With many of the well known, veteran double gunsmiths and restoration artists booked up for months or in some cases years who are the "up and comers" - less known or younger craftsmen in the various specialities- stockmaking, checkering, engraving, barrel blueing/browning, case color refinishing, etc. I am looking for those that do exceptionally good work with quick turn around time. Who do you consider to be the next Buck Hamlin, Oscar Gaddy, Winston Churchill, David Trevallion or Larry del Grego?

Definatley, Larry Potter of Wisconsin and Dave Norine of "Smoke n' Gun" in Waukegan, Illinois. I have seen their work and they are masters of the genre. Hope I spelled their names correctly. Chopperlump

Steve Bertram in Boulder would fit this bill as well.

Regards, Gordon

Dewey Vicknair in Pa.

Craig Libhart the great, top shelf!

al:
As some have suggested, there certainly is a cadre of "up and coming gunsmiths." I have no personal experience with any of those mentioned. But I am sure they satisfy the needs of many who seek "exceptionally good work with quick turn around time."

However I, for one, find that stipulation an oxymoron. In my somewhat jaded experience, the cannons of "exceptionally good" directly conflict with "quick turn around." It's like the old bromide; "Good, Fast, Cheap... Pick One."

Of course, this all depends upon one's definition of "exceptionally good." Mine might be different than yours. Or that of other posters on this site.

I'm sure the young men previously cited are fine workmen. But I'd personally put my trust in the "booked up for months" fellows if my gun were worth a farthing. Just my observation. Which, I'm sure, will soon be shredded by others.

Best, Kensal

"Quick turn around" is relative, I suppose. I can't see how anyone working on a high quality gun, on a intricate job, can work very fast though.

Don't most smiths go through a cycle of evolution? They start off well, get a reputation, then overbook themselves, reputation gets tarnished, income falls off,start doing jobs "out of sequence" to maximize income, reputation gets worse, disappear....There are a good few who don't get caught in that process...

I think that some of you have misinterpreted my original post. I am not debating the theory that any good gunsmith will be busy, just trying to get input on which of the less established craftsmen are doing extremely high quality work at reasonable prices with reasonable turn around times.

I'm not so sure you could class Steve Bertram or Mike Orlen as "less established craftsmen", but both of these gentlemen have done excellent work for me in a timely manner and at reasonable prices. I'll admit that some of the 'big names' scare the hxll out of me...Geo

Just my thoughts on this, but if a gunsmith charged you for the time he held your gun, you could buy a gun factory. A job that a smith charges...say...$300 for; that could only be somewhere between 4-10 hrs work. What most of us wait extreme lengths of time for and repeated calls to the point of frustration and anger for with some (you fill in the number) gunsmiths is their "brass ring" (read that quick cash) project hopping. Once some of them get some advance cash, they're on to another. This is not unlike a home improvement contractor.

The good ones run a "first in - first out" shop policy. Like many of you, I've experienced some pretty bad examples and heard of extremes where guns have been with smiths for years, sometimes going past a decade. The best craftsman in the world, even if he charges nothing, isn't of any value to me if he doesn't get my work done. Somewhere there's a balance.