TVM Custom build

[hanshi]

My last rifle was about 9 months but I have had a couple that took just over a year. Many of the builders you read about have waits much longer than that. Any custom gun regardless of builder will require patience. But when you hold that beauty in your sweaty hands you'll forget all about any wait.

 

[stombaug]

I hope so, Hanshi. Patience is not one of my strengths.

 

[Alden]

People can deal with good news and bad news.

But, sounds like good ol' Matt isn't exactly being, well, honest here. Shocker! He's currently at 9+ months, so what're the odds he'll finish an order taken today in 6 months?

Especially what with his building inventory to sell at upcoming Dickson's Fair where buyers, who know better than to order his stuff sight unseen, come to look in person. You know that's one reason you don't have your gun, right ClickFlash? Call him up as John Q. Public and ask the good ol' boy if he's going, and how many rifles, smoothbores, and po' boy pistols he'll have at Dickson's. Dickson's; they still let him pay, come, and sell there but the good ol' boy snake oil salesman was moved away from his original prime spot to somewhere off the beaten path as a sideshow act for a reason... Oh yes my friends.

All these gun parts assemblers take longer than they say. But I have one, now what was it, 16-month-long-wait TVM and Matt STILL screwed it up, took advantage, and well, wasn't honest enough to make good even as promised.

Did I mention people might really want to think twice about ordering a TVM gun!?

 

[BigBuckeye]

They said 6-9 months.

 

[kopfjaeger]

All builders have a waiting period that varies depending on their back log at that time. Have patience.

I had a flintlock built by Phil Cravener which took over a year.

 

[stombaug]

Hmm... Just checked my notes and I found where I wrote 6-9 months. Guess I'll be shuttin up now.

 

[kopfjaeger]

It's ok. Your over 50 years old. :thumbsup:

 

[stombaug]

:haha:

 

[jfaldo]

Six to nine months is nothing. I've waited over 2 years for more than 1 gun build in the past.

 

[CrossXstix]

I Checked with Bill Shipman about a build, and he said wait time was over two years.

 

[roundball]

Back in the 2009-2010 timeframe my TVM builds averaged 6-7 months, well worth the wait.
Beautiful / flawless hunting guns...have now accomplished my goal of taking every kind of game I normally took using modern guns, while using various Flintlock rifles & smoothbores instead, on multiple occasions.
Typical arrival photo of mine before filing the sights or replacing the under barrel wooden rod with my preferred brass ramrods:

 

[stombaug]

So, at the risk of beating a really dead horse... Did TVM send you pics before these were shipped to you?

 

[roundball]

No, I set up and take shots of every Flintlock I've either had built, or in the case of this one, bought used and refinished. This one is currently a .50cal Dickert that was originally built in Michigan...bought and refinished it while waiting for my own first build to be done...been an excellent deer rifle.

 

[Alden]

None of my custom guns have ever been done near when I was told they would be. Some are much more "optimistic" than others I'm afraid so it is also difficult to gauge the reality. It's the nature of the beast and you have to take it all in stride with good humor and self reliance...

I expect more than one year as a given and twice as long as expected is probably a good average. I have also only wanted and never depended on one of these being completed -- that would have been a fool's errand. Can anyone imagine relying on a Matt Avance, for example? LOL!

I have one custom arm from Italy that took a good couple of years. Another that involved three different shops in two countries that took a few years before being completed. I have one that took 12 years, like the Scotch whiskey, before it was done. Etc., etc., etc... That said, these were also not just being assembled from parts in a shed by some good ol' boy wood worker for beer money.

Patience isn't a virtue in this, it's a necessity.

 

[galamb]

Yes, "custom" = "a long time" in muzzle loading jargon.

You have to remember that you aren't just at the mercy of the builder, who may have overestimated when it would be finished (kid gets sick, shop floods, power outage for three days during the stormy season) but you also "usually" have suppliers involved - the more custom the more can get delayed.

Maybe you ordered a Rice barrel. Jason may not have had one in stock and it had only been two months since he tooled up to make the type you wanted, so you are waiting until he starts churning them out again.

I just got an FCI barrel 12 months after it was ordered with a 6-8 month lead time. Charlie got sick and couldn't work for a couple of months and while he kept me updated, offered to refund my money if I couldn't wait etc (great guy to deal with, plus great quality work), IF I had of building this rifle for someone that would have added "at least" four months to the initial completion estimate.

 

[Micah Clark]

Sounds as though I would be wise to not expect an "in the white" LH .32 from Tip Curtis that I fall in love with, just sitting on there on the rack, waiting for me at a great price at Friendship on Monday.

This is going to be a 2016 hunting season rifle . . . not a 2015.

I think I just learned another reason why guys decide to build their own. . .it may be faster.

 

[hanshi]

Okay, I may have missed something all along; but it seems clear now that your hatred isn't TVM guns at all but Matt, himself. Do you know him personally? Even a disappointing gun deal with someone wouldn't rile me with venomous hate toward an individual. All the **** sapiens I know are humans; and humans are, horrors, human! They have bad days, make mistakes and are prone to occasional misunderstandings. I learned this from years as a cop; a speeder's not necessarily a scofflaw, maybe his wife just left him or he lost his job or his oldest child has been kidnapped. You just never know. That's why I always approached people with the idea of hearing what they have to say...or make up.

Tell you what, Alden, if you can convince and help me to agree with you about Mr Avance I have a friend/student who use to work for a "capo" in New Jersey; he (my friend) still knows "people". I'd be willing to round up a couple of guys (whose last names end in a vowel) to send a message, Ahem! They'll expect a little "traveling money" and that would be YOUR part of the task. I don't like being cheated, either.

 

[roundball]

This is going to be a 2016 hunting season rifle . . . not a 2015.
I think I just learned another reason why guys decide to build their own. . .it may be faster.

And don't forget the used market...in my retirement now after 50+ years of hunting in several different states, the bloom is fading off the rose so to speak...already sold 2 beautiful Flintlocks at the first of the year... .40cal Late Lancaster and .58cal Early Virginia.

Hunting / shooting sports have been my primary lifelong hobby but in my final chapter now, my secondary hobby of nature & wildlife photography has become my main primary retirement hobby, every day, year round.

And others are winding things down like that all the time too, making Flintlocks available in the used market, etc...some excellent buys can be had with no waiting period.

 

[hanshi]

An in-the-white would be my choice if I didn't want to wait long months. They are quicker and easier to finish up than any kit. You'll still have to shave off and contour wood and finagle lock/trigger and other parts but this is quick. Main thing is the stock finish is your job as is any browning/bluing. The good news is that it's ready to shoot as is and you can still take the unfinished rifle hunting and pretty it up later. A kit, even an easier one, will take longer than that. So with TVM, Tip Curtis, et al, that is something to seriously consider.

 

[Micah Clark]

I agree with that thinking Hanshi . . .

This won't make sense to some, but all my life I've wanted a car before my generation called an MG -TD or T series. . one of the first British sports cars across the pond after WW2. Guys in their 70's are starting to part with them now as they are slow and hard to get in and out of and require maintenance . . . my hope is to get in on one some day since I am not yet 50.

Same could be true of used flintlocks from a generation ahead of me when traditional ML's were more popular a few decades ago. ( I dislike inlines).