doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com An example of buy the action

Joe, I am not sure what you mean by engraving being a lost art. Are you saying today's engravers are inferior to those 100 years ago and more ?

Could anyone hazard a guess what the engraving on Dig's WC Scott would cost to replicate today? A friend has a Hartmann & Weiss OU dripping with very fine English scroll engraving that could hold its own with any pre-war Boss - that gun cost around $100k for the whole gun. I have to imagine the engraving had to be something like a third of the cost.

Daryl,

OH my, by no means am I degrading the great work of modern engravers.

I am just saying, that in today's world, fewer of us can afford the engraving that was offered before the Great War.

So, in support of Dig's thread. Buy the action! (I might add - the engraved action)

Joe

Engraving in Italy, by top names, costs about 50 Euros an hour. A fully covered sidelock with game scenes, with cesello (heavy engraving, the most time consuming) will take about 800 hours. English style, Inglesina as the Italians call it, goes faster.

Italian engravers go through fine arts schooling before taking up engraving, they re definitely more able than old time craftsmen engravers and it is no accident that Brescia has become a world engraving center.

I like the end result, even though sideclips are not my thing. The cost is typical for UK work and that is what the client wanted. It is likely that work done elsewhere would cost less, but would lack the prestige.