaves a big hole now. I sure there are many on this forum indebted to this craftsman who might like to share pics with us.

I too being a regular to Friendship shall miss time & conversations with Tip. I have several of his rifles in L/H flintlocks & have bought his rifles home to Australia for my shooting buddies. I was also privilaged to be invited to visit his home & workshop in Cross Plains Tennessee a couple of years back . Tip made great rifles & his selection available was second to none.

 

[Zonie]

Although Tip didn't build this rifle, I got the pre-carved stock from him when he was down here in Phoenix at the Winter Nationals.

The stock had been cut for a 1" octagon barrel and although there was no lock inleting done on it, it had a cheek piece for a left handed shooter.
I think the combination of these two things is why he priced it at less than half of what it should have been priced at.
I wasn't planning on buying anything that day but with the nice curl and the super low price I couldn't resist.
Of course, after I picked up the stock I had to buy a barrel for it. He had one 1" barrel in .54 caliber and one in .58. Not thinking too clearly, I bought the 42" long .54 caliber barrel.

I already had a right hand lock for the gun so (hide your eyes you left hand people), I removed the cheek piece and installed the right hand lock.

I wanted to make this a "plain" rifle so it doesn't have much on it except for the basics.

Like I say, that 42" long X 1" octagon barrel should have been a .58 caliber to get some of the weight out of it. The gun weighs over 11 pounds.

 

[MAC1967]

Well made . . . very pretty . . . I too bought some parts from Tip.

 

[Critter Getter]

Tip .32 ............

 

[MAC1967]

That's really nice . . . don't recall seeing a lot of Tip rifles with a wood patch box. Thanks for sharing !

 

[dave61965]

Here’s my .36 cal SMR I picked up at Tips shop on one of my trips up there, you’d have to carry this rifle to appreciate how well balanced it is, the 3/4” x 42” barrel makes for a nice slim and trim looking package.

 

[dave61965]

Here’s another I got from Tip, this one is .62 cal. 38” swamped, oct to round, round bottom rifling, I wanted something with a little shorter barrel for easier use in my ground blind, it’s a whitetail thumper.

 

[Rodd Boyer]

My Tip Curtis .36